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Is Rehiring Those You Laid Off Smart?

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arehire

Experiencing a recession or other financial issue that requires you to lay off employees is one of the most stressful times a small business owner can go through.

But re-hiring those laid off workers may come in a close second if you’re not prepared for legal and other issues that may arise.

Discrimination Claims

If you’re not careful, you may end up receiving a discrimination claim when you start hiring back your laid-off employees. Remember: Fair employment laws apply to rehiring laid-off workers, just as they do to new hires.

Protect yourself by writing a clear rehire policy that lays out exactly how you’ll make the determination about who you’re going to bring back, and when.

For added protection, have an attorney read over your policy to make sure it can’t come back to haunt you in the case of a discrimination suit.

List Your Rehire Criteria Carefully

While writing your rehire policy, be cautious about your list of criteria you’ll use to decide who gets to come back.

Re-hiring based on skills, training, and knowledge of your company and procedures are excellent choices. Re-hiring based on whether or not you can still afford that employee’s salary can lead you into hot water.

Older workers tend to earn more, having worked their way up to higher salaries. If you eliminate rehires based on salary, you may be ruling out these older workers — leaving you open to an age-based discrimination claim.

Embrace Transparency

When you’re making your layoff decisions, and again when you’re rehiring workers, aim to be as transparent as possible about the reasons for both actions.

Employees who are laid off without a real explanation for why they were chosen may harbor resentment toward your company, which can cause morale and trust problems when you bring them back.

When you make your layoffs, ensure that your workers understand what you’ll do about their positions if things change.

If you lead employees to believe their old positions will be waiting for them when business improves, you’re setting yourself up for problems.

Offer Alternate Positions If Necessary

Unless your business operates under a collective bargaining agreement or union pact, don’t be afraid to offer your laid-off workers alternate jobs within your company.

In some cases, your financial situation may force you to eliminate some positions or departments, and you may not be able to bring everyone back at their old pay scale.

If you have to rewrite job descriptions and compensation terms, make sure your workers fully understand them — and the reasons for the changes.

You should also interview laid-off workers for the jobs, so you can reassess their skills and expertise before hiring them back.

And, if your company is in a position to start rehiring, but can no longer offer full-time work to laid-off employees, consider offering part-time positions.

Many workers may decide part-time work is better than no work at all. Just be careful: Don’t promise that these part-time positions will turn into more hours or full-time salaries in the future if there’s no guarantee.

Re-hiring employees you laid off can be a little touchy, especially if word gets around the Internet that how you are doing it is being called into question. Not only can it cause issues with your staff, but your online reputation management could take a hit with customers too.

But if you have a solid plan in place and make sure your workers understand the process, you can make it as painless as possible for both them and yourself.

Photo credit: instanthrsolutions.com

About the Author: Freelance blogger Angie Mansfield covers a variety of subjects for small business owners. From business growth to marketing, her work will give you tips to keep your business running smoothly.

Extend Yourself

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Skywalk
Grand Canyon Skywalk

All of the good stuff happens in the little moments where you just say to yourself, “heck with it, I’m going for it.” When you extend yourself beyond what you thought was possible.

You’ll never see what the Grand Canyon looks like from an eagle’s perspective unless you have the guts to step out onto the Skywalk.

And you’ll never know if you can run a successful business unless you decide, and take that first step.

The first step seems intimidating, but there are ways to start building momentum that don’t involve tightrope-walking across the canyon (even Wallenda carried a pole for balance). This is not an exhortation to quit your day job and recklessly hang out a shingle.

This is a call to action. Any action that takes you in the direction of your goal.

If your goal is to start a business of your own, there are many “first steps” you can take. The Small Business Administration offers these 20 Questions to Ask Before You Start a Business. That’s a good, thought-provoking starting point.

Extend Yourself Toward Starting Your Own Business

  • Consider embarking as a “lean startup,” as described by Eric Ries. Go out fast with the minimum viable product and iterate from there.
  • Post your concept on a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter. Get your supporters on board before you get too far down the road, and gauge interest in your idea.
  • Assess your key strengths (for example, using Strengths Based Leadership principles). This might give you insight if your struggling to decide among several different business ideas that inspire you.
  • Interview someone who is running a business like the one you want to start. Find out how they started out, what their roadblocks were, and what they learned along the way. Find small business owners to connect with at a site like AMEX Open Forum, and start building relationships.
  • Sit yourself down and bust out an actual business plan for your concept. Nothing takes off the rose-colored glasses like getting down to brass tacks. Who is your ideal customer? Exactly how will you reach them? What is your pricing structure? Do you need financing? Harvard Business Review offers an article called “How to Write a Great Business Plan,” along with lots of other resources.

