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What Makes Your Business Stand Out from the Rest?

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As you take a moment to reflect on the success of your business, what has made it achieve greatness up to this point?

Some business owners will state that it is the employees that make the company tick.

Others will also point out that they could not be doing this well if not for a great marketing plan being in place.

Still others would highlight they learned from their mistakes. As such, they improved business operations over time.

No matter what makes your business stand out from the rest, always strive to make your company better.

Remember, standing still can be a recipe for disaster.

Does Your Workplace Run as Smooth as It Can?

In having a smooth running workplace to stand out from others, remember the following:

  1. Employees – Hiring top-of-the-line employees gives you a competitive advantage over your competitors. That said there may be times when employee issues come to the surface (see more below). If they do, will you handle them the best way possible? In having the best human resources solutions, you can more times than not avert problems. With that in mind, be sure when hiring anyone that they know full well what you expect of them. You don’t want a workplace where rules are not followed and mayhem is the order of the day.
  2. Meetings – Yes, there are employees and even bosses who dread regular company meetings. The same is true for one-on-one meetings between an employee and his or her supervisor. Even with that in mind, meetings are productive on several fronts. They allow you and your team to chart a business course each week. You can also hash out any issues that are within the framework of everyone can know about the situation. For example, one or more clients are being difficult when it comes to renewing contracts with you. By sitting down as a team, your employees share ideas on how best to keep those clients on-board for the future. Among those issues to deal with on a more personal level would be some workers not getting along with one another.
  3. Personalities – While you are not running a dating service, you do expect your co-workers to at least be cordial with one another. Running a company also means being a part-time psychologist. Doing your best to know office personalities and which ones need a little more attention is key. With human resources consultants along for the ride, you are better set to receive H.R. advice to take to the bank. Such consultants can also remind you how to go about staying within the framework of your legal responsibilities in running a business.
  4. Goals – Last; always be thinking about what tomorrow may bring. One of your goals as a business owner is to have a plan in place not only for today, but also tomorrow and beyond. If you end up becoming complacent, it can backfire on you. In fact, it could one day lead to your business closing its doors. Always keep an eye on what competitors are doing and how you can surpass them.

In having your brand at the top of the heap, strive hard to be the most resourceful business owner possible.

Photo credit: Pixibay

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

 

 

Are You Hiring the Right People for the Job?

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Making sure you have the right people in place in your office may not seem as easy as you think.

First, you never know when hiring someone if their personality is going to be a good mix for your workplace.

Sure, someone may have a stellar resume and come across great during the interview. That said what happens when they end up working with dozens or more of your staff on a daily basis? Can you guarantee that harmony is going to follow suit?
In hiring and retaining your workers, you want to do all you can to make things fit the first time around.

So, are you hiring the right people for the job?

Put Different Resources to Work

So that you have improved odds of getting the right people more times than not, remember a few pointers:

  • Resources – Having good human resources consulting can help you hire the right folks. For example, are you following all the necessary human resources procedures? It only takes one slip-up to put your company in jeopardy of a lawsuit. By working with an H.R. expert or experts, you lessen the chances of making gaffes that can prove costly.
  • Interviews – Some companies use phone interviews before an actual face-to-face interview. Does that sound like your company? Those phones interviews can help weed out some candidates that are likely not a good fit for your office. With face-to-face interviews, not only listen to what candidates say, but watch them. Do they seem comfortable talking to you or your staff? Is their personality one that would at least now appear to be a good fit for your workplace? Are they anxious to be a team player and contribute from day one if hired? Watching and listening are two of the most important aspects of any interview.
  • Goals – What goals do you have in mind when it comes to hiring more employees? Some companies hire due to the fact they have a manpower shortage. Others will hire to fill an important chair at the company. Know ahead of time why you need to add one or more individuals to your payroll. Doing so will give you more clarity and improved chances of avoiding a revolving door.

Knowing When It is Time to Pull the Plug on a Worker

Knowing when and then having to fire someone is something most company heads do not enjoy. That said it is all but unavoidable in running a company.

To make the matter clearer on you and your team, look for these signs to know when it is time to pull the plug on a worker:

  • Employee is not doing the job expected of them
  • Employee is late for work on regular basis or abuses breaks
  • Employee does not get along with others in the office
  • Employee speaks badly about the company and even its customers

Although training new folks is costly and time-consuming, you do not want to keep someone around who is a bad fit.

