UK’s small business staff are most fulfilled and most loyal

New research has found that the UK’s SMEs boast the country’s highest levels of job satisfaction, with companies of fewer than 10 employees coming out on top. The opportunity to have a positive impact on others is one of the key differentiating factors according to smaller employers surveyed.

One in five UK workers say that they’d prefer to work for a small business than larger one, and over a third would even be willing to take a pay cut for the chance to work for a start-up. Despite this advantage, more than three quarters of SME employers feel that they still have to work harder than larger companies in their industry to attract the best candidates. The news from the research by LinkedIn comes on the day that the business nerwork unveiled two new products designed to help employers more easily connect with the most relevant candidates on the platform.

The newly redesigned Careers Pages give British employers of all sizes new ways to engage with the network’s 20 million UK members, including showcasing existing employees and delivering a tailored experience to whoever is viewing the page based on their professional profile.

Its new ‘Open Candidates’ tool enables members to quietly signal to recruiters that they are interested in new job opportunities, without it being visible on their LinkedIn profiles, helping recruiters more easily identify the most responsive potential new hires.

Dan Dackombe, director of LinkedIn Talent Solutions commented, “Thanks to social media, it’s never been easier for smaller employers to effectively engage potential new hires. However, our research shows that they feel the need to work harder to recruit despite consistently punching above their weight on employee fulfilment. Our country’s SMEs have a great story to tell and have an opportunity to capitalise on their size when it comes to hiring.” LinkedIn’s Work Satisfaction Survey finds that the hiring challenges faced by the UK’s SMEs could, in part, be due to the fact that many are under-using their best asset: their people.

More than three quarters of UK workers in small businesses say that they’d be happy to recommend their employer to a friend, compared to only two thirds of employees at the UK’s biggest companies. Yet is seems employee advocacy initiatives have some way to go. While half of SMEs say that they invest in employee advocacy, only three in ten SME employees have actually endorsed their employer on social media.