SMEs generally give their employees more freedom, and workers themselves feel that they are trusted, research shows.

SMEs offer better job stability - worldwide, SME employees feel their jobs are secure from external threats and they are stable in their roles, with only 25% believing that outsourcing is a threat, new research finds.

Furthermore, SME employees are happier with their working environments than workers at larger enterprises and public sector organizations, due to factors such as choosing their own device to work on; 39% can choose compared with only 21% at larger companies. Just 41% of SME employees feel under pressure to work long hours vs. 47% of their counterparts in larger organizations.

Trust

The results from the research by Dell shows that around the world 55% of employees from SMEs say they feel their employer listens to them, compared to only 36% at large enterprises.

That type of trust is highly valued almost universally; in Canada, just 22% of SME employees believe their employer monitors their email, compared with 38% at large enterprises. In Australia, 93% of SME workers consider themselves to be trusted, with 90% in both the UK and Canada saying the same. In Japan, only 17% of employees thought their email was monitored, compared to more than double that number (39%) in larger organizations.

UK

"SMEs are global leaders in terms of employee led innovation, but the UK lags behind and can be seen to hold its employees back with half (53%) of employees saying they don’t have the freedom to choose how to work", says Kevin Peesker, General Manager, UK and Ireland for Small and Medium Business at Dell.

"The lesson here for SMEs is to continue to trust their employees and involve them in the decision making process for what devices to use to best help them thrive in their jobs. By listening to employees, SME owners will get the best out of them and increase job satisfaction. Involving employees in the business motivates them, and demonstrates trust.

"Amongst more developed markets, the UK needs to continue to do more to improve employee satisfaction. By allowing workers increased freedom, through practices like flexible working and device choice, SMEs will increase motivation and in doing so drive the productivity and creativity that will in turn stimulate innovation and growth."