In taking time to see if you are hiring the right people for the job, make sure your human resource person or team is quite involved.

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas writes about business topics on the web.

 

 

 

What Practices Keep Your Business Humming Along?

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Jobs Job Career Occupation Human Resource Recruitment ConceptIn today’s business world, companies have as many opportunities as ever to become prosperous and go on for decades to come.

On the other hand, many companies can also see their dreams go up in smoke, albeit through bad economic times, improper job hires, marketing and advertising campaigns that go astray etc.

With that in mind, what are you specifically doing to make sure your business keeps humming along?

Don’t Take Business Success for Granted

So that your brand can always have the upper-hand when it comes to business success, know what your strengths and weaknesses (if any) are.

For the man or woman running a business, it is important to make the right decisions at the right times.

Among those decisions can be deciding if either PEO or ASO services are best for your company.

In the event you’re not fully up to speed on one or both of these services note the following….

PEO services can assist your brand with the all-important aspect of human resources.

Face it; your business (and many others for that matter) can at times have issues regarding employees. When those happen, having a sound HR regimen in place is critical.

Your HR rules should be in place from day one of an employee joining the company.

Whether in a publication or provided online, the HR information should include important items involving work hours and responsibilities, if/when an employee is eligible for health insurance benefits, and more.

Meantime, ASO services are also important for business owners, so know them from start to finish. You need to be sure your company is not missing out and/or cutting corners on various tasks at hand.

ASO services typically work with business owners in the all-important areas of payroll and tax filings.

In the event you have a midsize to larger-sized business, keeping your payroll in order and on time can prove tricky to some business heads. Having the ASO service available can be a great relief, especially since you want your employees to be paid on time and with the correct amount of compensation.

Meantime, one task that can keep business owners up at night is making sure their taxes are done on time in the spring, not to mention correctly. Once again, the above-mentioned service can be quite fruitful in making sure you meet all your tax obligations.

Mid-Term Business Report Card

So, can you say with the utmost confidence that your business is where it wants to be nearly midway through the year?

If not, check to see if you are falling short on these areas:

  • New hires – Have you been making the best of hires in recent times? If not, consider changing the way you go about the hiring process in the first place. Some companies opt for experience over personality, others do the reverse. Always look to get the best of both worlds when hiring. It doesn’t hurt to have one or more of your better employees’ sit-in on some interviews. This way they can provide you with some solid feedback on if he or she is the best candidate to join the team;
  • Promotional campaigns – Whether it is advertising or marketing, are you doing everything possible to put forth the best campaigns each and every time out? Yes, you may have shoe-string budgets for one or both areas, but you need to get your brand’s name out in front of the public as often as possible. If money is tight, look to more “free” marketing and advertising opportunities. Even though it can cost you in terms of getting the right individual or individuals to post for you, using social media can be relatively inexpensive, not to mention successful. When it comes to social networking sites, your brand should be all over the tops ones, ones like Facebook, Twitter, Instragram, Linked In etc. Use social media to not only promote your various marketing and advertising campaigns, but also to listen to what the public is saying about your business.

From working with the right service personnel (PEO, ASO) to hiring the best workers, there are many facets of your business that you can do correctly from day one.

As a business owner, your number one job is to keep your business humming along, allowing you and your team to regularly see success right in front of your eyes.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas writes about business topics on the web.

Ways to Retain the Best Workers

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ahappyemployeeYour employees are the lifeblood of your business.

The right team is the difference between brilliant ideas and lackluster ones; excellent planning and management, and costly failures; great customer service and customer service that get you noticed for all the wrong reasons.

Finding the right employees can be time consuming and costly, so once you find the right people, you’ll want to hang on to them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that workers in the U.S. stay in a job for around 4.6 years.

What can you do if you want to retain your best employees longer than that?

Start with these steps:

1. Offer Great Benefits

Let’s be blunt. If one of your best employees is offered a similar position with better pay, they’re likely to take it. By the time you make a counter offer it could well be too late. Instead, offer your employees a good remuneration package from the start, paying well for their type of role.

Benefits go beyond wages. From medical and dental to life insurance and pensions, or even small perks like free tickets or discounted gym membership, a good benefits package can make all the difference.

Don’t forget about flexi time, telecommuting or other flexible working to show your team that their work life balance matters to you.

