Starting a Business For Dummies, 5th UK Edition

Chapter 11

Employing People

IN THIS CHAPTER

Finding the best employees for your business

Deciding on motivations and rewards

Keeping on the right side of employment law

Unless you intend to work on your own, when running a business, you’re involved in employing and motivating others to do what you want them to do. Even if you don’t employ people full-time, or if you outsource some portion of your work to others, you have to choose who to give those tasks to, how to get the best out of people and how to reward their achievements.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the unemployment rate for people over age 16 had risen from 3.8 per cent in 2019 to 4.7 per cent by April 2021, a rise of very nearly 25 per cent. (You can read more at www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket.)

In theory, those numbers suggest that more people will be out there looking for new jobs, which in turn gives employers a better chance of finding great staff. But the jobs market can change very quickly and in any event, you’ll never find it easy to get the best people to work for a new or small enterprise. Poor promotion prospects and low job security, both hallmarks of the sector, aren’t exactly ...