How to Make Most of the Freelance Talent to Give a Kick Start to Your Business

“Almost every major company set in USA or Europe outsource their service requirements to freelancers and small organizations, set in developing countries.”

While browsing thorough the pages of a recent issue of a famous business magazine, I was struck on this line. However, I know about the outsourcing trend that is currently on in USA and Europe but at the point in time, when USA government is making every effort to discourage the outsourcing to Asian countries, such data left me baffled.

Undoubtedly, service outsourcing is a lucrative idea but only when you know all the nitty-gritties to make the most of the freelance talent, you have hired to get your work done. The core of outsourcing is based on some important key points, alike -

• To reduce and control operating costs

• To Improve company focus

• To gain access to world-class capabilities

• To free internal resources for other purposes

• When resources are not available internally

• To accelerate re-engineering benefits

• To reduce the risk quotient

• To make capital funds available

Hence, it becomes prime importance to fulfill these criteria while you get a task done by an outsourcing service provider. Since, today 'outsourcing' has become a permanent solution to get the work done more skillfully and rapidly without spending loads of amount, you can not consider it a temporary fix to your service needs. You would have to pay most of your attention to get the work done in the best possible manner.

To help you in getting a better service, few tips are provided here which would help you in getting the work done, most smartly.

• Be specific why have you hired the freelance service provider

• Research comprehensively while you look for the service provider and ensure, the freelancer you are hiring stand perfectly on all your requirements. You can conduct a document and experience check to ensure that the service provider, you have hired is well-efficient to provide quality service to you.

• Decide on rates and remuneration, before you start getting your assignment done

• You must sign a contract with your freelancer or freelance service provider. This contract would not only help you in getting an interrupted service but will also keep the relation between you and your outsourcing service provider smooth.

If you are wondering on the ways to find a freelancer, there are many options available. You can check craigslist, Monster and other job sites as well as freelancing sites.

Issues in Office, Try These Tips to Solve Work Place Conflicts

"Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude." ~ William James

Where there are people, there ought to be conflicts. A clash of interests, directions, actions, and values in the workplace can result in straining of relationships between coworkers and hurt your business. So as a small business owner, sidestepping the issue is not an option, conflicts must be nipped in the bud. Whether you own a timber and wood supplies business or run a machined components factory, consider the following tips to help you resolve workplace conflicts.

Don't sweep conflicts under the carpet – Workplace conflicts are like ticking time-bombs, if you make the mistake of ignoring them, you'll be caught unawares when they finally explode, right in your face. So prudently identify and acknowledge the presence of workplace conflicts and try to diffuse them, not overlook them.

Listen to each side of the story – Even though common sense may tell you to call up each of the parties separately to hear their story, for the most part, experts advise against it. However, as the manager (or juror), making an exception based on the situation is your prerogative. More desirably, call up each of the sides and ask them to summarize their concerns in front of each other, at the same time ensure that there's no intervention by anyone during the hearing. Let each party hear the other's concerns.

Find out what each side wants – You need to ask each party in the conflict to say what actions do they want the other party to take, or what they want in general. For instance, Salesman A may say that she doesn't want Salesman B to encroach on her territory. Ask both the sides to elaborate if what they state is still murky, probe them further by asking what they would like the other party to do, not do, do more or do less.

Have the participants make commitments – When the actions needed to resolve the conflict have been explored in depth, and you've assessed those as reasonable, ask each side to commit to the new set of actions they will take to resolve conflict and to cooperate. In addition, figure out the actions that you need to take as a manager, such as reassignment of work, sharing of responsibility and resources, making structural tweaks, changing the authority individuals have over resources, etc.

Maintain a neutral demeanor – It is absolutely essential that you objectively hear all the issues presented to you by all parties, and make decisions without any prejudice. Additionally, you must communicate your objective stance to each of the parties, so that they trust you and are able to voice their problems candidly. Furthermore, prompt the sides to act mature and address the differences amicably. Tell them that you have full faith in their abilities to resolve the conflict themselves.

Important HR Resources for Small Business Enterprises

A business owner of almost every sector requires a solid Human Resource policy, as employees are considered the most challenging aspect to operate a business. It is not that, employees are a challenge in themselves, in fact there are loads of things that manages relationship between employer and employee. And, the only link between them that works is Human Resource Dept.

Hence, to maintain the dignity of the link between these two, you must stick to some of the essentialities of HR resources. Some of the important points to get the HR resources are mentioned here, which are considered to be useful every organization, whether it is in industrial supplies or convergent media. To know more, read on -

• Checkout blogs on human resource – since, in a small business organization, it is difficult to setup a complete HR department; hence, most of the entrepreneurs try to conclude their task by themselves. At such moment, the most important thing is to get proper Small Business Labor & HR information. The first source to get such information is browsing blogs written by human resource specialists. These specialists share their knowledge using blogs. So, reading these blogs will offer you a comprehensive information on HR policies.

• A comprehensive study of policies of Department of Labor – To be nice with your employees and do judgment with their professional rights, you must go through all the policies of Labor department and check what they have kept for Small Business Labor & HR sector. To know easily about all the details, you can check the website of department of labor, they almost every information which you can require to maintain the delicacy of relationship between you and your employees.

• Checkout leaflets and information released by Job sites – since, jobs sites widely deal in employing and giving consultancy to people to join organizations, they take special care of HR policies and also keep making companies aware of all such policies. If you want to gather some important resource to maintain your HR department in the most professional way, you can checkout articles and leaflets passed by these Job sites.

• Contact to the local chamber of commerce – The local chamber of commerce keeps important information about HR and all. Apart from that, this can also be a good source of information such as meetings and employment policies for your Small Business Labor and HR needs.

these are some of the sources, which can help you in getting better idea of HR plicies and trade and dealing better with it. Since, success of a business is very much dependent on employee satisfaction, you can easily make it work for your by checking out every small business Labor & Hr information.

How to Retain The New Generation Employees

The new generation employees are really fun to work with only if you know how to deal with them properly. They never hesitate to voice their needs and wants even in front of their employers and at the same time they are talented, multi skilled, dynamic and know how to achieve their goals. However, the only problem with these new generation employees is that it is quite difficult to retain them. In fact, many companies have also been overhauling their work cultures in order to better accommodate this generation. Whether you own a building and construction company or an online service firm, the following tips will help you to effectively retain these valuable talents of your company.

