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Does my small business really need HR?

May 30, 2012 By

Summary:  All business sizes can benefit from HR, you need determine how much.

Well that depends.  Don’t you hate that answer, yeah me too. However it doesn’t change the answer. All business require some type of HR support, the real question is how much. So let’s take a look at what you need to consider.

 

Photoxpress 64548601 320x213 Does my small business really need HR?

Courtesy of PhotoXpress

Questions to consider:

Are your employee files in order? This does not mean do you have employee files. There are certain documents that should be in the employee files and other that definitely must not be in the files.

Are you employment posters up to date? Even if you have one employee you need to place the posters in an area where employees will see them.

Do you have an employee handbook/manual? Nothing elaborate is needed here, you do need one place where your policies can be accessed. It should also include your policies on vacation, benefits, professionalism, etc. If they need to know it – put it here.

Do you have a performance review system? As you know I am not a big fan of formal reviews if this is the only time feedback is given. People do like to have something in writing so be sure to summarize their year in a document.

Does your compensation have a structure? Even if you only have two employees, it should be structured. This is your highest cost, you don’t want it to be all over the place. Logic and reasoning need to prevail here.

How do you recruit? Your employees are an important part of your business. Are you paying enough attention as to how you find them?

All of the above can be solved with someone coming in and taking care of it for you on a project basis. 

Do you find yourself with on-going employee issues such as these:

High turnover. Do your employees seem to come in and out of your business like there was a revolving door? Why? How can your turn this around?

Describe your culture. Do you have a place where people want to work? What is working? What’s not? Are thing getting done because of you or in spite of you?

How many employees do you have? This is the big question for determining if you need full-time help. Each type of business has it’s own point of needing someone full-time – the general rule (but not an absolute) is around 100. With that being said I have seen businesses with 60 employees have an on-site HR person. Ask yourself  if the person would be consistently busy or just occassionally.

All of these are instences where you would need either a more dedicated on-going consultant, a Part-Time person or a Full-Time Person.

Can you benefit from HR help? Absolutely!

How has HR benefited your business?

Filed Under: Authentic Leadership, Benefits, Policies & Procedures Tagged With: ,

An Unexpected Point of View

November 15, 2011 By

Summary: While attending a workshop put on by Employment Security (unemployment office), I came to realize the misconceptions about the office. What misconceptions exist about us and our business.

Last week I attended a workshop on protesting unemployment claims put on by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). When you have been in Human Resources for a long time, it’s hard to believe you can learn something new about unemployment. After all like you, we have the same preconceived ideas about IDES. They are:

  • They favor the employees
  • They believe employees are always right
  • They always grant unemployment, regardless of the circumstance
pespective 226x320 An Unexpected Point of View
I have to say, after a three hour workshop, I have a new respect for IDES and learned a few things that will help me and my clients with them in the future.
What did I learn?
  • They are not determining whether or not someone should be dismissed
  • They are making determinations based on “unemployment laws”
  • Employers as a general rule either provide not enough information or the wrong type of information
  • They make a determination based on the last incident
While this is what is done in Illinois, I would suggest you talk to your state office to determine if they follow the same rules. Better yet, attend a workshop in your city.
This also got me thinking about what other things do I have preconceived ideas about that may be wrong (in whole or part)? We typically only see or experience one side of a situation – do those around us also have misconceptions of our actions?
Just like IDES what we need to do is – communicate.  Show others what you see, hear and experience to get their understanding.
Share misconceptions of you or your business that you have encountered and how you overcame it.
Filed Under: Authentic Leadership, Benefits, Employee Communication, Leadership, Legalities Tagged With: , , , , ,

Value of Vacation

July 6, 2011 By

Vacation is usually a benefit we reserve for our employees – we encourage them to take it, use it either a week at a time or to take off for a long weekend.  We have been fantastic at explaining the value of taking time off – the rejuvenating effects, getting the creative juices flowing, and general re-energizing. However, with all of our good intentions, we don’t do the same for ourselves.

That’s right – we are guilty of “Do as I say, not as I Do”.

vacation e1309916608161 320x119 Value of Vacation

Allow me to reiterate the benefits of taking a vacation.

Re-energize. Only by taking time away and checking in every once in a while (I know you will check in – just don’t do it every hour) – can you gain your energy.  The day-to-day without break, no matter how much coffee you drink, will drain your energy. You may find yourself hitting the snooze button a little more often or postponing ideas for tomorrow – all signs you need to get away.

Creativity. Similar to the above – your creativity will decrease and be less consistent.  Getting away for a week and visiting a new place can spark the creativity inside you.

Re-juventation.  Remember the feeling when you first started your business – the possibilities, the wonders, and your new future… Want that back again? Go on vacation, get away, explore a new city, relax on a beach, etc. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, hard work, and relax.

How often do you get away?

 

Filed Under: Authentic Leadership, Benefits, Goals Tagged With: , ,

Show Me the Money

December 14, 2010 By

Do you remember that line from Jerry McGuire? Cuba Gooding’s character was motivating Tom Cruise to get him more money for playing football with his current team. Cuba had Tom Cruise screaming into the phone “SHOW ME THE MONEY” among other things.

