According to a Capterra survey, Top Technology Trends 2017, the primary goal of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), over the next two year is growth: increasing revenue, increasing customer base and product growth.
Although the goal is not obvious, the challenge that SMBs face, i.e. how to achieve and sustain growth, is significant.
Our research shows that employee effectiveness is the most important factor in an SMB’s ability achieve its growth goals.
We estimate that 40% of SMBs will not achieve their growth goals in America if they don’t make significant improvements in employee productivity.
Focusing on employee effectiveness will help you build your foundation for growth. If they ignore this powerful influencer, they will be unable to achieve their goals or perform well.
This article will explore this topic and show how it affects not only business goals but also how it affects internal and external processes. We will also provide a glimpse into the future and offer suggestions for actions you can take to make your workplace more productive.
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What is the purpose of SMBs focusing on employee effectiveness?
Why should SMBs work to improve employee productivity?
40% of SMBs in America won’t reach their growth goals unless they make significant improvements to employee effectiveness.
We ask SMB leaders to share their strategic goals. The clear winner is growth. Nearly 60% of SMB leaders want to increase revenue, 43% plan on growing their customer base, 30% want to expand into new areas, and 30% plan to launch new products.
SMB Business Goals 2017 – 2019.
We also see that improving employee effectiveness is a top goal (40% want their employees to be more productive) and a major theme in the challenges businesses face when trying to achieve their goals.
When we ask SMBs to list their biggest challenges, the most common responses are focused on how to maximize employee effectiveness.
Top Challenges for achieving your business goals
These challenges are more important than other important considerations like competitive pressure or the cost of operations.
This shows that SMBs must improve their effectiveness to achieve their growth goals.
Businesses can increase their output by creating a high-functioning, effective workplace without increasing their input. This means that employees can be more productive and achieve growth without increasing the number or hours worked.
Which industries are most likely to face obstacles in trying to improve their effectiveness?
SMBs in the construction, manufacturing, or services industries are most concerned about hiring and maintaining a productive workforce.
The challenges of creating and maintaining a high-functioning work environment are not limited to one market or company size. However, certain industries are more affected than others.
We break down the “Top Challenges to Achieving Your Business Goals” by industry. Trade-based industries have the greatest problems with hiring and retaining employees.
On average, 23% of these business leaders say that “hiring the right employees” is the biggest obstacle to their growth goals.
Hiring is a Top Challenge to Achieving Business Objectives: By Industry
Similar results can be seen in the 18% of business leaders from these industries who say that “motivating and maintaining staff” is their most important issue.
Motivation and retention of employees is a top challenge to achieving business goals: by industry
This means that almost half of these industries are in search of work.