One of the most important requirements of these new generation employees is praise. Though this is a factor that all your employees need, you need to make these new generations feel valued on a regular basis. And if you fail to do this, they are most likely to go to any other company that follows the praise culture. It is why a number of companies, big or small, are adopting such a culture in order to retain these fresh talents. In addition, this culture will improve your work environment and will help you to retain your older employees as well. This is one of the most simplest ways to retain your employees. All you need to do is get creative. Send your employees “Well Done” cards, declare the employee of the month on your in-house newsletters as well as on the notice board, send the achievers on paid holidays etc are very effective ways to praise their good work.

It has been also been noticed that these new generation employees prefer to hear more often from their managers and employers. Regular communication is a need for them. Unlike the older generations, these people like both formal and informal meetings and face to face interactions. They feel communication bring a transparency within the organization and thus create a better work environment.

This new generation employees are usually used to get guidance from their parents, teachers and society from their very childhood. And they expect the same even at work. They look for advices from their mentors. Thereby create mentorship programs for these people and they are going to love you for this. In reality, these people always seek to get more and more knowledge and according to them it's the mentor that can satisfy this need.

More than anything these people believe in eligibility and not in hierarchy and expects the companies that they work for to follow the same philosophy. This is why companies are offering promotions to these truly qualified employees rather those who simply have been at the company longer. This new generation look for more and more responsibility and love to express their creative ideas. And it is your responsibility to give them enough space for that. In reality, these people have a fast mind and you need to provide them enough material to think in order to help them to avoid any kind of boredom.

How Employee Stock Ownership Plan Works For Small Business

This recession was a havoc for every body out there; be it an owner of a health and fitness product manufacturing company or its employees. In fact, the blow was too heavy for your employees. Those who were able to sustain their job often had to toil for longer hours as well as had to handle multiple tasks. Not to mention the stress that they have gone through while watching their colleagues and friends getting fired. Since that bad days are almost over, it is time for the entrepreneurs to identify the hard working of their employees, to reward them.

One of the best way to reward employees, to show that you care for them is providing Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). This plan is tax-qualified and will provide retirement benefits for your people. Your employees can either take or redeem the share in exchange of cash. And the employees are not charged any taxes until they withdraw the money. But the tax deductible contributions must be used for buying stock for your eligible employees. Such funds must be invested primarily in stock of the employers. You can also use this for financing the growth of your company as well as an estate planning tool. Employee Stock Ownership Plan can also increase the cash flow of your company.

Exploring this strategy is really a good option if you want to provide work performance advantages to your deserving employees. Moreover, employee ownership and employee participation is a powerful combination that can improve the performance of your company as a whole, beyond your imagination. It will not only increase and improve employee participation, Employee Stock Ownership Plan will also establish a direct and positive correlation between the employer and his/ her subjects. It has also been noticed that the employee-owned firms are more successful than most of the privately owned companies. In addition, it is extremely helpful for those retiring owners who have no successors. Its  tax incentive benefit is lucrative enough for anyone who is about to exit his/ her business career; simultaneously the person can take care and control the employees even after his/ her retirement.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan is one of the best options in situations like avoiding shutdowns. It will help you to anchor capital as well as save the jobs of your people. Though it may seem difficult initially, this step is worth taking. With the ESOP loan you can easily avert a shutdown. And the challenges or difficulties that you may face in the beginning can be easily solved. You can talk and discuss the issues with other employee owned companies. Since they have gone through more or less similar situations, their suggestions and advices will surely help you to overcome those temporary crisis. In addition, they can give you a rough estimation of the cost involved with the process. Apart from discussing with similar employee owned companies, those who are considering Employee Stock Ownership Plan must also consult with experts as it involves certain complicated rules set up by the  U.S. Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service.

Tips To Motivate Your Employees

Motivating employees is one of the most important and most challenging job for an entrepreneur. Important, because they are like the backbone of a business; and challenging – because what motivates you may or may not similar impact on them. As a building and construction business owner, you may enjoy listening anecdotes of real estate tycoons and find them motivating. But it may not interest your people. Such motivations can come from various different things. It can be a training, a time away from their job, a recognition, or any other thing. Thereby, as an entrepreneur your first job is to recognize those things that can motivate your people.

If you study closely, you can easily make out that people belonging to same age and socio-cultural group are often motivated by same factors. People who are young and dynamic can be motivated by more interesting work, better workplace environment, and greater challenge and participation. Whereas the next age group can be influenced by better recognition, salary hike, paid vacation and other similar perks. Thereby, identify the group under which your employees fall and implement a policy according to that. It is likely that your employees will fall under different groups and you may have to offer different perks to different people.

The following are some motivational factors that you can implement within your organization.

1.  Training and one-to-one coaching: They help to develop your employees and are a great way to show your people that you care for them as well. Organize training sessions at a regular interval. You can either hire a professional trainer or ask your team manager to conduct such sessions. And try to attain those sessions along with your employees. Your presence in such training sessions as a participant can work as a great motivational factor.

2.  A proper work environment: The workplace environment plays an important role in motivating your people. Have you ever though how it feels to work in a shabby office with some almost dilapidated machines and systems? The place where one works usually has a great influence on one's performance. Simply change the infrastructure of your office, make it bright and see how it improves the performances of your people. Try to put fresh painting and pictures on the walls, plants on the corners and fresh flowers on the desks. Make sure there is enough room for one to move. Also add comfortable furnitures and other modern equipments. In addition, make sure that the cafeteria and wash rooms are clean and hygienic.

3.  Time off and special events: Time off too can motivate your people. It also serves another form of recognition. You can offer 1/2 or 1 hour time off to the employee of the week and how how your people competes to earn that time off. In addition, you can offer paid vacation to the employee of the year. Organizing special events like social gatherings, pizza party, and movie and popcorn day too can help you to motivate your employees. 

How to Reduce Labor Costs

Things have no doubt became a little tough for the small business owners during this recession, which have left them no option other than reducing their labor costs. But let me first tell you that reducing such costs not necessarily means cutting jobs. Though headcount reduction may sound simple and the easiest, there are several drawbacks. Such layoffs can send a wrong message to people. Those who have lost the job suddenly are likely to speak ill about you, which in turn, may hamper your brand image. In addition, layoffs only improves the employee-to-revenue ratio temporarily. On the other hand, there are several different ways that can help you to cut your cost. Be it a process control firm or a construction company, the following tips will help you to reduce labor costs considerably.

