How to support small businesses to access new talent and boost economic growth

Enterprise Nation held a roundtable of executives from leading employment companies, government representatives and small business owners to discuss the critical issue of boosting employment through connecting job seekers to small businesses.

The event took place to launch Enterprise Nation's Talent Hub, which provides entrepreneurs with support on finding, attracting, recruiting and training talent to fuel their businesses' growth.

Delivered with our partners talent platform Unibeez, all-in-one HR, payroll and benefits platform Employment Hero and global recruitment firm Indeed, we were thrilled to be joined by:

• Euan Carlile, Find a Job Verification Team Leader at the Department for Work and Pensions

• Neil Potts, co-founder at Silverwood Rose

• Helen Kronheim, co-founder at TFSolutions Ltd

• Erica Chamberlain, head of strategic business partnerships at the Careers & Enterprise Company

• Chris Keenan, co-founder at Unibeez

• James Parsons, co-founder at Unibeez

• Kevin Fitzgerald, managing director, UK at Employment Hero

• John Carroll, head of marketing at Employment Hero

• Garreth Hayes, marketing director at Indeed

Read on for a summary of what was discussed.

The employment challenge

Enterprise Nation's CEO and founder Emma Jones CBE outlined the challenge facing Britain's workforce. Nearly one million young people are currently not in education, employment or training, as highlighted by work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall.

The potential economic impact is significant - research from the Social Market Foundation and Tesco suggests that successfully integrating these individuals into the workforce could boost the UK's GDP by an impressive £454.9 billion.

The enthusiasm to tackle this challenge is evident across both public and private sectors. Enterprise Nation's Small Business Barometer revealed that 30% of small businesses are optimistic about expanding their teams in the final quarter of 2024.

However, the path isn't straightforward, with 62% of these businesses expressing the need for support with recruitment and retention strategies.

In response to these challenges, Enterprise Nation launched Talent Hub, a groundbreaking initiative developed in partnership with Unibeez, Employment Hero and Indeed.

This digital solution has already been integrated into Enterprise Nation's business support platform, which serves more than 850,000 small businesses and is projected to reach over one million users by 2025.

The hub's approach is practical. Small business owners begin with a diagnostic survey to identify their priorities, after which they receive tailored training content, resources and tools.

Importantly, the platform also includes guidance on employee mental wellbeing support services, particularly targeted at SMEs.

Department for Work and Pensions address

During the roundtable, Euan Carlile, DWP's Find a Job Verification Team Leader, outlined the scale of the challenge. Approximately 2.8 million people are currently out of the labour market due to long-term health conditions.

The government has set an ambitious target of increasing working-age employment from 75% to 80% – effectively bringing over two million more people into work.

The DWP's current data underscores the scale of the challenge, with one in five jobseekers using Jobcentre services, while just one in six employers utilises these services for recruitment, dropping to one in 10 among small businesses.

The department is responding by trialling new technologies (including artificial intelligence) and working with the Department for Education to create a more integrated jobs and careers service. Currently, their job boards host 86,000 employers and 1.3 million jobseekers, with a notable focus on promoting 'disability confident' employers.

The government is also considering a shift towards decentralisation as a way to boost its role in matching people to jobs, with successful employment initiatives in Northern Ireland and Greater Manchester serving as promising case studies.

The government wants to act as a catalyst for change on this issue, and as such, will publish a White Paper outlining its approach to "Getting Britain Working" this Autumn.

Reflections from small businesses and Talent Hub partners

Small business owners

Small business owners at the roundtable shared candid insights about their challenges. They advocated for a lighter touch from government, suggesting that economic policies, such as business rates, often do more to suppress employment than any positive initiative can counter.

A particularly pressing concern was the treatment of SMEs under employment law and pension schemes, where they face the same requirements as major corporations. Many argued for using turnover rather than headcount to determine business size for regulatory purposes.

A fascinating insight emerged regarding SMEs' unique selling points as employers. Attendees noted that many small businesses aren't aware that policies like bringing pets to work or quarterly team away days may set them apart from larger companies to jobseekers, and could be powerful attractors for young talent. Talent Hub aims to help SMEs better promote these distinctive benefits.

Unibeez

Unibeez brought valuable perspectives on emerging talent, emphasising the need to educate small businesses about the benefits of hiring graduates, who primarily seek both income and experience in choosing their first job.

Unibeez's platform, which attracted 10,000 new candidates in September, offers flexibility through short-term projects – an arrangement many graduates value for CV-building.

Indeed

Indeed reflected on the potential of AI to transform job-matching platforms and highlighted the AI adoption challenge among SMEs.

It was noted that while many small businesses recognise AI's potential, they struggle with practical implementation. Attendees added that many SMEs are already using AI-powered tools without realising it, highlighting the need for better education and practical guidance in this area.

Employment Hero

Employment Hero shared insights about changing workplace dynamics, noting a recent 7.2% increase in wage costs, and a shift from full-time to part-time employment.

They emphasised the sector-specific nature of small business employment needs, with restaurants requiring seasonal flexibility, while other industries seek long-term cultural fits when hiring.

The Careers & Enterprise Company

The Careers & Enterprise Company highlighted that young people receiving free school meals (FSM) typically report lower career readiness when completing the 'Future Skills Questionnaire' compared to their peers.

Encouragingly, with more than 100,000 responses, the organisation's data shows that effective careers provision can bridge this gap, with each Gatsby Benchmark achieved making a measurable difference.

Students in schools with the strongest provision (characterised by meeting all eight Gatsby Benchmarks) scored 3.5 percentage points higher on career readiness compared to those in schools meeting no benchmarks.

The organisation noted that young people, particularly young women, often struggle to articulate their skills effectively in the job application process, and they have produced guidance to support employers in addressing this through their Employer Standards for Careers Education.

Notably, they observed that employers are reporting that younger jobseekers often withdraw from multi-staged interview processes involving modern practices, such as pre-recorded video interviews, when they haven't been properly prepared for these formats.

Looking ahead

The roundtable concluded with commitments to continued engagement between Enterprise Nation and the DWP and plans to expand Talent Hub's partner network.

The discussion demonstrated that solving Britain's employment challenges requires a delicate balance of policy reform, technological innovation, and practical business support, with small businesses playing a crucial role in creating meaningful employment opportunities.

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