A small business that makes good hiring decisions tends to have higher productivity and lower turnover, which positively affects the bottom line. Hiring the wrong people can have a negative impact on employee morale and management time and can waste valuable training and development dollars.   

Smaller employers place a premium on their employees: nearly all small businesses provide opportunities for on-the-job learning. When it comes to workforce preparedness, nearly one-quarter of small-business owners believe the quality of high-school educated workers has gotten worse in the last five years.  Consequently, nearly one-quarter of small firms seek employees with a masters or higher degree. Therefore, it is no surprise that one-third of small businesses pay for off-site training for employees and one-fourth provide money toward employees’ continuing education, underscoring the real-world cost of the skills gap many employers face.