Instead of laying off your employees, you can implement cost cutting in monthly expenses. You can cut the payroll temporarily. Though this too may create a chaos, it will be much lesser than laying off. What you will need is a smart plan and make your employees understand the real situation. Chances are high that you employees will like to share the burden of this economic turmoil together rather than letting a few of their colleagues go.

The management and the top executives of your company are likely to enjoy a lavish pay. You can start from there and promise them they will be rewarded with a better package once things get settled. Remember “charity begins at home” and you too need to cut down your own costs and your employee will surely follow the suit. Cutting the payroll of your people and going for a luxurious family vacation will make your employees skeptical about your real intentions.

Similarly offer early retirement to older and highly paid employees. Eliminating bonuses and other benefits for the time being will also reduce your labor costs. You can also implement furlough alternative. While doing so make sure you have a proper agreements according to which your furloughed salaried employees cannot work for any other companies on those days off. Similarly you can introduce the work from home culture. There are some employees who are not always physically required in the office. If you allow them to work from home for around twice a week. This way you can save your money on transport as well as electricity.

You can even automate a few of your operations. It will not only make job easier for your labors, but will also save your money. For example, you own a garment manufacturing company and have automated your production part. Now you will need much lesser people in your production unit for manufacturing the same amount of garments than you use to. You can either suggest those extra heads the furlough alternative or train them in a different domain instead of hiring new people.

Outsourcing is the hottest trend during the recession. You too can take advantage of it by outsourcing some of your lesser important jobs. There are several third world countries that boast off highly educated and efficient workforce. As the labor rates in these countries are usually lower that countries like U.S or U.K, it will create a hole in your pocket. 

Perks in Lieu of Raises – A Great Way For Employee Retention

In this recession period small business owners need to get more creative to retain their employees. Since the standard pay raise that most of the employers are offering during this down economy can no longer satisfy the employees, the entrepreneurs are shifting their focus to several benefits and perks in lieu of raises. It is not only money that motivates the employees, be it a salesman of a cosmetic and personal care company or a labor manufacturing electrical components. Though they must be sufficiently compensated, you need to take care of your employees and praise them for their motivation and job satisfaction. The bottom line is to reward them in one way or other.

One of the best ways to motivate your employees is to recognize their hard work. It is a very powerful tool that will cost you nothing. In fact, it is the best examples of non-monetary incentives. But only recognizing is not enough. You must recognize their efforts publicly. When you treat your people well and appreciate their efforts in front of other, it not creates a bond but also motivates the others to follow the suit. You can simply put the name and a picture (if possible) of the employee of the month in your notice board.

You can even change the job title of those employees who are giving consistence performance. For example your salesperson is consistently achieving the target every month, you can simply change his designation from “Salesman” to “Senior Sales Executive” to keep him/ her motivated. And the best part is there is no need to give any pay raise as you have already mentioned “Other terms and condition remains same” in the designation appraisal letter.

In addition, you can implement employee education and training programs to motivate them. Introducing meditation and yoga sessions to help your employees to learn work-life balance will also create a similar effect. You can also offer a better parking space, an extended weekend, or some other temporary perks  to those employees. Another good option is to introduce the flextime concept. Instead of maintaining a strict log-in timing you can be a little flexible, as long as they are completing the daily/ weekly time target. Another trick is to introduce the concept of “work from home” once or twice in a month so as to help the employees to maintain their work-life balance.

If you are ready to spend a little money to show your appreciation, you can find a number of inexpensive ways for that. This may include sending personalized gifts,  chocolate boxes, bouquets with “Well Done” or “Thank You” cards, tickets or passes to nearby amusements parks or theater and many more. All you need to be is creative in your approach. Similarly you can also organize group outing and outdoor lunch meetings to keep the morale of your people high.

The popularity of offering such perks to employees are actually increasing during this recession. Whatever perks or benefits you offer make sure that these practices must make your employees feel happy and valued.

Creating an Employee Manual for Small Business

Whether you own a company that manufactures furniture and fixtures or automotive parts, you will need a well drafted employee manual. In fact, this handbook is an important communication tool with the help of which an employer states the terms and policies of his/ her business. It also states the acceptable and non-acceptable behaviors within the organization as well as their possible consequences. Apart from describing your expectations from your employees, an employee manual also help the business owners to fight against legal liabilities caused due to misstatements or misunderstandings. Thereby, you need to draft your employee handbook very carefully.

First and foremost, decide the topic and subjects and you want to incorporate, apart from the welcome statement. Give a brief description of each topic. Make sure each topic contains enough information in order to avoid confusion. You must also be aware of the various employment laws while writing an employee manual. The following are some of the topics that you need to incorporate in such a handbook.

1. Employee attendance and leave policies: By stating the attendance and leave policy of your company you can avoid confusion regarding attendance expectations. Also mention the work hours and the official “in” and “out” time. Clearly state the leave policies including the total number of leaves an employee is entitled to have as well as their procedures. If possible give a detail list of yearly holidays. In addition, state your over-time policies.

2. Confidentiality and using company's property: Every company deals with certain sensitive and confidential issues. Thereby, it is advisable to tell the employees in advance about their legal obligations. Also mention that failing to comply with this policy will call for disciplinary actions. Similarly, state whether or not they are allowed to use company's property for personal reason with/ without prior approval. Also mention whether they are allowed to download software, open certain sites, use mobile phones, pen drives, or other devices within the office.

3. Payroll processing: It is advisable to brief your employees regarding your payroll processing in advance. Mention the salary cycles, the deductions, incentives, and other details. Also mention how you are going to make the payment, i.e. through paychecks or salary account. If it is a salary account, mention the name of the bank.

4. Performance review: This is one of the most essential information. Every employee look for promotions and hikes in their salary. State the performance review cycle as well as the parameters.

5. Special privileges: There are some companies that offers certain privileges to their employees. This may include group insurance and medical contributions, retirement policies and tuition assistance. If you too offer some, mention them. Also outline the parameters and conditions for such privileges. For example if you are offering cab facilities to certain employees, mention the reason. Whether it is only for female employees, or for those working at night shifts. This way you will eradicate any scope of creating discrimination within the organization.

