Talents' retention in SMEs : challenges and attractions

Abstract

As an Hr manager, having the best talented employees is not the only necessary part, but also it is so much important to retain them for the long term benefit of both: the organization and the employees. The purpose of this paper is to study the aspects of employees retention from 3 perspectives. The research discusses what are the challenges faced by Lebanese SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises) when it comes to retaining talented employees. The study also reveals the ways used by managers to retain and motivate qualified employees while shedding the lights on the reasons behind top talents choice to work for SMEs. This exploratory research contributes to knowledge in many ways. It creates a holistic understanding to the major challenges that HR managers face, regarding all the attractions from big companies mainly higher salaries. The research shows as well it is not about one fixed practice to retain the talented employees, but there are many practices that organizations may adopt to keep a high level of employee commitment. However, based on our findings, there are lots of talented employees that prefer to work in an SME and receive more incentives instead of working for a big company that gives less importance to motivational issues.