employees

Six ways your company can communicate caring to employees during this time. No doubt things are hard for every business right now and particularly difficult for small businesses! The last report I read stated that about 6.6…

3 questions to ask prior to hiring a new employee.

 The best defense is to have the right policy in place here are four tips to help avoid minefields. It’s rarely easy for a small business to work around the loss of an employee who’s out on a leave of absence. But you may have to…

Be open to hearing what your employees have to say, even when how they are saying it is not easy to hear. Be prepared to demonstrate to your employees your openness to working with them to find solutions. Here are four tactics to address…

Bob Dorf, "The Start Up Guy" author, speaker, shares his insights on the inflection when small business onboarding occurs. When a small business owner begins to add partners or employees it becomes a new entity with a new…

Part 2 in the New Year, New Hires series. Part 1 is entitled Kick Off The New Decade With A New Hire: A Refresher Course On Hiring Happy new year and new decade to all! As promised, I am sharing the second part in the…

Five small business benefits of stellar workplace culture and four next steps. Our workplace is the setting in which we spend most of our days and time. Work is home away from home for most and involves a large portion of our…

What your prospects, clients and employees are thinking in key moments when you aren’'t paying attention. Imagine this: You’'re in a hurry. You’'ve got to go to the bank, the post office, and the printer and be back in the office…

How do you keep great employees happy when you cannot pay them more? I was asked one time, by a small business owner who had 6 employees, how to address a request by a valued employee for more compensation. He said that he…

Here are five reasons why small business owners can benefit by practicing good values. Amelia has been working for a small business for two years. In her role in customer relations, she knows she is supposed to keep the…

Five leadership recommendations for small business owners At one point or another, we've all faced this situation: a rock star teammate leaves the company. Whether it's due to unexpected events your business is forced to…

You can better deal with difficult person by managing your perceptions, determining changes you can make and sometimes walking away. Running into a difficult person is almost inevitable. But you can take steps to more…

How you can own your reactions when encountering difficult people Editor’s Note: This is part 1 or a 3 part series on maintaining composure and managing encounters with difficult people Is encountering a difficult person all…

Creating a solid fringe benefit program for your employees will build value for them and for your small business. As they say, it’s the little things that matter If your employees are your bread and butter, don’t skimp on…

A global look at transformational and transactional leadership styles Business today is global as so is leadership. No one can escape it; what happens on the global stage affects us all. This raises an interesting question: Are the…

It can be difficult for Hispanic small businesses to retain top talent; however, it’s not impossible. In this article, you can learn the main reasons employees leave and how to prevent turnover of your best performers. Losing a…

Protecting a small business’s intellectual property. Protecting a business’s intellectual property fundamentally requires the imposition on employees and contractors of some level of restrictions on their ability both to disclose…

8 hiring basic negotiation tips and a back up plan Editor's note: this is the second and final piece of this hiring negotiation series.  Let’s pretend you’ve been looking to fill a critical role for several…

A company’'s fortune can rise meteorically or be obliterated with its reputation among stakeholders. If you have any doubt about just how critical reputation is, think for a moment about the horrendous mistakes made by Enron,…

Successful employee retention requires three things to keep in mind. We are used to reading business books about how to be great at customer service, how to engage the customer because after all, they keep the business in…

Valuing your employees will help build your business   What motivates people?  As a business owner or leader it is imperative that you understand what motivates people because without people your business could not succeed.…

Three insight-gathering questions to help you identify leaders. What makes a good leader? There are many traits that contribute to being a good leader, because there are many different types of leaders for different types…

Can admitting your mistakes make you a better leader? Key leadership traits and 4 steps to address admitting your mistakes Mistakes are impossible to avoid. Everyone makes them; of course, not everyone accepts responsibilities…

Here are 10 steps to engage your employees and increase your bottom line Statistics show that companies with engaged employees enjoy a 27% higher operating margin than their competitors. An engaged employee is a person who is…

Hispanic small businesses must be aware of laws relating to the hiring of employees. As any Hispanic small business owner knows, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of federal, state and local laws that must be…

The best way to hire, promote and coach individuals should be by using a combination of approaches. Editor's note: this is the third part of a three part Small Business and Hartman Value Profile Assessment Tool (HVP) series. Please part…

