When a small business grows, one of its key challenges is to find personnel who will enhance that growth. Earlier studies indicate that in many fast-growing small and medium-sized enterprises, the main problem is finding and retaining high quality employees. Knowledge of human capital, comprising human resource processes and leadership, might help an owner in personnel matters because growth entrepreneurs must begin to increase staffing and learn how to develop and implement human resource management (HRM) practices. The faster the growth the small firm is facing, the more likely it will experience human capital problems.
The research question of this study focuses on the experiences of Finnish entrepreneurs with regard to recruiting and retaining personnel to enhance company growth. This empirical study focuses on twenty-nine Finnish growth-oriented entrepreneurs' views on issues related to human capital. Most of the entrepreneurs were interviewed face-to-face, and a couple via Skype or phone. The interviews were semi-structured and took approximately one hour each. They were then transcribed and read through several times. Qualitative content analysis was applied.
The results support earlier studies, indicating that there are many challenges in finding the right personnel. Especially, employees with international experience were highly valued but especially hard to find. A company changes as it grows; therefore, personnel need to be flexible and able to learn new skills. These changing requirements were one of the more challenging issues in recruitment. In order to retain personnel, entrepreneurs apply mainly modern leadership skills and generous remuneratation. To support growth entrepreneurs, it is important to recognize personnel needs at different stages of growth.
As older people have accumulated more developed networks, stronger financial positions and a greater ability to leverage resources and create more credible businesses, they are better placed to start new and more successful businesses than the younger generation. This paper presents the research that has been conducted for the ENTRUST project, which aims at designing an entrepreneurship training programme for people aged 50+ who are interested in creating new businesses to foster the sustainable development of rural areas and to provide services to tourists or other businesses that support tourism in rural areas. The results of the surveys for potential 50+ entrepreneurs (72 respondents) and experts in rural development and tourism organizations (100 respondents) show that there are perceived business opportunities in rural areas for experienced 50+ professionals. There is also a high demand for training targeted at rural tourism entrepreneurs. The interviews of experienced 50+ entrepreneurs (8) who work in cooperation with the rural community show that 50+ entrepreneurs find their work meaningful and that they want to continue working “as long as their health allows”. They greatly value the opportunity to develop the rural area and to be involved in preserving its historical and cultural heritage.
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