In addition you can mention other company policies in the employee manuals. This may range from dress codes to employee safety and accident rules. But remember to phrase every word carefully as it is a legal document that can be used by any party in case of a lawsuit.

Training Employees - The Key to Success

Empowering your employees is essential for running a successful business. You must understand that your employees are the backbone of your company and thus value their contribution. Instead, a number of entrepreneurs take them for granted. Many think that paying them regular salaries is more than enough for appreciating their contribution. Whether you have a heavy engineering firm or handicrafts, your employees are always looking for better benefits and pay packages. And if you continue ignoring their contribution, your employees are most likely to head towards the door at the very first opportunity.

Thereby, you need to empower your stuff so as to retain them. And proving training on latest technologies and industry trends is the best way to empower them. Such training will not only improve their productivity, it will also motivate them to do better. The following tips will help you to organize training sessions for your employees.

First and foremost, analyze the training needs. Why do you need to conduct the training? Is it the performance problem that you want to address or do you want to introduce a new line of products or system? You can also conduct training to help your employees identify perceived opportunities. It is advisable to train a group of employees at a time, depending on their nature of job. For example, you can conduct a common training session for the sales and marketing people and another for admin and human resource group. This way, you can save both your time and money.

Starting the training session with a small group of employees has a number of advantages. It will help you to identify the drawbacks of the training program before it creates a chaos within the organization. Moreover, rehearsing the training program with the higher officials and team leaders of your company will help you to fine-tune the process, keeping the capabilities and requirements of your people in mind.

Select a proper location for the training. Make sure the room has enough space to accommodate your employees comfortably. The room must also be equipped with computers and projectors, screens and white boards. In case you are training a large team, make sure you have a good audio system. Your trainer and training materials will play the most important role. Depending on your requirements you can either appoint an in-house trainer or hire a consultant. It is always advisable to hire a professional educator rather than opting for a knowledgeable staff member.

It is easier for human brains to remember pictures and graphics. Thereby, try to make a power-point presentation so as to provide a visually stimulating training session. Those who have better budget can go for audio-video training sessions. Such materials are usually one-time investment and you can use them again and again for future training programs.

Limiting the training sessions to a few employees can create a mark of discrimination within the organization. If you have limited budget and cannot afford to train all your employees at a time, you can simply train a few and ask them to train the others. 

How to Hire the Best Salesperson?

Are you satisfied with the performance of your sales manager/ team? If not, why? You are most likely to come up with excuses like they are inefficient or are unable to meet the target. But think twice! May be it is your fault as well. May be you have failed to hire the right salesperson for your company. Most of the small house recruiters look for educational and professional backgrounds while conducting interviews. They often overlook a candidate's passion for that particular job. For example a person with a niche sense of interior decoration will do better as a sales person of a home furnishing firm than as an insurance agent. It is his/ her passion that will help them to connect with the customers and provide the best available service. The following tips will help you to find the right sales people for your small business.

An analytical mind makes a better sales person: While conducting the interview try to make out whether or not the candidate is analytical in his/ her approach. There are many aptitude tests with the help of which you can evaluate their analytical skills. This skill is essential in understanding the wants and needs of customers. A person with such skill will never have to ask for the sale, they do that naturally.

They must be a good listener: A good salesperson will not talk much. They will rather ask questions and will let the customers speak their desire. This way they assess the needs of customers. There is another advantage of appointing a good listener as your sales representative. Remember the slogan “We are listening” of an international personal and home care product company. You too have to make your customers feel that you are listening their needs. Thereby, make sure that your sales representative also posses this quality. Opt for one who is more attentive to you rather than those who love to provide every detail of their accomplishments. You can even make mock sales calls to evaluate how they handle such situations.

A thorough market knowledge is essential: The marketing and sales team of any company must posses a firm knowledge about their targeted market. While appointing a candidate make sure that he/ she is market savvy. It is better to opt for people who regularly read trade journals or are members of your business related associations. Such people must also a have a knack to attend various trade shows and other business events.

They must be able to take up challenges: Well we all know that sales people love challenges, or this is what they love to say. But how to find out? It's tricky but quite simple. Ask the candidates whether they would like to work on salary or commission basis. A confident and good salesperson will take it as a challenge and will opt for the latter. Working on a commission basis means ability to earn unlimited amount of money. On the other hand, one who asks for salary may not prove to be an asset for your sales team.

6 Small Business Employee Background Check Tips

Getting reliable and qualified employees on board is as critical to business success as it is to protecting your staff, clients and business property from harm. Conducting quality background checks form the backbone of ensuring a good hire, especially for positions of power and responsibility within your company. Whether you manufacture drugs and intermediates or leather goods, consider the following tips to help you with employee background checks.

1. Develop a policy for employee background checks – A predefined policy will help you to consistently screen job applicants based on your priorities. This will also facilitate delegating the responsibility of background check, without the hiring managers having to second guess preemployment screening process. Further, it's always good to have a lawyer review the policy for its compliance with the law, so as to protect you from any legal tangles in the future.

2. Get consent for a background check – Law in many countries will require you to first get consent from applicants for running a detailed background check on them. A written and signed permission will allow you to dig out information on a candidate's education, workers compensation, motor vehicle reports, credit reports, criminal records, performance, etc. The signed consent will, by and large, shield you against any lawsuits, arising out of the information you get from running a background check.

3. Seek information from co-workers and past supervisors – Senior colleagues and supervisors can provide you with a lot of relevant and specific inputs on the work ethic of the candidate. Talking to supervisors and colleagues may be more insightful than speaking with the human resources department, as the department's hands may be tied about how much to reveal, due to the possibility of a lawsuit.

4. Seek out specific information from references – Asking specific questions such as a candidate' performance on different projects mentioned in the job application or during the interview, will give you relevant information on the real caliber of the applicant. Vague questions will only get you vague answers subject to varying interpretations.

5. Carefully assess the comments you get from references – Watch out for neutral or non-specific and mildly positive comments. The previous employer could simply be trying to hold herself back fearing a lawsuit. In such a case, you might ask the employer whether she'd be willing to hire the candidate another time, a mumble and a fumble when she answers that should raise a red flag.

6. Find a credentialed background checking service provider – Sometimes, when a lot of quality information is to be gathered, it's better to outsource the background check to a seasoned professional or a good company. Before outsourcing the job to a company, read up reviews about it, find out how long it has existed, know about the past assignments it has handled, ask for references, etc.

