Small Businesses Need—And Support—Employees With Additional Training and Credentialing

Publisher: 
Small Business Majority
Date: 
Tuesday, December 13, 2016

It’s no secret that big businesses struggle to find skilled and credentialed employees. But this issue also impacts our nation’s job creators: small businesses. New scientific polling shows small businesses around the country believe lack of education, experience and training is one of biggest challenges they face when it comes to hiring and employment, and they’re willing to act to ensure they have the skilled workers they need to run their businesses.

Key Findings

Small businesses identify lack of education and training as a leading problem they face when it comes to hiring or retaining employees: Nearly three in 10 (29%) say their employees do not have the education, experience or training to promote and lose motivation and interest. When asked about hiring new employees, more than one in three (34%) identify finding candidates with the right education, skills or training as a difficulty. 

Small businesses identify lack of education and training as a leading problem they face when it comes to hiring or retaining employees

Which one or two of the following would you say are the biggest difficulties you face when hiring new employees?

Many small businesses are already addressing this problem inside and outside of their business: Nearly four in 10 (39%) already provide specific opportunities for employees to receive additional education, advanced training, certification or credentials outside their business. Fifty-six percent of small businesses with more than 10 employees and 44% of small businesses outside of retail and food services provide these opportunities. An additional 43% provide specific opportunities to their employees to receive additional education, advanced training, certification or credentials inside their business. 

Vast majority are willing to allocate resources to offer their employees more training and credentialing: More than seven in 10 (71%) are willing to offer a flexible work schedule so their employees can get additional training. A majority of small businesses (54%) are willing to subsidize these trainings themselves. And more than two-thirds (67%) are willing to commit to financially rewarding employees who have received additional education, training or certification with pay-raises and promotions. 

Small businesses make it a priority to address this issue because they believe it’s good for their bottom line: Among business owners who provide these professional opportunities, a vast 81% say it’s good for their business, with nearly half (45%) who strongly believe this.

Credentialing employees is good for their bottom line

Do you believe providing opportunities for your employees to receive additional education, advanced training, certification, or credentials outside your business has been good for your business or bad for your business?

Small businesses support solutions to increase training and credentialing opportunities: Small business overwhelmingly support solutions that would make it easier for them to address the jobs skills gap, such as providing tax credits for small businesses that offer these opportunities (80%), and banding with other small businesses to help share the cost of additional training (69%). Nearly eight in 10 (78%) also believe it would be effective to join with local universities, colleges or community colleges to offer additional training or credentialing programs.

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