Keeping good employees tends to be less of a problem for large companies according to a recent article on the Forbes Web site. The article states that this trend is the result of larger firms are able to offer higher salaries, weeks of paid vacation and other perks that draw employees in and keep them there.

That is not to say that small business owners are unable to retain good employees. There are several strategies small business owners can adopt in order to compete with the big guys. For instance, a survey by Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration found that employee retention increases for small companies by 26.2% for a given year when benefits are offered.

Many small business owners don’t consider offering a benefits package to their employees because of the associated costs. However, there are options for small businesses including working with a PEO. Sometimes it just takes some shopping around to find a solution that will work best for your company.

There are also some other inexpensive retention strategies suggested in the article including company picnics, participation in community sports leagues, and offering discounted gym memberships or other company discounts.

These perks play up the main benefit employees see in working for a small company: a close-knit, community working environment. Many employees find value in knowing the people they work with on a more personal level and feeling like they are an important part of the company. That sense of pride and belonging can help your employees stay put rather than looking for new opportunities.Samantha Bushard is an HR employee for A Plus Benefits, Inc.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 9th, 2007 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Benefits, Hiring, Human Resources, Outsourcing, Retention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.