Trimming Costs Without Losing Productivity

In today’s economy, it has become ever apparent important to keep your labor costs down while still providing for production, sales, marketing and customer service. With the labor market becoming saturated with workers due to layoffs, it is time to ensure that your workforce is performing at optimum levels and that all cylinders are firing. Here’s a few tips:

Manage Performance

Your employees need to know what is expected of them and how they measure up to those expectations. This can be done by first notifying  your employees that times are indeed tough and that means everyone needs to work harder towards the goal of maintaining a successful business, which in turn benefits them, as they will be more likely to keep their jobs.

Make sure they understand the performance standards you require and the consequences of failure. Once you have established this foundation, it is important to monitor performance and conduct regular meetings with your employees, as a group and individually to inform them of any shortcomings, encourage their good performance and update them as to the company’s situation.

Do not let poor performers drag your business down. Deal with problems quickly and effectively.

Trim Labor Cost

Many companies are trimming their work schedules in order to reduce costs and keep their current workforce. Employees may not want their pay to be reduced, but an explanation that this is necessary to avoid layoffs should help to maintain morale. There are several ways to accomplish this. Here are a few examples.

• Switch non-critical employees to 4 day – 8 hours weeks
• Shorten the day by 1-2 hours for non-critical employees
• Ask employees to take unpaid leave or furlough’s
• Switch some workers to a part-time basis

These suggestions need to be carefully considered to avoid issues with discrimination and other problems associated with changes in pay, status or work hours.

In general, it is necessary to take whatever steps are needed to prevent a catastrophic failure of the business. It is Champion’s goal to help you make whatever changes are necessary to keep your business operating efficiently without causing legal problems or negatively impacting employee moral.

Please contact Champion to discuss your particular situation before deciding on how to proceed.

Effective Employee Management

Once you enter into the world of employment as a business owner, you enter a complex gauntlet of rules, laws and regulations defining how you treat your employees. These laws are unfortunately necessary to protect employees from unscrupulous employers and protect employers from the problems associated with employees. The key is to work within these limitations and provide your business with as much protection as possible with regards to employees. If you’re not doing a majority of the tasks below, you’re setting yourself up for a problem.

Here is a quick checklist outlining simple and effective things you can do to help protect your business.

Hire Smart

• Develop written job descriptions before you hire.
• Perform reference and background checks before you hire.
• Provide a written job offer with detailed pay and job information at time of hire
• Communicate company policy in the form of an Employee Policy Manual

Monitor Performance

• Set clear and measurable expectations of each employee.
• Execute performance reviews every 90 days first year of employment, semi-annually thereafter
• Continue to set goals and benchmarks for future reference and review.

Deal with Problems

• Quickly determine that there is a problem, i.e., tardiness, performance, attendance.
• Counsel the employee on the issue.
• Document the meeting and what the next step is.
• Follow-up on the problem.

Document Everything

• Document all employee issues, warnings and counseling sessions.
• Track hours, meal and rest breaks and overtime.
• Have employees sign all written communications, including payroll timesheets.

Terminate Quickly and Effectively

• Don’t let problems drag on, you know when its time to call it quits.
• Carefully consider all issues surrounding the employee and their performance.
• Notify the employee in writing.
• Pay all earned wages, commission and vacation at time of termination.

Again, this is just a quick overview of the very basic tasks an employer should perform in order to prevent employee problems. Maximizing their potential and creating longevity and loyalty is the next progression in the success of your business.

Making the Most of your Hiring Decisions

Effectively hiring employees involves making informed decisions at the right time and executing them properly. Our focus this month is to highlight some effective methods that will help you make educated hiring decisions and hopefully avoid the cost, liability and stress of hiring the wrong person.

One of the first keys to a successful employment relationship is to have a very clear understanding of the position you are trying to fill what type of results you expect from the employee. Job descriptions change over time, but an initial description is necessary both for the employer and the employee. Informing a prospective employee of his or her job function and how

their job impacts the goals and objectives of the company is critical to a successful relationship.

Once you have a concise job description and a candidate in mind, discover all you can about the prospective employee before you hire them. A simple yet effective process of screening your employees before you hire them can be accomplished using the following guidelines:

• Review several prospects before selecting the top candidates
• Inform the top three candidates that they are in consideration for the position and will be required to provide references and background info.
• Check all references carefully.
• After selecting top candidate, provide a written “Contingent Job Offer” with requirements for a background check and/or a drug screen test or whatever else you require before hiring someone.
• Job offer should include all pertinent information regarding job including tentative start date, wage and salary information, job description, supervisor, etc.
• After successful completion of the background check, inform the employee that the job is theirs and they can start according to the agreed upon start date.
• Provide the employee with all pertinent employee policy information at the time of hire before they start work, including new hire documentation, employee handbooks and employee benefit summaries.

Plan before you hire and spend more time preparing for their employment. Employee turnover is an expensive way to learn that someone is not right for the position.

Why Proactive Human Resource Management
Isn’t Just for Big Business Anymore

Businesses have been forced to make drastic changes in workforce levels, employee policy and operations just to survive the economic downturn we’re facing. These actions include furloughs, performance related terminations, layoffs, wage reductions and temporary furloughs. Nearly every one of those moves carries litigation risk and employer liability if not performed correctly.

Employees are feeling the pressure as well. Their own lives are in chaos due to real estate woes, family job loss and other financial pressures. Many employees are becoming desperate to find a quick solution to their money problems.

With little to lose, more and more employees are willing to file labor board claims or other legal action, hoping to score a big settlement. Their allies are attorneys who will look for any reason to sue.  The smallest problems in the eyes of an employee can provide the foundation for an unwarranted claim and lawsuit.

So how does this change the workplace in regards to Human Resource Management? It changes it drastically, that’s the short answer. The longer answer involves a clear intention to build a solid foundation of HR strategies that are designed to maximize limited payroll dollars, protect business assets and set in motion necessary workplace changes designed to position the business for future growth and profit.

This solution is simple for larger businesses that have the resources and expertise to manage the complexities of HR. For small businesses however, they are highly disadvantaged in this area as it is usually the owners or unqualified staff that handle complicated HR related issues. Most must find creative ways to effectively manage their employees so they can succeed in a competitive marketplace but these methods usually lack any sophistication or focus. Without a concentrated focus on improving productivity, liability control and labor expense, businesses are doomed to mediocrity or worse, failure.

The most successful business have a clear focus on the human capital of their business. Now, more than ever, every business which depends on employees to get the job done must find ways to focus on strategic employee development and efficiency of human resource compliance.

If want succeed in a difficult economic environment, let Champion review your HR situation and see if outsourcing can help.