Teklu, Tilahun (PhD)Muktar, Lina2018-11-012023-11-042018-11-012023-11-042011-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/13560Based on data collected from 44 respondents in twenty three small business units located in Addis Ababa by the use of survey questionnaire, the present study makes an attempt to explore small business workers and the human resource practices prevailing in small businesses. The results from the study indicate that small businesses have lesser proportion of female workers than their male counter parts. In addition, they are filled with people with less education level. Likewise, in terms of age, small business workers are mostly found in age range of eighteen to thirty five years and small business units do not have formal HRM practices in the recruitment and selection areas, but they do have HRM practices such as recruitment, selection, and training. For testing the hypothesis t-test was applied. The predominant characteristics of these practices are found to be informal. Having understood the nature/characteristics of small business employees and HR practices in small firms, this paper suggests formalization of the recruitment and selection system that can be used to nurture better performers. Additionally, owners of small businesses should see training of their employees as investment not a cost. Key words: small businesses, workers/employees, HRM (human resource management) practices, recruitment, gender, education, age.ensmall businessesworkers/employeesHRM(human resource management)practices recruitmen gender education age.Thesis