Staffing

Why is staffing the most important part of your business as an SME?

A survey I was involved in some years ago revealed that the biggest challenge faced by SMEs in Nigeria is not capital, not markets but staffing! 

What makes the subject of staffing so important is the fact that getting the right people can be the difference between business success and failure. No business can survive without a team. Every business needs a solid team to thrive. The question then is “how can an SME or a small business attract and retain the right people?”

It begins with you!

In this first part, we will be discussing you and how you are the singular most important factor in determining whether or not you have a great team.

Let’s delve right in!

Dear entrepreneur, never forget that your business is first yours! You are the singular, most important factor of production in your business- not your staff, not your equipment, not even your office, you! What I mean is that you are in charge and you must take charge- never forget! With this comes the responsibility of asking yourself what you need to guarantee your business success. You must ask yourself critical questions like:

1. What are my business activities at the moment? (please note that this does not ask what my overall business activities will be…)
2. Which of them am I equipped to execute myself without assistance?
3. If I require assistance with any activity, must it be staffed or can it be outsourced? This is where many people start falling into the staffing trap. In the early stages of most businesses, there are certain activities that though important, are not “time-intensive” enough to hire someone to handle full time. How can I tell? You may ask, if the task will not engage the person you hire full-time, then it should not be staffed! Let me drop a secret here, one of the biggest turn-offs for a full-time member of staff (worth their salt) is to report to work daily and not be optimized 100%
4. Following 3 “ are there activities or a group of activities I can’t handle that when bundled, will engage a person full time?” If yes, then you can hire someone to do all. The point is to maximize the time, workload, and salary of every staff.

Once you’ve been able to identify your needs, state the tasks and activities clearly. Once this is done, you can then proceed to profile who you require to fulfill those needs.

Profiling who you need

This is often very tricky and sometimes difficult for people to articulate. Profiling involves stating the qualities you want in the person that will fulfill the role. While the job (aggregate of the activities you’ve identified that need getting done) itself already specifies certain skill requirements, there are many other factors to consider and these sometimes are directly related to your core values and personal preferences. And they must not be ignored!

Ask yourself:

1. What are the critical, non-negotiable skills required for this role?
2. What other skills should they possess?
3. What personal attributes do I want the person to have? (please state everything important to you including attributes like courtesy, ability to communicate in a particular language sometimes even temperament, whatever works for you)
4. Is any form of experience required for the role?
5. How much am I willing and able to pay? (this is so important. What you can afford sometimes affects the quality of people you can attract which is why answering question 1 and 2 is very important)

Profiling and stating what you need in the person for the role then forms the basis for your hiring strategy. 

We will discuss the hiring process in the next post.

If this post resonates with you or there are steps we skipped, or you just want to share your thoughts, kindly leave a comment in the comment section below.

If you require assistance with the processes explained above, please send us an email and we will be happy to put walk you through the process.

Never forget, it all begins with YOU!

To your success!

MOA