Finding Qualified Employees in a Niche Industry Proved to be a Tough Task
Even with the high rate of unemployment today, many small businesses struggle with finding and keeping qualified employees. In fact, this is the most pressing issue for 38 percent of small business owners, according to a survey by The Alternative Board.
Kimberley Stufflet, president and owner of Preferred Aviation Underwriters in Atlanta, felt this pain acutely. Founded in 2005 in a niche industry–providing tailored property and casualty insurance to clients in aviation–it took four years for the company to establish credibility. But as her business grew, Kimberly found herself facing a rampant employee turnover rate despite the recession and the well-paid jobs the company offered.
Being in a specialized niche, finding qualified people was proving to be tedious, time consuming and costly. The company was suffering from the lack of skilled staff, and productivity was falling because of the time wasted in training new employees who didn’t work out in the long run. Kimberly tried to consult her staff to dissect the problem.
This company is my baby, and my employees only told me what I wanted to hear.
To get the hard truth, she turned to TAB. Kimberly’s fellow TAB Board Members opened her eyes to what was causing her hiring and retention problems, and it was not what she expected to hear. With their help, she realized she was only considering applicants if they had the correct college degree, almost completely discounting other personality traits that are essential to the job. Based on their insight and feedback, Kimberly modified her job descriptions, search, interview and hiring processes.
There comes a time where you need to ask for outside help. TAB’s processes opened my eyes to see that I needed to look beyond the resume when I was considering an applicant.
Kimberly also took her marketing issues to the Board and her Facilitator. “In this arena of business,” she explains, “you have to dedicate face-to-face time with your clients. It takes a lot of time and perseverance to do one-on-one marketing.”
Kimberly’s TAB Board encouraged her to increase the company’s annual marketing budget to support a more hands-on, personalized approach to marketing. “It was outside of my comfort zone,” she says, “but it was the right thing to do as it has helped me grow my company tremendously.”
She says that if she could go back in time, she would have reached out to TAB sooner. “As a business owner, you experience peaks and valleys daily, but it is the perseverance and knowing when to ask for help that is essential for your success. My company would not be where we are today if I had not reached out to TAB and utilized their processes, which have proved to build a thriving company.”
