Online recruitment - a valid solution for the SME?
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are getting stressed out. SME owners and employees work long hours, work weekends to catch up, don't feel they use time at work efficiently… and it's getting worse.
One third of SME owners and managers now work almost double the European Working Time Directive standard 35 hours a week. A recent survey by British Gas shows that non-core activities like administration and statutory financial requirements are taking up a third of SME owners' time. Even worse, a staggering 18% of SME owners are working for more than 70 hours every week.
This kind of work pressure is having a predictable effect on the work/life balance. More than half of SME owners and staff catch up with work over the weekend or work late during the week, and 50% suffer from stress or feel that their home life is suffering.* At the same time, a significant proportion of SME managers are concerned that pressurised working practices are exposing staff to stress and exhaustion.
This is bad news for SME owner/managers, but it is also bad news for the economy in general. SMEs form a crucial part of the UK economy. They represent more than 90% of the overall business community* and are a breeding ground for creativity and innovation.
Clearly, time pressures and stress in the SME sector are significant problems. The solution could lie in finding trusted business partners to relieve some of the pressure of non-core activities.