It’s time to stop talking about starting your business, and start doing something. Get out of your comfort zone, extend yourself, and take that first step.

We’re here for you!

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Photo courtesy of Leonardo Stabile, via Flickr CC.

How Managers and Business Owners Can Better Engage Remote Employees

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By Miles Young

Working remotely is both a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, it gives employees more freedom, reduces absenteeism, and lowers employer overhead. However, it creates communication challenges, causes a lack of team bonding, and lowers productivity in some cases. If you’re thinking about adding remote workers to your business, or if you already have a handful, here are some tips to keep them engaged and profitable for your business.

Hire the Right People to Work Remotely

First, make sure you hire people who will excel in a remote position. Working from home doesn’t work for everybody, and you need to be able to assess if a person is capable of staying engaged with your business in this type of position. To do this, look for people who are self-starters, computer savvy, and who don’t have distractions at home.

Some people think they can watch their young children and work from home at the same time. In most cases, this isn’t a healthy situation for your business unless the employees are compensated based on deliverables. When hiring remote employees, make sure you emphasize that watching children at home isn’t a possibility because you expect them to do the same quality and quantity of work you would if they were working from an office with direct supervision. Additionally, you can require remote employees to have a dedicated office space in their home to minimize distractions.

Hold Face-to-Face Trainings and Orientations

Once you’ve hired remote workers, it’s important to quickly establish a strong relationship between employee and supervisor. This is critical to the success of a business, because the supervisor acts as a motivator and a role model. Without this relationship, remote workers can get lost or confused and not know how to engage with your business. It’s easiest to establish this relationship in person. Therefore, hold face-to-face trainings and orientations, when possible.

If your business cannot afford to hold in-person trainings, a video conference call is the next best thing. Remote employers will have an easier time establishing trust and a good relationship with their supervisor if they can attach a face to a name and converse naturally.

Do Frequent Performance Reviews

Traditionally, businesses hold semi-annual reviews for employees. Remote workers need more frequent reviews to keep them motivated and on task since they don’t have the daily interaction provided in an office setting. Performance reviews are a good way to measure the productivity of remote workers and keep them accountable. As a remote worker, it’s easy to slack off without the proper supervision and review cycle, especially in positions where it’s more difficult to measure productivity, such as customer service positions.

On the other hand, burnout can be a problem for some remote workers. This is partially because supervisors cannot directly see how much work and effort their remote workers are putting in on a daily basis. Plus, it is hard to separate work life from home life in a remote position, leading some people to feel like they are constantly working.

During performance reviews with remote workers, ask how they’re doing and if they need anything. Make sure that your remote workers have a workload that is neither too much nor too little. This will help remote workers stay engaged and profitable for your business.

Conduct Meetings Over Video Conference Instead of on the Phone

Video conferencing is the best way to hold meetings with remote workers, because it provides face-to-face interaction and helps everyone feel more involved. Meetings over the phone cause many remote workers to become disengaged, especially when there are a lot of people on the phone. Video conferencing requires remote workers to be alert because they know they’re being watched by everyone else in the meeting.

With the technology available today, it is easy for businesses to implement video conferencing. There are several companies, such as GoToMeeting, that help facilitate video conferencing for businesses. Additionally, large companies can spend money to create their own in-house conferencing systems that are more secure.

Use Multiple Channels of Communication

In addition to video conferencing, it’s important to engage remote employees through multiple channels of communication. This should involve frequent phone calls, emails, and instant messaging. Software that makes working collaboratively with others is also important. Remote workers need more regular communication than on-site employees to foster a sense of belonging.

Instant messaging is one of the best things a business can implement because it gives remote workers instant access to their supervisor and team mates. Remote workers can reach out with questions as if they were working in the same room. This eliminates the wait for people to return phone calls and answer emails, which increases productivity and employee engagement.

Recognize Remote Employers for Their Performance

Sometimes, remote workers do not feel valued for their work. This leads to lower productivity and engagement with your business. This is something that is hard for supervisors to recognize because of the lack of in-person communication. Therefore, you can promote remote worker engagement by giving recognition where it is due.

