Bank of America has been busy taking the pulse of small business owners in larger communities to determine what work life will be like in 2014. Following on the heels of their fall 2013 study,  I am making the projection that employee training and development will increase in 2014 in the small business marketplace.  So, we’re keeping track especially when it comes to progressive leadership practices that include team building activities as leadership initiatives.  We projected that 2013 would be the year of the Consultant and from what we have seen with TIGERS Certified Team Development Consultants, this certainly has been the case and a banner year for these consultants.  Team development focusing on retaining stellar employees has been important to re-engaging good employees and charting a course through 2013.

The fall 2013 Small Business Owner Report, a semi-annual study exploring the concerns, aspirations and perspectives of small business owners across the country has reported some interesting regional values.  The survey prepared and distributed by Bank of America  includes an oversampling of small business owners in various hub areas. Following are the highlights from the report from various regions in the US that include the south, southwest and  west coast.

Dallas – Fort Worth

There is good news for Texas.  According the the B of A report, small business owners report that almost three in 10 (28 percent) Dallas/Fort Worth respondents plan to hire over the next 12 months. Yet close to half (47 percent) say finding qualified employees is difficult. Really?  Have good employees moved out of the state?

Of those small business owners who plan on hiring new talent in 2014, 24 percent are staffing up for an increase in business. With good talent difficult to find and small business owners looking to increase business, they are also focused on keeping valuable employees. The report found that the top actions small business owners in Dallas/Fort Worth take to retain employees are offering a competitive salary (49 percent), bonuses for high performers (39 percent) and flexible working arrangements (38 percent).

More than half of Dallas/Fort Worth small business owners (55 percent) agree that managing their staff is a source of great pride for them. But 53 percent admit to having some level of frustration with their employees. The top frustrations are poor time management (19 percent), lack of enthusiasm (17 percent) and lack of proactive thinking (16 percent). This is all correctable with good training and progressive business practices that leverage good team development.

If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you and I both know that retaining good employees has to do with a variety of factors. One is doing more with less by developing strong teams where synergy impacts employee numbers in a very positive way. Another is to promote leadership ractices that tap into the genius that employees bring to the table.

In Dallas/Fort Worth, Small business owners feel optimistic about the future of their businesses. Sixty percent of those surveyed in Dallas/Fort Worth expect their revenue to increase in the next twelve months, an 8 percent increase from 2012.

In addition, the report found that 46 percent of Dallas/Fort Wort,h small business owners believe their local economy will improve over the next 12 months, but are not as confident about the national economy. Only 27 percent of Dallas/Fort Worth respondents think that the national economy will improve in the next 12 months, compared to 41 percent nationally. This is actually a high percentage.

Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of Dallas/Fort Worth small business owners are concerned about the effectiveness of U.S. government leaders over the next 12 months, and 69 percent of Dallas/Fort Worth small business owners are concerned about commodities prices (e.g., oil, gas). Other concerns that may affect the success of their business in the next 12 months include:

• Health care costs – 61 percent.
• Interest rates – 60 percent.
• Strength of the U.S. dollar – 59 percent.
• Consumer spending – 59 percent.
• Corporate tax rates – 59 percent.

More than half (53 percent) of Dallas/Fort Worth small business owners say their hiring plans will not change in the next year due to new health care legislation. In addition, only 26 percent of Dallas/Fort Worth small business owners currently provide health/wellness benefit packages, consistent with national levels (27 percent).

Los Angeles

Almost three in 10 (28 percent) Los Angeles respondents plan to hire over the next 12 months. Yet close to half (46 percent) say finding qualified employees is difficult.

Of those small business owners who plan on hiring new employees in 2014, 37 percent are staffing up for an increase in business. With good talent difficult to find and small business owners looking to increase business, they are also focused on keeping valuable employees. The report found that the top actions small business owners in Los Angeles take to retain employees are offering a competitive salary (49 percent), listening to and implementing employee feedback (46 percent) and rewarding high performers with bonuses (45 percent). Catalyzing employees to deliver quality feedback is the goal of good change management as well as team development.

Forty-two percent of Los Angeles small business owners agree that managing their staff is a source of great pride for them. But 64 percent admit to having some level of frustration with their employees. The top frustrations are lack of proactive thinking (33 percent), poor time management (25 percent) and lack of enthusiasm (23 percent). All of these issues are correctable with good training and employee empowerment.

Atlanta

Atlanta small business owners are optimistic about the year ahead, but continue to have concerns. Small business owners feel optimistic about the future of their business, as 53 percent of those surveyed in Atlanta expect their revenue to increase in the next 12 months.

In addition, the report found that almost one-third (29 percent) of Atlanta small business owners believe their local economy will improve over the next 12 months, but they are less confident about the national economy. Only 23 percent of Atlanta respondents think that the national economy will improve in the next 12 months, compared to 41 percent nationally.

When asked about their concerns, more than three-quarters (76 percent) of Atlanta small business owners cite the effectiveness of U.S. government leaders and 65 percent mention health care costs as top concerns heading into 2014. Other concerns that may affect the success of their business in the next 12 months include:

• Commodities prices (e.g., oil, gas) – 58 percent.
• Interest rates – 57 percent.
• Strength of the U.S. dollar – 57 percent.
• Corporate tax rates – 55 percent.
• Credit availability – 44 percent.

Despite concern about health care costs, more than half (55 percent) of Atlanta small business owners say their hiring plans will not change in the next year due to new health care legislation. In addition, only 25 percent of Atlanta small business owners currently provide health/wellness benefit packages, consistent with national levels (27 percent).

B of A also discovered that nearly one in four (26 percent) Atlanta respondents plan to hire over the next 12 months. Yet about half (51 percent) say finding qualified employees is difficult. Of those small business owners who plan on hiring new talent in 2014, 26 percent are staffing up for an increase in business. With good talent difficult to find and small business owners looking to increase business, they are also focused on keeping valuable employees. The report found that the top actions small business owners in Atlanta take to retain employees are offering flexible working arrangements (54 percent), competitive salary (47 percent) and bonuses for high performers (44 percent).

Is it possible that through the recession business owners offered salaries below the competitive salary range?  It appears so. It also appears that training and development of staff needs to uptick as well.

More than four in 10 Atlanta small business owners (44 percent) agree that managing their staff is a source of great pride for them. But over half (53 percent) admit to having some level of frustration with their employees. The top frustrations are poor time management (21 percent), lack of proactive thinking (18 percent) and lack of accountability (16 percent).

“As my company grows, I’ll continue to give more to my employees,” said Bank of America client Jason R. Nieves, owner of Marietta-based J.R. Electrical LLC. “My staff works so hard. At the end of the day, they’re the reason why my business is thriving.”

We would hope more leaders and business owners feel this way. Without employees the opportunity to leverage a business is nill. Therefore, should employees be viewed as costs or assets?  As assets, polishing skills, and delivering training that improves employee performance and feelings of success is essential to maintaining a good asset that you want to keep and know is hard to find in the open marketplace. So will there be an equivalent uptick in training and development?

Copyright TIGERS Success Series by Dianne Crampton

About TIGERS Success Series

TIGERS Success Series is a team development consulting company that helps leaders build high levels of employee cooperation, engagement and commitment by anchoring  group behaviors that support trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk resolution and success.  We offer 360 team diagnostics and hands-on team building activities and problem solving meeting facilitiation that catalyze improved team behavior. TIGERS offers team building certification to HR professionals in the use of TIGERS team development resources to improve work culture, teams, work force development planning and to track the results.

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