Skills shortage and recruitment
is an area of undeniable
importance to the SME sector
and a challenge for human
resource management. This
article reports on the findings
from a study of people management
in over 300 organisations
employing typically
between 20 and 200 people.
It aims to provide a clear
understanding of how both
larger and smaller SMEs
recruit and select staff. It
finds that the SMEs may have
some advantages in the
extent to which they can use
flexible working patterns: a
large number of companies
use part-time workers, jobsharing
and contracting out.
However, full-time working is
still the most common form of
employment. The article
reports that the most popular
method for establishing pay
levels within SMEs is the
value of the job to the organisation,
and the abilities or
skills of the new employee.
Most respondents to this
survey felt that they had no
skills shortage problem.