How small businesses can hire the right people
Doug and Polly White have seen small businesses use all kinds of questionable hiring practices. There was the entrepreneur who hired anyone looking for work. Then there was the woman who hired and fired her sister twice. The list goes on.
In their book, Let Go to GROW: why some businesses thrive and others fail to reach their potential , the Whites found from their business consulting that entrepreneurs often don’t know how to hire employees.
“No one is born knowing how to hire and manage people,” said Polly. “You come into this with no clue how to hire and manage people. So entrepreneurs often end up hiring friends and family. While your friends and family may be right for a job in your organization it’s not always the right way to go.”
Entrepreneurial interviewed the Whites about the five steps businesses can follow in order to hire the right people.
1. Know what you need
Hire someone based on their behaviors and cognitive capabilities.
Forcing employees to take time off
– Cynthia Hsu is a contributor to FindLaw’s Free Enterprise blog. FindLaw is a Thomson Reuters publication. –
Employee vacation policies can vary depending on your business. Some employers choose to have no vacation time during a year, while other employers are now instituting forced vacations for employees.
At the Motley Fool, a 250-employee financial services company located in Virginia, all employees are entered into a monthly drawing where one lucky (or unlucky, depending your perspective) employee “wins” a forced two-week vacation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The reason for this slightly strange and unconventional vacation policy is likely the logic that forcing employees to take breaks could be good for business in the long run.
After all, employees that don’t take any breaks or are simply workaholics run the risk of running dangerously low on energy. Having employees take a few weeks off to get some much-needed rest might actually mean higher productivity and a happier work environment for all.
It’s probably true that to some extent, a forced vacation policy is something that is out of consideration when thinking about a small business’ budget and how much paid time off employers can really afford. Vacation policies aren’t even required by law in the U.S., as employers are generally not required to give paid vacations or sick pay.
But, maybe giving employees some extra perks like vacations, sick pay, or even some fun work time activities can build company loyalty, morale, and ultimately improve the quality of life in the office. Vacation policies can even attract higher-quality talent who might like the extra benefits of working in a congenial, less-stressful work environment.
How not to be the Charlie Sheen of your office
– Michelle V. Rafter covers business and workplace issues for a variety of national publications. She is based in Portland, Oregon. This article originally appeared on SecondAct.com. The views expressed are her own. –
After Charlie Sheen publicly lambasted the executive producer and others involved in his top-rated TV comedy Two and a Half Men last week, CBS shut down production for the rest of the season. The announcement came days before the show’s cast was scheduled to go back to work following the 46-year-old star’s stint in rehab.
Now Sheen is threatening to sue and demanding a raise to a reported $3 million per episode, and it’s hard to say how or when the melodrama will end.
But one thing is clear: although Sheen’s made hundreds of millions for the network, the actor has become the ultimate bad employee, the loosest of loose cannons whose public pontifications are as unpredictable and over-the-top as his behavior.
In that regard, he’s a great example of what not to do at work. Companies don’t have to be in the entertainment business to value superstars, especially if they add substantially to the bottom line. But that doesn’t give high-profile employees permission to badmouth or otherwise harass colleagues or managers.
If you’re an office superstar, or if you aspire to be one, here are some steps that human resources professionals, labor law experts and career coaches suggest taking to avoid being the Charlie Sheen of your company.
1. Be careful what you say. Is it sexual harassment to share a dirty joke with co-workers? Rich Meneghello, a labor lawyer and partner with Fisher & Phillips in Portland, Ore., suggests using a simple test to determine whether an off-color joke or potentially offensive anecdote could get you into hot water: If you wouldn’t say it in front of your significant other, don’t say it at work, he said.
Ho hum. I read the article. Not applicable to me. Retired. So that means I’m invisible, right? Got laid off from my last job – and it didn’t add up. Except to perhaps ageism. I was loved by everyone, I played the game perfectly, I brought in $486M single-handedly for the company, etc., etc. So reading about the “tips” for – oh, your article was just so BORING. Such a yawner… Do better will ya?!
Want to keep your employees? Try better benefits
A better hiring mood and a labor market overflowing with quality candidates could make CEOs complacent when it comes to retaining staff.
That would be a mistake according to Luke Vandermillen, vice president at advisory firm Principal Financial Group, who said employee turnover can be costly.
Citing estimates, Vandermillen said the one-time cost of replacing just one employee can be as much as 150 percent or more of their annual salary. Recruiting, hiring and training replacements for lost people add up and companies also suffer from lost productivity and intellectual capital, he added.
As the labor market heats up, companies need to think more about how to retain employees who have more options open to them, said Vandermillen.
“Benefits can play a role in retaining employees,” said Vandermillen, whose firm just released its annual guide that helps businesses reduce worker turnover by better managing benefits policies. “The companies that really seem to do a good job of this really stay the course as it relates to their benefits.”
Principal, which produces its guide by drawing benefits best practices from the experiences of companies it has ranked top at the task, has found turnover rates can be reduced significantly when firms offer decent benefits packages to workers. The 90 companies that have made the cut in the Principal 10 Best Program over the past nine years have a voluntary employee turnover rate of 7 percent compared to the national average of 24 percent.
Emeryville, California-based Clif Bar & Company, which makes all-natural and organic energy bars, made Principal’s top 10 in 2010 by adding new benefits such as employee stock ownership programs, access to preferred provider discount plans, supplemental life and disability insurance and access to financial planning services.
Hard to compete with free money (unemployment, welfare).
4 pieces of advice on health insurance for entrepreneurs
– Ryan Hanley is a Commercial Account Executive for the Guilderland Agency, Inc. and a contributor to Under30CEO. The opinions expressed are his own. -
Health insurance is expensive. There is no way to get around that fact and anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you something you don’t need. Unfortunately for a young business, the burden of health insurance is even more important than that of a larger or more mature business, (in development, not demeanor).
A Case for Health Insurance
For an entrepreneur skimping on insurance, especially health insurance, is playing Russian Roulette with your future. At no time in your business’s growth will the health and wellness of employees be more important than the start-up years. Think about the set-back in growth if the founder of a 2nd year business became ill and had to miss a month. A terrifying scenario for most young businesses. Now think about that same situation coupled with the stress of the same business founder coming straight out of pocket for all medical expenses. I’ve seen this situation where money earmarked for business growth is diverted towards medical costs and it’s not pretty.
Don’t buy into the misconception that health insurance is a luxury just because the price tag makes you sweat. Do not think in terms of price, think in terms of cost.
Don’t Get Too Big For Your Britches
Take the term HMO and throw it out of your vocabulary. If you can afford an HMO you probably don’t need to be reading this article (though I appreciate that you are). For bootstrapping businesses concerned about the health of their employees as well as red numbers in their bank account think about High Deductible Plans, or EPO Hybrid Plans which provide less upfront benefit but also have a less stressful price tag. Providing a Proper Health Plan Takes Work
The last two words were real encouraging. Thanks for that
at least.
I think these are very good suggestions. However, good communication skills can be taught and there are extremely cost effective resources that can teach the entire staff to communicate more effectively.
Often, people with high levels of communication skills will not be priced for the small business person to hire. They will be picked up by larger companies with more attractive offers.
So, it is important for the small business owner to understand where cost effective resources are.
Yes, you can screen for skils and attitudes. But probably more important is for the small business owner to decide the type of culture they are operating from and the values and behaviors that support this.
The small business owner, for example, that is very command and control oriented when the rubber meets the road will be out of step with the idea of building cooperation, for example. And, again, these skills can also be taught when the small business ower is self reflective and willing to grow, too.
Dianne Crampton
corevalues.com