There are lots of things you can do to recognize remote workers. For instance, you can send gift cards to employees who exemplify an above-and-beyond attitude. Or, if you don’t have a lot of money to spend on recognition gifts, you can order useful promotional gifts like custom pens and send them to your employees as a token of appreciation. It’s better to do something rather than nothing so that your remote workers feel valued and engaged. Having items with the company logo in their workspace will also help them feel like they’re a part of the company and team.

Remote workers are on the rise in the U.S. According to CNN Money, work-at-home jobs have surged 41 percent in the past 10 years. If this is a trend you’re noticing in your business, you need to learn how to keep your remote workers engaged and profitable for your business.

What challenges have you faced with remote workers? Leave a comment below.

Author’s Bio: Miles Young is a tech geek, business blogger and all around cool person. Follow him on twitter @mrmilesyoung.

Planning Effective Sales Team Meetings

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By Deb Bixler

Your business thrives on making sure that everyone on your sales team knows what’s going on at all times. Whether you are introducing a new product or wanting to expand your service, your team needs to know your intentions.

As such team meeting planning is highly important to the strength of your direct sales business structure. Follow these simple guidelines to keep your entire team informed and involved so no key information falls through the cracks.

Plan Meetings At Same Time Every Time

home party plan meetingsSure, changes may come up that require impromptu team meetings, but in general try to keep your sales team meetings the same time every month or week. This way, your entire team will know that on a set date of the week or month a discussion will be held to discuss upcoming events and prior concerns.

A regular schedule insures regular attendance.

Make sure you email or message your team before meetings start to remind them of upcoming discussions.

Invite Team Discussion

If you begin each meeting with open discussion for your team, everyone will feel more involved in the planning of your business and you can get great feedback for what is going on in your business.

It’s important that your team knows they can speak their mind, so begin each meeting with an open discussion of concerns or questions of your team before you jump into what is on your mind.

Meetings Should Be Fun

Make meetings fun by offering snacks for the entire team and when ever possible keep the sales meetings or meeting sessions at an hour or less.

If you need to go over, let your team know beforehand so they can be prepared for a longer stay.

Provide supplies for your team to keep notes and thank each person for attending so they will know that their time is valuable to you.

Have An ‘Open Door’ Policy Team

Your sales team members need to know that they can come to you any time with issues, concerns, or suggestions for your business. The should not feel as though they need to wait for the meeting day to bring up concerns.

In having an open door policy, your team can feel comfortable to come to you outside of meetings in a private setting. Let them know that they can contact you personally, via phone, email or other avenues if they have anything come up that they feel is too important to wait for the next meeting.

You should always stay on top of situations and let your team know that their opinions are valuable to you.

Author’s Bio:
Deb Bixler retired from the corporate world using the proven business systems that made her a success working for others by incorporating them into her home business. In only 9 months Deb replaced her full time income with the sales and commissions from her home party plan business. Find her on Twitter: @debbixler.

6 Ways to Credit Your Team

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By Ben Morton

Recently I was reading an article on INC entitled ‘The Difference Between Managers and Leaders‘ by Ilya Pozin where he provided some fantastic insights. Ilya’s fifth point was this:

‘Managers want credit, leaders credit their teams’

This is a brilliant point. When it’s acted upon the impact that it has on the leader’s connection with their team, the trust that it engenders, and the respect it earns the leader is huge.

What was really interesting to me though was one of the comments from a reader.

‘How do I give credit when I answer to the MD without my staff present; how will my staff know?’

This is actually a great question which prompted me to stop and reflect on how I have actually gone about this during my leadership career. So, here are my personal and very practical tips to do this.

1. They will just know…

Here’s the key thing. If you start from a position of genuinely wanting to support your people and ‘give credit where credit is due’ then you will naturally credit you team whenever you can. By consistently crediting your team to your boss, your peers, your customers or whoever it may be, these people will eventually come back to your team and say something like this…

‘Hi John. Ben told me about all the work you put into that proposal – great job and thanks’

So you see – they will just know.

2. Reactive email

When you get that email from your boss saying ‘thank you’ or ‘great job’ why not respond, cc’ing your team or the individual, saying something like…

“Thanks Nigel but it was actually Gemma who did all of the hard work on that project so she really needs the praise. Well done again Gemma and thanks.’

3. Proactive email

Instead of waiting to redirect the credit to your team why not be proactive by sending a thank you email to your team and cc’ing your boss.

