How can SMEs retain and attract the right talent?

When people are your biggest asset, it can be tough for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to compete with other firms for talent. Carefully considered initiatives can however help SMEs to retain and attract the right talent, as our Finance and Operations Director Susan Webb explains.

Creating an enjoyable place to work, learn and build a career

Our people are our business. Right from the outset, we wanted Consilium to be an enjoyable place to work, learn and build a career. As we’ve grown from a start-up to 60-plus team members, we have continued to make changes to benefit our team.

Like our clients – typically owner-managed SMEs – we are not a big firm or a household name. However, we’ve continued to retain and attract a team of talented and dedicated professionals through a range of initiatives.

Giving back to the community

At Consilium we’ve always been keen to give back to our community. Predominantly this has been through fundraising for local good causes and supporting charity events. Earlier this year, we launched our Volunteering Initiative offering every team member a day of paid leave to volunteer for a charity. That’s over 60 days a year of work to support community initiatives and good causes.

We’ve already hosted our first organised volunteering day, and several colleagues have chosen to support charities close to their hearts.

Embracing flexible and hybrid working

Flexible and hybrid working continues to be a success for Consilium, boosting productivity and helping our team members achieve their goals in and out of work. We’ve tweaked our approach over the years and now provide flexible start and finish times around core hours. This is backed up by a mix of office and home working options allowing colleagues to take ownership of how they complete their work.

Across the business, the take-up has been huge. Some companies aren’t keen on flexible options and hybrid arrangements. However, with the right balance and approach we’ve retained the same office camaraderie and professional collaboration that existed before working from home became an essential job consideration.   

Providing continuous professional development

The Consilium Edge is our in-house training and development programme that prepares team members for management and leadership roles. Having this is quite unusual for professional services firms of our size, but we were aware of a gap in our training provision.

Once colleagues complete their professional qualifications with ICAS, ACCA, CTA, or ATT, the Consilium Edge now fills that gap. Development of the programme was a significant undertaking. Options were available to share or piggyback on other existing leadership development programmes. We were however adamant that our values and culture needed to flow through the training, so we decided to start from scratch and create our programme.

It will continue to develop as time goes on, but feedback from the first cohort has been very positive. We’re already seeing team members actively take on greater responsibility and use what they are learning to build their leadership credentials.

Time for a career break

Our 10th anniversary was a good time to introduce Consilium’s Career break provision. Working with our team the initiative was formalised in 2023 and is available to any colleague.

Whether to invest time in learning a new skill, giving back to their community or taking the opportunity to travel, the policy is there for everyone. I’ve already got ideas of what I’ll do with mine in a few years!

Retaining and attracting the right talent

Retaining and attracting the right talent doesn’t need to be determined entirely by financial muscle power. As people increasingly seek balanced working lives with companies that share their values, there are opportunities for SMEs to position themselves as an attractive destination.

Consilium Chartered Accountants can provide specific services to business owners and leaders that may enhance your employment offering. These include advice and planning for Employee ownership, Employee share schemes and Remuneration planning.

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