7 Small Business Workplace Safety Tips

"Safety is a cheap and effective insurance policy" ~ Author Unknown

Ensuring safety in the workplace is important to keeping your workforce healthy, and to staving off costly injury lawsuits. Since safety doesn't happen by accident, it's all-important to seriously think about keeping the workplace accident free. Whether you own a heavy engineering plant or run a machine tools facility, the following tips will help you to keep your workplace safe.

1. Educate your staff – While informing and educating employees on safety procedures during employee orientation programs is the norm, you need to provide safety training periodically. In addition, you also need to educate employee on what to do in case of an emergency.

2. Provide workers with clear safety instructions – Just a 'not to do' list isn't enough, the work instructions for operating machinery should include clear safety instructions. The printed work instructions will help workers to properly use machinery, while safety instructions will keep injuries at bay.

3. Are the given operating procedures being followed? – Be on the lookout for any discrepancies between the written instructions for operating machinery and actual practice. If there's a difference, find out the reasons behind it, and then address these issues.

4. Pay attention to the upkeep of production machinery – Timely maintenance, and replacement of worn out parts is essential to keeping machinery in mint condition. You may seek professional help to timely review the working of machinery, because your workers may sometimes not be able to notice dangerous wear and tear, especially if it occurs at a slow rate.

5. Keep the work area free of clutter – Maintaining cleanliness in the work area carries benefits that extend beyond safety. A clean work area will prevent your staff from undesirable exposure to hazardous chemicals, and stray objects that may cause injury. In addition, a clean workplace will also be pleasing to employees, as against being an eyesore. A clean and pleasing ambiance will improve employee motivation and spirit towards work and the workplace.

6. Listen to your staff – Sometimes your employees will approach you, complaining of a malfunctioning machinery, equipment, or some other safety hazard. Don't ignore any of the complaints, and on verification shut down the problem machinery as soon as possible, or take the necessary steps to prevent an accident before it's too late.

7. Document all instances of injury at the workplace – A review of records on accidents and injuries will help you to assess the safety related training, procedures, and programs, and revise them if needed. Furthermore, these records will also come in handy in presenting your case in the court of law, if someone files an injury lawsuit against you.

8 Small Business Employee Productivity Tips

Improved employee productivity lies at the heart of better business performance. However, to achieve optimum productivity, all of your employees need to work with dedication, and put in their best efforts at work. Whether it's a thread and fabrics or a pet products business that you own, the following tips will help you with improving employee productivity.

1. Take time to listen to your employees – Really listening to employees is important to motivating you staff. To listen effectively you just need to try and listen, and not fidget, or interrupt to say what you want to say. Happy employees often report that their bosses listen well to their concerns and ideas.

2. Elicit employee participation in goal setting - When you include employees in the process of goal setting they will automatically have a greater sense of ownership, eventually helping the business achieve its objectives. Further, the employees are sometimes better aware of the ground realities of their job and what it takes to to make things happen. As a result, their inputs to goal setting will also bring up new ideas, and ways needed to forestall and overcome any roadblocks to accomplishing project and company goals.

3. Provide timely feedback to employees – A regular feedback will help both your employees and the project to stay on track. It will tell your employees whether they're moving in the right direction or not, helping them to make changes in how they're working for better productivity. During the process, it is quite possible for you find employees aren't up to the mark in their work. However, criticizing in public can be de-motivating. Instead, hold a meeting in a private setting highlighting where the performance falls short and the remedial steps that need to be taken.

4. Respect the employee’s break times and time to go home - All employees need a break. The break and lunch times will allow employees to unwind and recharge their batteries during a days work. Renewed energy and a fresh mind will help them perform better. Similarly, you should also respect your employee's scheduled time to call it a day. Most employees won't appreciate being dumped on with work when it's time to leave for the day. When employees get enough time to spend with their families, their personal lives will be healthy, and personal problems won't get a chance to spill over to the workplace.

5. Distribute the workload evenly – Your employees should be working just as much as the others in terms of workload. The employees who are overworked will naturally be unhappy, while those with less workload will be labeled as the manager's favorites. This in turn will create an unhealthy work ambiance and affect morale and productivity.

6. Review the employees' tools and equipment – Good tools, equipment, and technology when used in the right manner can boost productivity. Make sure that the machinery and tools available your employees are in mint working condition, and more importantly that your employees are using them in the right way.

7. Try to promote from within – In general, a policy to promote from within provides an incentive to your current employees to put in their best efforts, and thus improve productivity.

8. Train your employees - Timely employee training ensures that they have the necessary skills to adapt and perform well in the constantly changing business environment. Based on you training needs and budget you may hire a professional trainer, arrange for online training, assign an experienced employee with the responsibility, etc to train your staff.

5 Small Business Employee Orientation Tips

Joining a new company and learning the ropes can be stressful for new employees. However, faster the employees are comfortable with their new position, the quicker they will begin contributing to your company's growth. Orientation programs are essential to making the process smooth and stress free. Whether you make electrical components or run a timber and wood business, the following tips will help you with employee orientation.

1. Properly plan the employee orientation program – Planning is essential to any business activity and employee orientation is no exception. Before you draft a blueprint and the schedule of the program, take a stock of all the information you need provide the new employees. Based on your business type, consider a meet up with present employees and managers, emergency procedures, company vision, mission and values, a site tour, product or service information, company policies, employee manuals, health and safety procedures, etc. You might ask for suggestions from you present employees on what to include in the orientation program.

2. Cherry pick staff to conduct the orientation – During orientation you not only need to make sure that all relevant information is provided to the incumbents, but it is done so in the right manner. As a result, you need to assign the responsibility of employee training and orientation to only those employees who are both knowledgeable as well as sociable, friendly and helping.

3. Don't underestimate the power of a warm welcome – You need to ensure that the reception and other staff has been informed of the incumbent's joining day, and that they make it a point to warmly greet her. This is important because any employee will be anxious on the first day of her job, and that she also needs to feel welcomed. “Well begun is half done” they say.

4. Hook up the incumbents to a mentor – New employees need time to adjust and adapt to a company's environment. They need to learn “how things are done here,” and become comfortable with the company's culture. As a result, you need to assign them to an experienced employee, who they can turn for help and information to facilitate their adjustment. The employee orientation program is an apt time to introduce and buddy up the incumbent with a mentor employee.

