As we enter 2025, the challenges facing Small to Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) are more pressing than ever. At MyTalentPlanner, we recently surveyed SMB leaders to uncover the top issues preventing them from reaching their full revenue potential. Among the top three pain points—lack of accountability and productivity, being stuck in the day-to-day, and people-related issues—one stands out as both the most difficult and the most transformative to solve: People-related issues and communication.
The People Problem: More Than a Pain Point—An Opportunity
At the core of nearly every SMB challenge lies a people-related issue. Whether it’s poor communication, hiring mistakes, lack of leadership development, or low engagement, these problems don’t just slow growth—they stop it. The data is sobering:
- Organizations with low engagement see a 32.7% decline in operating income.
- 80% of turnover is caused by a bad hire.
- U.S. small businesses experience turnover three times higher than large firms.
- 38% of employees quit within the first year, often due to a lack of development.
- Engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave, and drive a 19% increase in operating income.
These statistics aren’t just numbers. They represent wasted time, missed opportunities, and lost profits. But they also spotlight a massive opportunity: If you win the people game, you win the growth game.
Why People Problems Persist
Many SMB leaders know people issues are holding them back—but don’t have the tools or clarity to fix them. Common issues include:
- Turnover and bad hires that disrupt momentum and drain resources.
- Low role clarity, leading to misalignment, inefficiency, and frustration.
- Vague performance reviews that miss the mark in driving results.
- No leadership pipeline, leaving the business vulnerable to disruption.
- Lack of a talent strategy, meaning growth is built on shaky ground.
As one SMB leader put it, “I can’t get to the important stuff on the list because I haven’t been able to hand off the day-to-day activities I get sucked into.” Sound familiar?
At MyTalentPlanner, we believe excelling at the people side of business isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity.
How the Growth Accelerator System Solves People-Related Issues
✅ Talent Planning at Every Level
With MyTalentPlanner, you don’t guess—you plan. Create talent plans for your company, departments, and each employee so everyone understands how they contribute to the big picture.
✅ Company Strategy Alignment
Growth without direction is chaos. The Company Strategy feature ensures your people decisions are always aligned with where your business is going.
✅ Behavioral Science: Your Secret Weapon
Our use of DISC and Motivators assessments helps leaders understand what makes people tick. This is where SMBs go from good to great—by using behavioral science to make the right hire the first time, develop the right people, and reduce turnover.
You no longer need to rely on intuition or gut feel. Behavioral insights eliminate bad hires, help you retain rockstar performers, and build a deep bench of future leaders.
✅ Tools That Power Clarity and Accountability
- Team Wheels and the 9-Box grid make it easy to identify high potentials and skills gaps.
- The Current Organizational Structure shows you where things stand today.
- The Talent Vision and Future Org Structure show you where you’re going—and what talent you’ll need to get there.
- 1:1 meetings, Development Plans, and Performance Plans help you develop, engage, and retain your people.
- Key Accountabilities and the Start, Stop & Continue framework keep performance focused and feedback flowing.
From Reactive to Proactive: Get Ahead of People Problems
Most SMBs react to people issues only after they’ve become urgent. MyTalentPlanner flips the script by helping you proactively address problems before they derail growth.
Imagine a business where:
- Your hires are the right fit the first time.
- Teams are having honest, open and transparent (HOT) conversations leading to high accountability and productivity.
- Employees are engaged and collaborative.
- Leaders are being developed at every level.
- Turnover is low and growth is high.
That’s not just possible—it’s the future for SMBs that embrace talent planning using behavioral science.
Take Action: Your Growth Depends on It
Solving people-related issues is not optional in 2025—it’s essential. The businesses that will dominate their industries are those known as great places to work. They don’t win by accident. They win because they plan for talent.
If you’re ready to stop losing great people, eliminate hiring mistakes, and build a high-performing team that accelerates growth—you need MyTalentPlanner Growth Accelerator System.
Don’t let 2025 be another year of spinning your wheels on the people front. Let MyTalentPlanner help you turn your team into your greatest asset.
👉 Visit www.mytalentplanner.com to schedule a demo and see how MyTalentPlanner can help you solve pain point #3—and position your SMB for record-breaking growth.