4. Ask your boss to thank them

Next time you are in a meeting with your boss and you tell him or her that it was your team that put in all of the hard work why not say something like this…

‘The team worked really hard on that project Nigel and it would be great if you could stop by and say well done or drop them a really short email.’

It would take a pretty cold boss to refuse such a request.

5. Pass on credit in public

During a team meeting or company event look for the opportunities to publicly pass on the credit, praise and thank your team or individuals for all of their hard work.

6. Use the intranet

If your company has an intranet site why not post a very short news article celebrating the team or individual’s success and attributing the credit to them.

Hopefully you’ve found this list useful and there are some things in here that you will go and apply to help move you from a good manager to an exceptional leader. I know that there are lots more ways to give credit to your team and I’d love to hear what you are doing…

Author’s Bio: BEN MORTON is a Consultant at TwentyOne Leadership specialising in the provision of high quality leadership training, mentoring and coaching. He has approaching two decades experience in leadership, learning and management along with a wealth of expertise in strategic Human Resource management drawn from experience as a Board Member in small entrepreneurial organizations and working in large multi-nationals such as Tesco and TUI Travel. Having led expeditions around the globe from the Alps of Europe to the Steppe Country of Mongolia and served two operational tours of Iraq as an Officer in the British Army, Ben understands what it takes to lead people in the most difficult of conditions. He’s passionate about sharing his knowledge, experience and expertise.

How to Start Speaking at Corporate Events

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By Stephanie Lynch

When most people start thinking about speaking in front of hundreds, if not thousands of people, they often think of their worst nightmare. However, there are a handful of us out there that would love to speak in front of groups about a particular topic or issue.

If you have been wanting to share your advice for quite some time now, a great way to start is via corporate events.

These events are designed to talk to people who want to learn about what you have to say. While starting out may not pay much, you may find down the road that if you become good enough at it — it could lead to some great money, potentially leading to a full-time gig. So if you have been thinking about speaking and don’t know where to really start, here’s how you should get started:

#1 Start Online

The best place to start is the Internet. Try to find some blogs or even consider starting one up yourself. The key here is that you’re going to want to start building a following that appreciates your knowledge of the topic. Once people start finding about you, they will be more likely to attend your speaking event.

If you don’t know where to find these blogs or even start with building a website, there are countless ways to do so. For starters, creating a website today is easier than ever. Content management systems, such as WordPress, can make your website look like the professionals. Most web hosting companies will be more than happy to install this system for you. Once it’s installed, play around with the themes and learn how to post. If that sounds like something that is too challenging, you may want to become a contributor to a handful of popular websites on your topic. As long as you provide value, 99 percent of the owners out there will be happy to take you in.

#1A Creating a Website for Speaking

This one kind of goes with number one, but I will label it as “1A.” If you’re serious about speaking, it’s important that you create a page that explains what you can do.

Since most organizers or conferences are going to ask for a “resume,” this website that you build will be a great way to give them all the information that they need. On this website, be sure to include the following:

– Overview: Talk a bit about yourself.

– What topics can you talk about?

– Show some sample videos or speeches you had done in the past

– Have people brag about you

– If you’re going to charge, let them know how it’s done.

– And lastly, don’t forget the contact information. Make sure that they can contact you through various methods.

If you can’t build a website, consider investing money to have it done by someone else. This can potentially be a deal breaker for serious speaking gigs.

#2 Network

Ah, the word “network.” This is a word that we just can’t get away from when it comes to the corporate world. If you want to learn how to speak at events, it’s so important that you network with other professional speakers and event organizers. This can be done via social media outlets, blogs or better yet — in person at the events. Some of the best people that you can get to know are the actual professionals who run the events.

#3 Submit your Ideas

No matter what industry you’re in, there are going to be a handful of conferences every year throughout the world. If the conference is serious enough, they should have a website, and on this website, there should be a “speakers wanted” page. If they have something like this, be sure to take advantage. Like applying for a job, take your time and make sure that everything is perfect.

Speaking at corporate gigs and events will take time. You can’t expect to make tens of thousands the first time you do it. Since I can’t cram everything into one post, I wanted to leave you with these amazing books as well:

– Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun

– Magic of Public Speaking by Andri Sedniev

– No Sweat Public Speaking by Fred E. Miller

Have you considered adding public speaking to your skill set?

Author’s Bio: Stephanie Lynch works for howmuchisit.org, a collection of cost helping guides. The next time you need to know what a surgery, professional service or something else costs in life, there’s a good chance it will be here.