We decided to do our own survey to understand Australian Business Owners in 2021.
219 business owners answered our 20 questions that covered topics such as management, hiring, team performance, revenue losses and people strategies and highlighted some key Australian employee statistics.
Here’s what we found:
Respondents stated that on average they could turn over 62% more if their whole team was close to being as good as their best staff member.
This is an annual loss they take year after year whilst hiring, paying and managing average team members. It brings to light the challenge of having truly great staff across the board, but also the reward if it can be pulled off.
This also highlights, in my view, why it is worth figuring out how you can attract those incredible staff, why investment into your employer brand and your management team is so vital. With an extra 62% of potential revenue lost, it is worth assessing how the team is paid and rewarded, how they’re upskilled and mentored and I believe team design & modelling should be made with this in mind.
It is very interesting (and unfortunate) that 76% of business owners say they would aim higher in business if they could hire better team members.
Could this mean that owners are putting their dreams aside because they haven’t sold their hiring issues? As corny as it sounds, it is an alarming realisation and stresses exactly how much of an issue hiring truly is.
It is becoming clearer that the need for a provable, efficient and workable hiring system must be adopted if a business is to win in the hiring game when:
58% of business owners have been burnt by a staff member they thought was great.
37% of business owners say they currently have 1 or more toxic person in their team.
Respondents also say that over a quarter of their team does not have the right personality when it comes to culture, synergy, positivity and company values.
Strangely, despite the above, when we asked the same respondents how confident they feel in hiring amazing staff, they rated themselves an average of 7.3/10. This means they’re either a) are not being honest with themselves or b) have not mastered how to stand out in a way that compels their ideal candidate to want to work for them.
It is clear that there is a disconnect between what owners think they’re capable of and how their team is performing. With so many hiring and team issues – how can the average rating be 7.3/10 when asked how good they feel they are with hiring?
If 80% of business owners feel they offer something to their staff that their competitors do not, why is hiring such still a big issue?
Lastly, we found when asked: out of 10 how confident are you in managing staff really well, the average rating was 7.7/10 which contrasts with the fact that 75% of staff leave due to their direct senior, and over half of owners having to constantly chase and remind staff to do something.
This creates a management gap in what staff need vs. what managers are giving them.
These stats show us that, despite the owners’ confidence in their hiring and management abilities, they still struggle with staff & hiring.
We have found that the last few hiring projects we did for clients required a strong sales-approach with candidates. We had to articulate how and why our clients are better than other employers because great candidates simply have too many choices – and they know it.
The challenge of finding dream team members is becoming more and more difficult. Recruitment & hiring is becoming less about posting a job ad and waiting for candidates to come to you, and more about bold long-term employer branding and recruitment marketing strategies that reach out and grab your ideal candidate and compel them to work for your company.
Hiring & employment strategies are arguably on par in importance with sales & marketing campaigns.
A consistent and bold people strategy that encompassess attraction, hiring, onboarding, team design, management & retention is becoming a need for almost any business. Gone are the days where people were privileged to have a job. Those companies that do not jump on board with this will absolutely fall behind.
Thankfully there are ways you can attract your ideal staff, stand out amongst your competitors, and hold onto them for longer.
Click here to learn about Talent X Hiring Projects.
Click here to learn about Talent X Team Design.
Click here to learn about Talent X Mastery of Management Course.
Where do you fall in these stats? Could you:
→ be better at compelling candidates to apply for your roles over your competitors’?
→ create a screening process that allows you to know a candidates’ value before you test them out on the job?
→ or do you feel you could better retain your team with proven management techniques?
