Working for an SME
According to the Shell Step Choose Small Report 2003, ‘SMEs do not offer the structured training programmes that are available to graduates at some of the larger, blue chip organisations’ and, as such, working for an SME can be totally different to working for a larger organisation.
In 2004, The Sunday Times in conjunction with the DTI and the Learning and Skills Council published an inaugural list of the 50 Best Small Companies to Work For – though in practice the firms questioned were of medium size (50-249 employees):
‘In all but one of the 65 questions posed to employees of small and large companies alike, the responses from employees of smaller companies achieved more positive scores. Their defining quality was leadership where 76.3% of employees of small companies gave positive responses as opposed to 72% of those in larger companies.’
The Benefits:
- Since there is less distinction between ‘roles’, a graduate working within an SME will be more likely to get involved in a wider range of activities and will gain a variety of experiences and skills.
- 61.8% of staff in small companies are satisfied with their pay and benefits in comparison to 58.8% of staff in larger companies.
- Motivated and intelligent graduates will have more opportunities to voice their own ideas and will have a greater opportunity to shape company practices and procedures.
- Graduates have more control over their careers – due to the fluid nature of their ‘role’.
- The opportunity to develop roles, which would be seen as ‘non-graduate’ positions in larger graduate recruiters, into a career path that necessitates a higher skill level.
- Early responsibility – individual input will have a visible impact on the performance of the organisation.
- Camaraderie – working as part of a small team, towards a set of shared goals can be extremely rewarding both personally and professionally.
- Flexibility – working hours are often more flexible, though there will be times when you’ll need to be flexible as well.
The Drawbacks:
- Graduates may be recruited into low skill jobs within SMEs – often with little or no reference to their qualifications – choosing underemployment over unemployment due to the lack of traditional ‘graduate level’ opportunities. (Small Business Service, 2002)
- SMEs offer mainly on the job training that is not structured in the way that many graduates would expect. You must be prepared to ‘hit the ground running’.
- Though you may have more control over your career progression, the lack of a formal career path may not suit everyone.
- Starting salaries are often lower than those offered by larger graduate recruiters and benefits such as pension schemes, gym membership or company cars are likely to be reduced.
- Under UK law, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 22 employees do not have to recognise trade union affiliations among their workers.
- Just over half the employees in The Times Top 50 Smaller Companies To Work For agreed with the statement 'Most days I feel exhausted when I come home from work', though this may reflect just how hard staff are willing to work and, according to results throughout the survey, this hasn’t impacted negatively on their job satisfaction.
It is important to note that after reading through the possible negatives of working in an SME, The Times found that 49.8% of all employees in SMEs believe they have found their perfect job compared to only 46.3% in larger companies, proving that working for an SME need not be thought of as purely a stopgap option.
