
ladder. They’re already somewhat senior, they know what value
they can add and they’re looking for stability,” she said.
VALUES, NOT (NECESSARILY) CULTURE
Once you get top talent in the door, they’re going to have questions
about what your small business can offer them. The old standbys
of more money and more power just don’t cut it anymore. Top tal-ent
wants to contribute; they want to see their contributions in
front of them and they want to feel valued because of them.
“Basically, everyone is their own boss of their department,” said
Vinderine. “While that gives them a lot of responsibility, they have
a lot of pride at the end of a project because they were very in-volved
in every step and they can see the impact they directly had.
When you’re one of 100 people working toward a goal, you can’t
really see what your direct impact was. When you’re one of four
people, you know exactly what you contributed to that project.
You can have a lot of pride in your work.”
Other things that Vinderine’s team loves about working for
PTPA are applicable to most small businesses: the fluidity of roles
and no obvious hierarchy, the chance to develop new skills because
there’s no obvious hierarchy, autonomy in decision-making for
their department and, as Vinderine calls it, “… flexibility for being
people (laughs). If someone has to run out because their child is
sick, there’s more flexibility in a small business than there is, typi-cally,
in a large business. And while flex hours may put more strain
on a small business, there’s more empathy there.”
For a long time, creating company culture was the way
many companies spurred their recruiting, becoming known
for unique amenities like catered lunches, movies in the con-ference
room or treadmill desks. Although company culture is
important, it doesn’t hold clout with recruiting like it once did,
according to Vinderine.
“Depending on the generation you’re in, you probably have
a different definition of what culture is. To us, culture doesn’t
mean we’re closing the office for the day and going to Canada’s
Wonderland; it means we work together in a harmonious way, we
hang out together in the conference room and have lunch togeth-er,
and we really enjoy each other’s company,” she said.
Instead of focusing heavily on culture, create an environment of
empowerment for your small but mighty team.
“In the past, we’ve done a day off site that’s dedicated to everyone
sharing their ideas,” said Vinderine. “It’s like a round-table, talking
through the pros and cons of each idea and figuring out which
ones we want to focus on, then empowering the team members to
own those projects. It’s an amazing feeling of accomplishment to
not just be a cog in the wheel.”
Aspects of value will be different for everyone on your team, but
the one thing you can bet on everyone valuing is recognition for a
job well done. Recognition has less to do with singling people out
and more to do with leadership, according to Vinderine.
“Through the years, I have been schooled on how to be a better
leader. I’ve had turnover, and different experiences with differ-ent
generations of people in learning how to manage them. Now,
my team would probably say I overcompensate when recognizing
them for their achievements. On one hand, I want to make sure
they know I genuinely appreciate what they’re doing. On the other
hand, as an entrepreneur, you always want to make sure every-one
on your team is happy. I never want to take that for granted,”
she said.
The value and opportunity that small businesses can offer far
outweigh the actual size of the company, and will be what attracts
top talent to your team. After all, it’s the people that make the
company, not the other way around.
“I love the feeling of camaraderie that you get with a small
business. You know everyone’s story and they know you take an
interest and know you care,” said Vinderine. “The people on your
team are the people who will be representative of your company
and who will help it through the highs and lows. Making sure that
team is fantastic – using an HR manager, if size is appropriate –
is literally priceless.” n
recruitment
“I LOVE THE FEELING OF
CAMARADERIE THAT
YOU GET WITH A SMALL
BUSINESS. YOU KNOW
EVERYONE’S STORY
AND THEY KNOW YOU
TAKE AN INTEREST AND
KNOW YOU CARE.”
– SHARON VINDERINE
36 ❚ JANUARY 2018 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL