SAP Staffing Strategies for Small- to Mid-Size Businesses (SMBs)

SAP solutions are important for improving a business’s operational efficiency, but proper staffing is needed to ensure SAP runs smoothly. Without the right talent in place, the system won’t be able to reach its full potential, which is especially important for small- to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) with limited resources and tighter budgets. Proper staffing not only ensures efficient system use but also lays the foundation for long-term scalability and growth.  

Below, we explore four SAP staffing strategies for SMBs.

Common Challenges in SAP Staffing

One of the main challenges SMBs face when staffing for SAP is a limited budget. SMBs typically have less funding than larger businesses and cannot always afford to staff a full-time SAP team. This can make the hiring process difficult as companies attempt to prioritize roles and preserve funding. Additionally, SMBs may have more trouble attracting talent when compared to large organizations. In some cases, SAP talent may be more drawn to working at large corporations with bigger budgets that are willing to offer higher pay and more benefits.  

Recruiting full-time employees for every project can be extremely costly and unnecessary, especially for SMBs. Luckily, full-time employees are not required for every project, and in these instances, hiring temporary external talent can be a better option. However, it’s also important for SMBs to avoid an overreliance on external talent. Overuse of external talent is not always sustainable in the long term, and companies must emphasize the importance of knowledge transfer when they do choose to bring in external talent.  

Four SAP Staffing Strategies for SMBs

Assess Your Business’s Needs

The first step any business should take when hiring for SAP is to assess their needs. By examining their current SAP environment and defining their future business goals, businesses can begin to understand which SAP solutions they need to best reach these goals.  

During this assessment, businesses can then use these goals to help determine which SAP roles are needed, as well as which of these are best kept in-house versus which ones need to be acquired externally. This is especially important for SMBs as they often need to balance costs with efficiency and long-term scalability. 

Internally Hire Cross-Functional Roles

Hiring SAP talent with a range of skills that can cover multiple responsibilities is another useful strategy for SMBs. For example, an employee who can contribute to multiple areas, such as project management, system configuration, and security, can help fulfill a broader range of needs for a small business without the added costs of hiring multiple SAP specialists. By hiring cross-functionally, SMBs can cover more business needs with a more limited budget.  

When hiring cross-functionally, businesses should prioritize roles that support daily operations, such as system monitoring, troubleshooting, and support. This helps ensure that the business can run its SAP system smoothly on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, internal hiring, particularly cross-functionally, can help build internal knowledge for long-term support, laying the foundation for a smaller business to scale up in the future.  

Determine When You Need to Hire External Talent

External talent includes SAP consultants and temporary or contract workers. This type of talent can be especially beneficial for SMBs taking on specific SAP projects. For example, a small retail business may bring in an external functional SAP consultant to help select and implement a new SAP solution like SAP Customer Activity Repository (CAR). 

External talent can also help increase flexibility, allowing companies to scale up or down based on their current project demands and budget. This helps businesses avoid committing to the overhead costs associated with permanent hires, which can put a strain on smaller businesses. While external workers are a cost-effective solution for short-term problems, hiring internal employees is still useful and saves money related to long-term challenges.  

Mix Internal and External Workers to Fulfill SAP Project Needs

Creating a workforce that combines both internal and external workers is a great solution for SMBs. It allows for a flexible workforce that can scale up when needed and down to cut strenuous costs. External workers can be brought in for new implementations or major upgrades that only occur once and won’t require specialized support in the future, while full-time talent can be brought on to maintain the system. Mixing internal and external workers can also facilitate knowledge transfer. This is extremely beneficial for SMBs as it can help the company grow and become less dependent on contractors.  

Implementing SAP Staffing Strategies for SMBs

SMBs don’t need large SAP teams to be successful. When hiring SAP talent, companies should prioritize strategic planning, flexibility, budget-consciousness, and cross-functional roles to support long-term sustainability.  

If your business is looking for help implementing these SAP staffing strategies for SMBs, our team can help connect you with our network of high-quality SAP talent. Click here to learn more.   

Contributions from Natalie Pollock