Five Working Groups Generally Missed by Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) Leadership to be Consider in 2019 Today the Employee Assistance Program industry has evolved to meet the needs of the diverse tech-savvy virtual global workforce.…

Small business leaders need to understand diversity in order to be connected and create opportunities for success The model of how to effectively navigate business leadership is changing. For decades stability and homogeneity…

Whether you're the employer or an employee, you need to put meaning into work. In the developed world in the 21st century, work has a strong emotional and social purpose. We use it to connect to our personal potential and…

3 key considerations when selecting a 401k retirement plan to improve the small business talent and retention competitive edge I am sure you have seen the ads challenging your knowledge on how much money you will need for…

The employment of undocumented workers implicates a host of risks to employers separate and apart from the penalties imposed by U.S. Immigration Laws.

Small Business management tactics to maximize production of remote employee. They are all around us, lounging in coffee shops, walking around the mall with a blue tooth in their ear, sitting at home behind closed doors.…

There are many factors to consider when determining whether and how to draft an employment contract. As always, seeking the advice of legal counsel will ensure that your company does not fall into any legal traps.

Since the current administration directed that the DACA Program would end on March 5, 2018, what is its current status? We provide a short primer on the history of the program and its present state.

The “Me Too” movement is a wake up call for small business owners to ensure a safe and productive work environment. Human Resources: “The division of a company that is focused on activities relating to employees….…

How achieve business efficiency from managing your time and your employees' time. One of the small business owner's greatest challenges and most important resources is the scarcity and management of time for the owner, the…

Latina businesswoman with transferable marketing and strategy skills are a boon for nonprofit businesses. Anyone who knows my business background seems surprised to have heard about my involvement in the not for profit…

4 Steps to Building an Internal Employer Brand that encourages happier employees Many small and medium sized business owners’ work tirelessly to build their business. Hours can be long, and problems can cause sleepless…

Building a top performing workplace. Editor's note: This is part one of a two part series. Research has demonstrated that to achieve a sustained level of workplace performance among employees it is…

Part 2: Four key areas of employee's right to privacy for small business owners Editor's note: in Part 1 entitled: Privacy in the Workplace? What Employers Need to Know we covered an employees expectation…

Small business owners need to understand the risks and rewards of starting a pension for employees. If you own a business, and want an easy tax deduction, many so-called investment professionals want you to open a…

How to Put Away What No Longer Serves Your Business. Resolutions, although most of us seem to make them every New Year, rarely work because they are usually founded on a context of resistance. “What you resist persists,”…

Taking the time to connect with your employees can be an effective way to build your business. Editor's note: this is part two of a two part series. Here's part 1 entitled Your Employees Want To Be Valued…

Insights on what motivates employees beyond monetary awards. Editor's note: this is part one of a two part series. Setting up and operating a small business that financially supports the owner is itself an accomplishment.…

Foster a Culture of Learning, It’s a Win-Win In today’s workplace, taking an “ABL” (Always Be Learning) mindset is essential. As well known football coach, Lou Holtz, once said “You're either growing or you're dying so get in…

6 practices every small business owner needs to implement to properly prepare for when tragedy occurs. In business, we pursue success with passion and vigor. We have a vision and we go after it. And, to bring…

The business implications of employees hooked on soda. Editor’s note this is the second of a two part series. Part 1: Should Your Small Business Consider Banning Soda? How many CEOs and business owners read about Reebok…

Small business employee health, work associate productivity and business costs. Reebok just banned soda at their U.S. headquarters. Is this a wakeup call for other businesses to be more involved on food issues impacting…

Successful small business growth requires setting expectations for success and helping employees grow Start Up Handbook series part 4, Small business best practices after hiring the right candidate. The new employee has…

It starts with smart methodical recruitment of qualified employees who can grow your business. Start Up Handbook series part 3, This part covers initial stages of hiring objectives and considerations. Good hiring practices are…

Your business is part of this health crisis here are 6 steps to help We are in a national weight crisis. More than two thirds of Americans are overweight. The health ramifications from eating too much “bad for you” food and…

Reverse mentoring enables businesses to benefit from younger employees' expertise in the digital world and more Mentoring is changing. In and outside of the workplace, momentum is building around the concept of reverse mentoring.…

