Book contents · Chapter 9 of 11
Small businesses rarely win on pay alone against larger employers. They win on clarity, responsibility and the chance to grow: a clear role for each person, a few numbers each person owns, regular conversations about how they are doing, and enough structure that capable people can take on more. Knowing what each role is worth to the business also means pay decisions are made on numbers, not under pressure.
What are the signs you are losing good people?
Sound familiar? These are the signs owners describe most often.
- Recruiting takes months, and some roles never get filled.
- Good people leave after a year or two.
- Staff do what they are told but rarely take ownership.
- Nobody is quite sure who is responsible when something goes wrong.
- Pay rises are negotiated under pressure, one resignation at a time.
Why is it so hard for Maltese SMEs to find and keep staff?
A tight labour market
Employee shortages are consistently the top concern in the Malta Chamber of SMEs’ business surveys. Every business is competing for the same people, and larger employers can usually pay more.
Unclear roles
When nobody knows exactly what they own, the motivated people end up doing everything and the rest do the minimum. Both groups eventually leave.
No numbers, no ownership
People take ownership of what they can see and influence. A number they own, reviewed every week, turns a job into a responsibility.
Nowhere to grow
Where every decision sits with the owner, ambitious people hit a ceiling of their own, and leave to find the responsibility you could have given them.
What staff turnover really costs
A fictional fifteen-person Maltese business adds up the cost of the people it lost this year. Every figure is marked as an assumption or a calculated result.
| Line | Workings | Result | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| People who leave in a year, in a 15-person business | 3 | Assumption | |
| Advertising, agency and interview time per hire | €1,500 | Assumption | |
| Lower output while the post is empty and the new person learns | 6 weeks × €900 | €5,400 | Calculated |
| Owner and manager time spent training | 40 hours × €60 | €2,400 | Calculated |
| Cost of each person who leaves | €1,500 + €5,400 + €2,400 | €9,300 | Calculated |
| Cost of turnover for the year | 3 × €9,300 | €27,900 | Calculated |
Losing three people a year costs this business about €27,900, before counting mistakes, overtime and the effect on customers. Keeping one more good person a year is worth about €9,300.
Two-minute self-check
Tick the statements that are true for your business today.
How can a small business keep good people?
In Numbers-First Management, these are the parts of the framework that do most of the work on this pain. Each one is explained in Part 2.
Fit Check
The right person in each role, a clear picture of what each role owns, and an honest view of who is ready for more.
Fit Check on the coaching page →Weekly Dials
Every number has one owner. It is the clearest form of ownership a small business can give.
Read the Weekly Dials chapter →Quarter Commitments
Leading a Quarter Commitment is a real chance to grow: thirteen weeks, one goal, your name on it.
Read the Quarter Commitments chapter →Admin, focus, visibility, margin, cash, finance and people: each one has a fix. What is usually missing is the structure that keeps those fixes going after the first few weeks.
Chapter 10: No structure to run the business →Is this costing your business?
A free 30-minute call about where your business is and which of these pains matter most. You speak to me, not a call centre.
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