Retention of critical skills in small business : a business owner perspective

Abstract

Small businesses have a high failure rate in South Africa, mainly due to lack of skills, resources and inexperience of owners. There is a lack of research into skills retention in small business. Understanding how established small businesses manage to retain employees with critical skills would equip small owners with some tools that could assist them in achieving success. Owners of twelve established companies were interviewed in this study. The questions posed to these individuals aimed to i) establish which skills are most critical to their business, ii) what they, as leaders, perceive to be the motivation that employees seek in order to remain with the businesses, and iii) actions that employers would take to ensure retention of skilled employees. Through a process of thematic analysis, the data collected was assessed and concluded upon. The results indicate that small business owners, or employers, value skills as much as other employee attributes when considering retention. For them, the most preferred skills and attributes for retention include people skills and organisational fit. On the other hand, the most important motivators for employees include financial reward and communication. Ultimately, the top influencers include employers taking personal interest in employees and demonstrating flexibility.