Companies who seek to grow in today’s business market place have to make diversity central to operations. Aside from the fact that we live in a diverse, globalized society, more and more employees and customers alike are…

When you make a habit of acknowledging others, you naturally increase their engagement Greatness - our own - often goes unseen when we find ourselves looking in the mirror for clues about who we are. In general,…

...and When Best To Utilize Them At some point 22 years ago I started my career as a design assistant in the fashion industry. I then became a designer, then a senior designer. Then all of a sudden in the blink of an eye, I…

The first performance evaluation will prove to the new hire that he/she made the right choice Explain performance criteria in the first weeks of work The performance evaluation process begins immediately…

Exploring and executing varying management styles in real-time has been both a journey and a balancing act In part one of Determining Management Styles...and When to Use Them I covered the following management styles:…

Effective on-boarding enables new employees to establish a network and foster a spirit of collaboration. Once the decision to hire has been established and the new employee is on board orientation is…

Social recruiting can be an effective recruiting tool but it’s more than a presence on LinkedIn Editor’s note: This article concludes a three-part series. In the first article in this series, I focused on how to leverage employee…

Small businesses need talent, recognize an opportunity and be willing to listen carefully and consider all angles and factors Life presents opportunities every day. We hear the knock on our door and rush to open it or ignore it,…

There are many areas of the employer-employee relationship that raises issues of privacy One area especially challenging employers today is balancing the security of the workplace versus the privacy rights of employees.…

Now is the time to plan for a company party, office party or event, follow these 3 simple rules and deduct 100% of your next company gathering Whether it's an office party or office event here are some basic tips to impact your bottom…

Before firing an employee make sure you have a code of standards in place to avoid wrongful discharge litigation Wrongful discharge lawsuits are an unfortunate fact of life for today’s business owners. In light of this,…

Part 2: The Millennial view- having grown up with technology see it as an essential part of how they interact with others, including fellow employees and customers In this part 2 of a two-part series, we're examining how Boomers and…

Always-connected smartphones have changed the way companies do business Pocket computing began years ago, thanks in large part to the popularity of Palm-like products. They allowed users to carry their contacts, calendars and…

High availability is as much a function of people and process as it is the technology. It is not uncommon for companies to experience extended, annoying outages during peak periods or at critical points in time. Sometimes…

Independent workers will soon become the majority. Is it time to choose that path? I was recently laid off from my job as director of creative development at The Weather Channel. This is my second layoff since 2009. I have…

Innovation fuels business benefits from digital natives and others in the connected generation Editor’s note: This article is part of a three-part series. A few weeks ago I wrote part one of a three-part series on improving your…

Use caution when conducting personality tests on potential employees as a narrow line exists between a legal personality test and an unlawful medical exam Employers have been testing job applicants for many years. For…

Returning to the workforce as an employee—selling his company—has benefits and challenges but Carlos E. Garcia looks to a new lease on life In part one of this chapter, I talked about my transition from Hispanic…

One of the first and most important lessons an Hispanic entrepreneur learns is that employees really are a small business’s most important resource. In fact, the business literally cannot succeed with out them. Their talent, skills, and…

Science leads the way to new federal antidiscrimination law. In 2008 President Bush signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which prohibits employers and insurance companies from discriminating…

Hispanic Entrepreneurs Can Benefit from State and Federal Guidelines Image: Fotolia In good times and bad, employees at millions of small business nationwide are working overtime. But many small business owners may not be totally…

Hispanic businesses are turning to outsourcing for efficiencies and expertiseOutsourcing has become a widespread practice among small business owners. They use outsourcing for a variety of reasons such as handling work overflows, marketing,…

Hispanic business owners have options to secure talent with the right skills For many small Hispanic businesses, the administrative burdens of hiring, managing and paying employees are just too much to contemplate. As a result,…

It is critical that employers understand both federal and state law and comply with which ever is more protective of employees. The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in the number of employee class-action lawsuits claiming pay…

How to dismiss an employee without getting sued The risk of a "wrongful discharge" lawsuit is an unfortunate fact of life for today's business owner. Nevertheless, sometimes an unsatisfactory employee must be fired. Here's the right…