5. Don't forget the feedback - The orientation schedule once drafted shouldn't be etched in stone, and that you will need to improve upon it regularly. A good way to get suggestions for improvements is by asking the employees who've undergone the program for a feedback. Taking a second look at the program at another time yourself, might help you prune it even more.

7 Small Business Hiring Mistakes to Avoid

"If we weren't still hiring great people and pushing ahead at full speed, it would be easy to fall behind and become a mediocre company." ~ Bill Gates

A good employee will have the potential to turnaround your small business, while a bad one may add to your worries. Whether you supply energy products or deal in heavy engineering parts, the following points will help you avoid some common mistakes while hiring for your small business.

1. Not defining the job profile before hiring – Not defining the job responsibilities before hiring may adversely affect your business. An example might be that as your business grows, it's operations will become increasingly complex. And you might be forced to think of quickly hiring someone just to put things in order, and without clearly defining her roles and responsibilities. However, this might lead to more disorder that resolve it.

2. Not preparing well for the interview – Interview forms an essential component of the hiring process. To conduct and effective interview you need to ask the right questions, and be aware of both the advantages and disadvantages of interviews to accurately assess the suitability of candidates for your business.

3. Giving more priority to college degrees than experience – Unless it is for professions that require advance qualifications e.g. accounting, it may be a mistake to value college degrees than relevant experience. Successfully performing in the real business world requires skills and attributes which may not be accurately referred from the college degrees a person holds.

4. Hiring those you personally know – Since the workplace demands a distinct set of work ethic, responsibilities, and accountability, people closely associated to you such as your family and friends, spouse, acquaintances may not make up for great workers. Even if they are talented it may be difficult for you to manage them and their behavior.

5. Hiring a generalist – While hiring a generalist having knowledge of many tasks seems to be an attractive option, effective business operations often require specialist care. As a result, it's better to hire specialists for different types of work such human resources, accounting, administrative tasks, etc.

6. Accepting and settling for very average talent – Being a small business doesn't mean that you need to settle for an average candidate for the position. Instead, you should try and hire the best talent available, don't be in haste to fill in a vacancy, and invest in your recruiting campaign to hire the best talent. Also see: Tips to Hire Employees for Small Business.

7. Making lofty promises while hiring – If you make promises to candidates that are unrealistic and you can't keep them, you may be disappointed later on. The new employees may leave you sooner than you might expect. Try to give a realistic job preview to candidates about the future opportunities, compensation, growth, etc.

7 Small Business Freelance Worker Hiring Tips

As your small business expands, you will need more hands to fulfill the increasing orders. As a result, hiring freelancers is sometimes a necessity. You may be running a services business or selling computer parts online, the following tips will help you with hiring of a freelancer.

1. Draft a project proposal - A detailed plan of the project that you want to outsource will serve as an excellent aid for communicating your requirements to the freelancer. And also while the project is underway, it will help you to know whether it's on track or not.

2. Search the Internet to find freelancers – First, there are several websites such as Craigslist.org, Guru.com, Elance.com, etc that will provide you with a large pool of freelancers to choose from. In addition, you can query search engines to reach the websites of freelance professionals.

3. Ask your contacts for recommendations – If you maintain a good network of professionals and business owners, you can ask them to help you. Quite often, the recommended professionals will be those who have already served your contacts and are trusted by them.

4. Have the freelancer sign an agreement – Prepare an agreement, stating that you will be the owner of the works created by the freelancer. You may seek legal help in preparing such a document, or use freelance agreement templates.

5. Talk to the freelancer on a regular basis – Whether it's a local or an offshore freelance worker, you need to be in touch with her. You may use chat, skype, email, phone, etc for the purpose, but being in touch is essential. It's important that you provide constant feedback to the professional. Use the opportunity to ask questions, seek clarifications and communicate your expectations.

6. Keep a tab on the freelancer's performance – Once you've hired a credentialed freelancer, don't just sit back and relax. Instead, keep reviewing the work as it progresses, and ensure that it meets the quality standards you desire. You may have to discuss with the freelancer on a regular basis about the way you want the work done.

7. Remember that the lowest bidder may not be the best – If you hire a freelancer based on price, and price alone, you may be in for disappointment later on. Consider other factors as well, such as relevant experience, reviews, references portfolios, etc. Also, it is wise not to pay any more than 30 percent of the project price upfront.

7 Small Business Team Building Tips

A skilled and motivated team is as important to successfully running a small business as it is to winning a football match. However, a lack of team spirit and strained relationships within the team can hurt your business. Whether you deal in pet products or provide business services, the following tips will help you in building and maintaining a healthy team.

1. Ensure that amity is maintained within your team – Conflicts and discord among team members can arise due to a number of reasons such as disagreements, competition over resources, personality clashes, miscommunication, and more. Since these can seriously affect the performance of your team, you need to identify and resolve all of these as soon as possible.

2. Clarify team and individual goals – When each team member has a good understanding of team as well as individual goals, they are more likely to do the right things and work in tandem with each other. Proper and updated job descriptions, organizational charts, meetings with employees can help your employees in clearly understanding their roles.

3. Allow employees to make decisions – Allow competent employees you trust to make decisions in their area of expertise. However, once you've given them the authority and power over resources, do take the time to see if things are moving in the right direction or not. When you empower employees they will feel valued and trusted, increasing ownership and motivating them.

4. Provide timely feedback – Your team members should be very clear about your expectations from them. You need to regularly let them know whether they are on track or not. Communication is the key and it needs to be frequent and timely.

5. Take care of each member's employee training needs – The skill required by each of your team members should be regularly and adequately updated. If this doesn't happen, the ones lacking the skills will feel left out. Whatever means you choose viz. online training, professional coaches, sessions by a senior employee, etc, all members need to be adequately trained to perform as a team.

6. Encourage better communication within your team – To promote better communication keep the communication channels between you and your employees open. In addition, promote better communication among all team members. Let your employees know that you follow an open door policy. Also, remember that while e-mailing makes communication fast and easy, it shouldn't replace face-to-face conversations.

7. Party as a team – When your businesses' performance is such that it calls for a party, make sure you involve every member of the team in the celebrations.