Photoxpress 4738949 e1292364070150 320x130 Show Me the Money

Have you heard this from your employees? Well, maybe not yet but more than likely they are whispering “show me the money” when you aren’t looking.  Many businesses have had wage freezes for the last two years, however during this time living expenses have increased – in essence – your employees are earning less since their paycheck doesn’t buy as much as it used to.

It’s not your fault – the economy is down and possibly your business is as well. However, when business turns around and you have returned to previous sales level (or even better – surpasses them) – your employees won’t be whispering any more. In fact they will start screaming “SHOW ME THE MONEY”.

Don’t be caught off guard, prepare yourself now and put a plan in place. Here are a few steps to keep you on the right track:

  • Determine your pay strategy (should line up with your market strategy)  - do you want to be below market, at market or above market levels
  • Decide if you want to compensate for the wage freezes or not
  • Decide when you will implement
  • Can you also reinstate some benefits?

Determine your pay strategy: This is also a good opportunity to determine your overall compensation strategy if you have not done so in the past.  As mentioned before your pay strategy needs to match your market strategy. If your marketing strategy is to be the high-end provider of a product or service – your compensation plan should also be above market.  If you are the low-cost alternative – your compensation plan will also be cost effective. There will be a disconnect with your employees if you offer a premier product/service but pay your employees below market average.

To Compensate or Not for the wage freeze: This is a tough question only you can answer.  You will need to take into consideration how many years of wage freeze there is to compensate for, what was the cost of living increase for those years, and can you afford it. To tell the truth most companies do not make up for it and start giving increases again based when they are able to.

Decide when you will implement: If you are planning your increase ahead of time before you are actually able to give the increase – you need to determine your triggering events. In other words what needs to happen in the business in order for you to be able to give increases.  The events can range from a 10% increase in sales, a 5% increase in EBITDA or a decrease of 10% in expenses. These events will be specific to your business and once you have determined what they are – share with your employees. They will be more than happy to help you reach the goal in order to get an increase!

Reinstate benefits:  In some companies, benefits were also a casualty of these economic times. Are there any benefits you can either reinstate totally or at least partially? Maybe you can provide an extra day off with pay as a “Thank You” for sticking with us this year.

Want further assistance in determining a compensation plan? Contact us at info@focushr.biz

Filed Under: Authentic Leadership, Benefits, Employee Satisfaction, Healthcare, Leadership, Policies & Procedures Tagged With: , , , ,

HR Basic: Coaching

November 17, 2010 By

When you think of coaching – what image comes to mind? Is it the sports coach who is giving you direction from the sidelines? Is it a person who spend one-on-one time with to improve – either personally or professionally? Maybe it’s the career coach who helped you find a job? Or the business coach who helped you increase your business?

HR Basic: Coaching

All of these are great examples of coaches. An educated guess would say that you have probably experiences several coaches during your life so far. Knowing this – would you consider yourself a coach?

As a business owner, manager, director, supervisor – you need to be a coach. I would go so far to say that it is a basic requirement if you have people working for you. This statement can make some people cringe because they have images of scheduled one-on-one time with each employee to have a discussion of the week or month. While something this formal can work, the suggestion here is to be more informal.

Let’s give coaching a broader definition: all aspects of one-on-one communication with your employee, subordinate, peer, associate or whatever term you use. Therefore this would include training, development, performance expectations, on-the-spot and long-term. Before your head starts spinning out of control let me explain.

Think of coaching as a step beyond communication. Most communication can be one way – me giving directions to you. If you open it up to be more two-way communication, incorporating the above is a lot easier.

Imagine if you took time to have employees come up with their own solutions instead of giving them the answers? Imagine an employee coming up to you and telling you about how they want to learn more? Imagine not having to do formal performance reviews because everyone is already aware of what’s working and what’s not? Imagine a conversation about long-term goals without a requirement to have one?

Doesn’t that sound great! That is what being a coach to your employees is all about. You passing along your knowledge, expectations, and teaching in a manner that appears natural and easy.

This usually leads to the next question – HOW?

Start with on-the-spot coaching. This is using everyday questions to coach. The next time one of your employees comes to you and asks a question – don’t answer. Instead as them what they think? What do they want to do? How would they resolve it? Ask them to explain their thought process and make corrections as needed.

One word of warning – the first time you do this, you will be catching people of guard. They will not know what to think and may need a few minutes to gather their thoughts. Be patient. They will get used to it. You will also need to make sure you don’t slip back into “I’ll just tell you what to do” mode, this will be a step backwards.

From there you can more onto long-term, training, development etc. All these conversations require tact and diplomacy. It’s ok to tell people you want to be more of a coach and ask them how you can do that.

Need guidance on how to be more of a coach? Contact us – we are more than happy to help you.

Filed Under: Authentic Leadership, Benefits Tagged With: , , ,
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