What makes a great small business employee?

Successful small businesses are only as good as the people who work in them. But finding great staff is not always easy.

Corporate recruitment processes – with HR departments and outside consultants – are beyond the budget of most small firms. That’s undoubtedly a good thing. Finding your own new recruits, listening to your gut instinct and spotting talent among your network of contacts can allow you to find new employees that will really fit in and add value to your business.

A flexible approach

When you work in a small business you might be pitching to a client one minute and washing up the coffee cups the next. The simple fact is that staff in a small firm will have to turn their hands to many more tasks than they would in a large company. People who have been in big companies can struggle in a small firm. If you take on a big hitter from a large firm, you are going to have problems. If that person is a sales executive, for instance, they will have been used to working with support teams that may have helped them get leads, open doors, do tender returns and put together presentations. In a small business you have to do everything.

A positive personality

Friendly, enthusiastic, open, self-motivated – all these are important traits in a small business employee. However, employing people that will fit in is not about finding “yes people” – you need employees that are prepared to stick their neck out, offering new ideas and even sometimes challenging the status quo.

Small business employees must be enthusiastic. In a small business, everyone is involved, they have to take ownership.