8 Small Business Employee Retention Tips

The importance of employee retention cannot be overstated. As a small business owner, finding good talent and retaining it can be a challenge. Whether you own a handicrafts or a fashion and jewelry business the following tips will you to retain your quality employees longer.

1. Hire the right people – A careful selection of employees based on their aptitude and abilities that match the requirements of the position it important. An employee who has the ability and also loves her job will be a happier worker, than a misfit.

2. Offer competitive pay packages – If you offer a compensation that's cut above the rest, your staff won't think of leaving you, even as they come across many opportunities for switching their job.

3. Encourage employee participation – Encouraging employees to share their ideas, may not only get you some clever ways of doing business, but also help in with employee motivation.

4. Offer growth and development opportunities to employees - Encourage and assist your employees to attend attend conventions, seminars, and workshops for enhancing their skills. From time to time, give them new responsibilities that are moderately challenging and help them acquire new skills.

5. Talk to your employees – Talk to your employees individually from time to time. Learn about their interests, any issues they may be facing at the workplace, ask them about the positions they would want to take up in the future, etc.

6. Treat them with equality and respect – Dealing with your employees in a manner that shows they are your co-workers, than just some paid assistance will make them feel valued. And they'll develop a sense of belonging.

7. Take care of their health – Promote a positive work environment, help them get healthy by arranging for training on meditation, healthy lifestyle, and other health related issues.

8. Provide frequent feedback – Most employees, in general, will want to know how they are performing. So don't wait for the annual performance evaluation exercise, instead, provide frequent feedback either formally or informally.

10 Small Business Employee Motivation Tips

"Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can't be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people." ~ Lee Iacocca

Motivation is important in business as it helps employees to perform at their best. Whether you deal in automotive parts or handicrafts, the following tips will help you inspire your staff to put in their best efforts at work.

1. Clearly state your purpose and expectations – While delegating tasks, explain the true purpose of the activities your employees will carry out. Though you may have reservations on disclosing company plans, describing the real purpose will help your employees envisage a long-term relationship with the company, and execute better.

2. Set achievable goals for your staff – If you set too lofty targets, your employees will feel pressured from the start, and could eventually lead to a substandard performance. Instead, determine reasonable and realistic objectives for your team, increasing the challenge when the previous one's have been accomplished. At the same time remember that there will be a limit to how much pressure your team can handle without burning out, or being affected in the long run.

3. Provide frequent feedback on performance - Your employees need information and guidance on their performance. Make it a point to tell them as soon as possible, when they've done a good job and when they've not. Set up a daily or weekly schedule for feedback. Serve as a mentor to them, with the two of you working together on helping them improve their performance.

4. Say Thank You – When employees go beyond what's expected of them thank them heartily. You may even thank with a call after dinner. A sincere appreciation is sometimes worth more than anything.

5. Be a good paymaster – Higher than average salaries will have your employees perceive them as better placed compared to their peers from other companies. It will also help you to arrest employee attrition. And give out the message that you truly value them and their talents.

6. Properly design a reward system – Set up a system whereby the best performers are given bonuses each day. On similar lines, reward performers with incentives on weekly, and monthly basis. Choose the gifts carefully so that they address the employees' needs, and don't burden your finances too, viz. free lunches, movie tickets, gift certificates, etc. Associating rewards with employee contribution and performance will promote the workers' self-worth and esteem.

7. Reward with training for performance – Business employee training will motivate employees as their career prospects will be enhanced, you on the other hand will benefit from the new skills your employees will acquire. You have several options for arranging training such as training programs, in house programs, video and Internet based training, etc. And while the training needs will depend on the type of your business, technology oriented courses are popular these days.

8. Take a flexible approach – Sometimes organizational policies and procedures become stale with time. Too much of bureaucracy can lead to dissatisfaction among employees. Be flexible and see whether these policies can be tweaked a bit to make them employee friendly, without compromising their objectives.

9. Listen to your employees – Learn about and sincerely address your employees' individual as well as group needs. In addition to establishing systems and procedures such as suggestion boxes, informal conversations can often provide you deeper insights on employee needs, especially individual needs. Make your employee grievance redressal system a mix of formal and informal management practices.

10. Create a pleasant work environment – Simple things such as delegating tasks with humor, varying their work to prevent boredom, being a bit tolerant about employees cracking jokes among themselves can create a friendly and amicable environment.

Tips for Handling Difficult Employees

Unexcused absenteeism, disrespectful language towards coworkers, poor quality of work, bad attitude toward the company, are all symptomatic of difficult employees. You may be running any small business, home furnishings or machine tools, and if you still haven't come across a difficult worker as yet, it's only a matter of time before you do. The following tips are meant to help you effectively deal with problematic behavior in the workplace.

1. Precaution is better than cure – According to Albert Einstein "Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them." Preventing problem employees from getting on board is perhaps the best way to avoid having to manage them. Ensure that you have a good recruitment and selection process in place, and fortify it with an elaborate screening process to forestall future problems. See "Tips to Hire Employees for Small Business."

2. Realize that ignorance is Not bliss – Not bliss, at least while your are trying to deal with problem employees. It doesn't matter how invaluable the employee’s skills are for your business, ignoring a workers undesirable behaviors is not the solution. The problem won't disappear on its own, and may only aggravate.

3. Don't delay action – Once you become aware that there is a problem don't put it on the back burner, think of it as a ticking time-bomb and that you need to act quickly to diffuse it. As a manager it's your responsibility to get to the heart of the issue and find a solution.

4. Get knowledge before you act – You need to ensure that you have sufficient and reliable data before you confront the problem employee. You shouldn't act on gossip, rumors, perceptions, and other information against a worker, that can't be verified. To address the issue, fix up a meeting in a private setting for a discussion. Sometimes the employee might simply not be aware that his behavior is causing problems, so you need to explain that with clear examples. Also, allow the employee to respond to the accusations during the meeting.

5. Coach the employee to recovery – Take a positive approach to addressing the problem, avoid using intimidation and threats to treat it. Remember that you are dealing with the behavior, not the person. Once the employee understands the problems caused by her as real, get feedback and recommendations from the employee herself about how the problem is to be resolved. Then allow her the time to practice the acceptable behavior. From time to time the managers or the human resource staff should provide feedback to the employee on her progress.