2. Get Real Feedback – And Listen

Happy, fulfilled employees are more likely to stay with you. Set aside regular time to chat with your employees, or ask their direct manager or team leader to do so. Find out what they like about working with you, and what they don’t. Follow up with an action plan you both agree on.

To learn more about how your employees feel about their jobs, foster open communications between employees and management. Make it easy for your team to have a chat with someone, and have their concerns heard and valued.

Consider using “stay interviews”.

Talk to your longstanding employees about why they stay, what they love, what you’re doing right and anything you’re doing wrong,  to gain insight into what you’re doing that encourages people to stay.

3. Encourage Your People to Develop

Keep working life interesting by encouraging your employees to develop within their roles. Start by looking at their daily tasks and offering further training if appropriate to help them learn new skills.

You can also invest in your employees’ education.

By funding a course of study that’s related to their jobs you’ll be helping them to grow their skills, and encouraging loyalty by showing them that you value them enough to invest in them.

If you think one of your team is a great candidate for taking on new responsibilities, talk to them about it. Showing that you want to help your employees grow within your organization is an important part of retaining them.

4. Get Clear on Growth Pathways

As pointed out in the article “5 Ways to Retain Your Best Employees“, if your best people only see stagnation on the horizon, they’ll look elsewhere. Your employees want to know that they have a future with you. Make sure you plan for that future from the start.

Having a growth pathway is particularly important when it comes to retaining the best of the best. Talk to your employees regularly and agree on a growth path that suits you and them – and then stick to it.

Good employees have immeasurable value for your business, helping it to grow, to run effectively, and to increase profits.

Value your employees and support them to grow within your organization – show them that they matter to you and they’ll be more likely to stay loyal and use their skills to benefit your business.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About the Author: Tristan Anwyn writes on a wide variety of topics, including social media, SEO, benefits packages and employee retention.

Are You Dressed to Impress or for Trouble?

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adressOffice dress codes have always been a hot topic, especially for women.

One of the concerns is that there may be a double standard on expectations for how women dress over what men wear.

Sometimes this double standard seems to be spelled out while other times it may be implied through comments by co-workers and supervisors. It’s often difficult for women to know what is appropriate and acceptable.

Controversial Topic for Many

Salary.com conducted a survey about dress codes and how they affect the workplace.

Many of the respondents felt that often dress codes were never strictly enforced and weren’t part of the company’s policy. Instead, they were put in place by supervisors or department managers and at random.

The survey also showed that many employees believe that their office’s policy on attire is too lenient.

When companies are too permissive, things can go too far.

A professional dress code not only enhances the company’s image, employees often act more professional.

This survey also showed the issue with some employees “getting away” with wearing what was considered inappropriate attire.

One of the issues with establishing a dress code policy is that there are more fashion choices for women than for men. It can be difficult to address every type of clothing and either prohibit it or set up specific guidelines.

Another problem is that some offices actually encourage provocative dress to capture the attention of clients.

One example is in some medical facilities where cosmetic procedures are performed.

Dressing and looking like the “after” photo can encourage those who are contemplating some type of procedure.

How to Address the Double Standard

Businesses that do not have a dress code policy should seriously think about establishing one.

However, if they choose to do so, they need to offer clear-cut guidelines. How employees dress can reflect on the company, which is why the rules should be designed to enhance the image of the business.

Monitoring is another area where some businesses must improve.

Every employee must be subject to discipline if he or she is not willing to follow the dress code. Supervisors and managers must be educated in the dress code and their roles. They cannot look the other way on certain people while calling out others.

In many cases, managers may have to educate employees on how to dress appropriately.

For instance, the Faded Glory Women’s Bree’s Solid Planet Jersey Maxi Dress, which is sold at major retailers like Walmart, would be appropriate clothing to wear in warmer weather with a sweater or shrug on top. A blazer would make it look more professional.

The choices people make in how they dress are often personal to them.

When dictating what is allowed and what is prohibited and enforcing those policies make sure to remain professional so that the employee recognizes that it is not a personal attack on the person.

This is a controversial area and businesses must tread carefully when dealing with the issues that occur.

The one rule that must be followed is that men and women must be treated equally with no double standard.

As a business owner/manager or employee, what are the dress code rules (if any) at your company?

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About the Author: Joyce Morse is an author who writes on a variety of topics, including HR and small business.

Is Rehiring Those You Laid Off Smart?

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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.