Small companies face a unique problem as they try to minimize turnover and hold onto their best and brightest employees.\u00a0 Namely, they don\u2019t have enough places to put them.\u00a0 In practice, it looks like this.\u00a0 A small company hires a young, ambitious person to do a certain job or perform a certain task.\u00a0 This new go-getter tackles the work energetically and masters it in relatively short order.\u00a0 Now he or she is looking around for the next big challenge, and therein lies the problem\u00a0\u00a0 . . . there isn\u2019t one.\u00a0 In a small company, the corporate ladder may have only a few rungs, so a talented, energetic, ambitious employee may very quickly get as far up that ladder as he or she can go.\u00a0 Large companies can have similar problems, but they have the scale to deal with those problems more effectively than small companies can.\u00a0 For instance, at a large company, when a budding superstar runs out of dragons to slay in Department A, we can move him or her to Department B or C or D or E where presumably there are still a few troublesome dragons to be dealt with.\u00a0 In most small companies, that sort of opportunistic career path simply does not exist.\u00a0 So what does a small company do to hold onto its best and brightest?\u00a0 For more on this, please continue reading below.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cCreate a company that\u2019s a great place to be from.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>~ Patty McCord<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>The bad news for small companies is this: you probably can\u2019t hold onto the best and brightest . . . at least not all of them.\u00a0 If you\u2019re good at recruiting, many of them will pass through your doors, but most of them will be on their way to someplace else.\u00a0 They will see you as a place to get some experience that will look good on their resumes.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve been in business for more than a few years, you already know that this is how it works.\u00a0 Some big companies, as a matter of policy, won\u2019t hire kids right out of school . . . they don\u2019t want to deal with untrained, inexperienced rookies.\u00a0 So by default, small companies are the training grounds for big companies.\u00a0 It\u2019s not fair, but that\u2019s the way it is.<\/p>\n As a small company operator, you really can\u2019t buck the system.\u00a0 You can\u2019t go head-to-head with the big guys and try to match their compensation packages, their benefits, and their opportunities for advancement.\u00a0 That would be crazy, so don\u2019t even try.\u00a0 If you do try, you will fail.<\/p>\n No, your only real option is to accept your role as a training ground for bigger companies, but figure out a way to make that role work for you.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n Seems like a lot of work to train people who will ultimately use that training to benefit a bigger company than yours.\u00a0 So what\u2019s in it for you?<\/p>\n First, you\u2019ll get the services of some young, ambitious, energetic, and talented people who won\u2019t stay with you for long, but at least you\u2019ll have them for a few years.\u00a0 However, you won\u2019t get them at all unless they believe the experience and training they get from you will be their stepping stone to bigger and better things.<\/p>\n Second, you\u2019ll get a steady stream of goodwill ambassadors going out into the world and telling the world, not only about your products or services, but also about what a good place to work your company was during their formative years.\u00a0 As your reputation as a good place to work spreads, your ongoing recruiting efforts will only get easier.<\/p>\n Third, and perhaps most important, as this parade of young, ambitious, energetic, and talented people passes through your place, you will be able to snag a few of them.\u00a0 Most of them, as we\u2019ve said, will be on their way to someplace else and will just keep right on going.\u00a0 But a few of them might decide that being a big fish in a little pond is better than being a little fish in a Fortune 500 pond.\u00a0 They might decide that getting in on the ground floor and helping to build something is, in its own way, pretty exciting stuff.\u00a0 Or they might like the idea that, unlike their Fortune 500 brethren, they have direct access to their CEO.<\/p>\n It makes no sense to go against the flow and try to hold onto all the talented people you attract.\u00a0 That\u2019s a fool\u2019s errand and it won\u2019t work.\u00a0 So your only option is to accept your role as the training ground for Corporate America and follow Patty McCord\u2019s advice to, \u201cCreate a company that\u2019s a great place to be from.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Small companies face a unique problem as they try to minimize turnover and hold onto their best and brightest employees.\u00a0 Namely, they don\u2019t have enough places to put them.\u00a0 In practice, it looks like this.\u00a0 A small company hires a young, ambitious person to do a certain job or perform a certain task.\u00a0 This new<\/p>\n\n