6. Not all attempts at reform will be successful – While a majority of the problem employees will understand their problem behavior, and make sincere efforts to change them, some employs will continue to pose problems. In such cases you may not have an option but to terminate the employee. To proceed, first get evidence for the problematic behavior recorded as documents and provide a written feedback to the employee. If improvement is still not observed terminate the employee.

Top 8 Small Business Employee Training Tips

It doesn't matter whether you own a cosmetic and personal care or an engineering goods business, properly training your employees will benefit your business both in the short and long run. Some well-known benefits of training are better job satisfaction, efficiencies, quality of products, ability to adopt new technologies, and more. The following tips will help you derive the maximum benefit out of your employee training programs.

1. Plan Your Training Well - Take up training and development need analysis as the first step in planning. Carry out a comprehensive needs and skills analysis, find out where the skills fall short, which new skills are needed, etc. Also ensure that the business problems and issues you are considering can be resolved by training. For instance, substandard employee performance could be due to lack of skill, qualification, ability, a bad fit, motivation, etc.

While you plan, establish measurable objectives and the required outcomes of job performance. Also, basing the content and exercises of the program as close to what the trainees will be required to do on the field, will make your program very relevant, practical, and impart information and skills that can be readily used in the job and at the workplace. Good planning will not only improve employee competence but will save you from wasting your money.

2. Carefully select trainers and training materials - For the most part, a thorough training need analysis will guide you on this. As for choosing trainers, in addition to finding experts, it is important to consider their communication and “teaching skills” too. This is especially important if you are considering an experienced staff member to conduct training. Further, designing good training materials viz. presentations, printed materials, etc will help by serving as excellent review and reference guides long after the training is over.

3. Choose an appropriate venue - The training room should be selected after considering factors such as its layout, capacity, furniture, availability of equipment and supplies, noise in the environment, etc. The key is to ensure that the venue promotes learning rather than posing obstacles.

4. Test-drive your program - To improve upon the quality and relevance of the training program, pick up a small sample from the trainees and try out the program on them. At the end, ask them for feedback and carefully think through it, using it to weed out any imperfections and sprucing it up to make the program more useful and user friendly.

5. Market your program to the trainees - The employees need to be motivated and be almost thrilled about attending the training program to get the maximum out of it. You need to clearly communicate the importance of the program to them, highlighting the benefits it will have on their career and growth. Or that you will be giving out certificates at the end of it. Also take time to resolve any reservations the trainees may have about the program such as the program being a time waster, irrelevant to fieldwork, etc.

6. Ensure that the new skills are implemented - Once the program is concluded the learners and their supervisors should discuss how the learners will incorporate the new skills in her daily work, and how the resources required will be arranged for. Further, inform the supervisors and workers that you will be evaluating the application of new skills and their outcomes. In addition, ensure that the supervisors and workers generously make use of checklists, reminder cards, process flow charts, templates, etc so that the learning can be effectively put to practice.

7. Assess the training program outcomes - The measurable objectives you determined while planning will serve as means of measuring the success of a training program. At the end the training should get you a fair rate of return on investment. A good assessment of the outcomes will help you to plan better for further programs as well.

8. Make training a way of life for your business - Think of training as an investment than an expense. Adapt continuous training of both the new and old employees as a norm. Given the fast changing business environment employees’ skill levels are prone to becoming obsolete in a short time. Regular training will ensure that your organization has the latest skill set available to face market challenges. Also, encourage employees to cash in on the opportunities, inside or outside the organization, to update their skills. Provide an environment supportive of their initiatives for skill enhancement.

Tips to Hire Employees for Small Business

Hiring new staff members is important for business growth be it an agro-farming, personal care, foods, or any other business. Because it is the employees who will manage your money, get you more business, keep your other staff happy and productive, and give you peace of mind. However, for new employees to turn out as real assets they need to be chosen carefully.

The following tips will help you hire better.

1. Set a realistic deadline to complete hiring: Generally, the earlier you ascertain the need for a new hire the better it is. However, finding befitting employee might take up a months time, so if you would want to set the deadline as the end of the week, it may be a bit unrealistic. You need to set aside time to advertise, interview, orient and train the new hire.

2. Be crystal clear about the new employee's role: Unless you know for sure what tasks you want to get accomplished, you can't be sure about what qualities to look for while screening candidates. It will help you to scan resumes, conduct interviews, conduct background checks, etc. For instance, you may want someone who can get you new clients, or take over the secretarial work for you, or an expert to advise you on technology issues, etc. You need to create job descriptions accordingly.

3. Assess your own managerial style: To ensure that you have a really productive assistant working for you, you need to clearly understand your own managerial style. For example, if you are looking for an independent employee but frequently feel a need to check in what your helpers are doing, an “independent” employee might be unhappy working for you.

4. Provide Information to Applicants: It is a good idea to attach a fact sheet to the employment forms covering topics such as the hiring process, job descriptions, expectations, etc.

5. Interviewing the employee: Despite not being perfect tools of assessment, interviews can reveal a lot about the candidates in a short time. At the same time just one hour isn't sufficient to learn about a person so it's a good idea to have one of your other staff members interview the candidate too.

6. Avoid hiring someone “just like you”: Don't expect to hire someone who is just like you as it's next to impossible. The world population is well over 6 billion and each individual is unique in terms of personality, habits, manners, aspirations etc. So as long as there isn't a direct clash between your and the prospective employee's philosophy, its alright. In fact, an employee with traits different than yours might even complement your way of working and eventually benefit your business.

7. Conduct employee background checks: Sourcing employee background checks to a good company is of paramount importance and is not to be neglected. It is also essential that you have the candidate sign an understanding for background checks by third parties as a condition of employment.

8. Plan to deal with absences/leaves: Formulate a policy for time off the employees will need to recover from an illness or to simply recharge their batteries. Plan beforehand on how you will deal with these absences.

9. Draft a disciplinary & review policy: Creating a policy before you hire will help you deal with issues of chronic absenteeism, poor performance, promotions etc. in a consistent and timely manner. It will also serve as a guide for the new hires about the company's expectations from them. You might want to cover issues such as the number of emergency absences, leaves in a given time period, rewards for performing employees, how you will communicate with you team members, etc.

10. Design a training program: A training program is necessary to orient the employees with your business, company policies, your expectations, etc. Often an inability to understand the expectations of the employer becomes the reason for misunderstandings between the employer and the employees.