Thoughts on HR

People have strong feelings about organizational charts in business. Some people love them, while other people hate them. Some small businesses dismiss them as unnecessary, while others use them as a tool for strategic growth. Personally, I’m a fan of organizational...

As an HR consultant specializing in small business, I talk with a lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners every day. And I’ve noticed an interested theme around how people define success in business—many of them include hiring employees as part of their...

I’ve talked to a lot of business owners who have tossed around the idea of hiring an intern, but many of them view it as a way to handle overflow work for less than it would cost to hire a full-time employee. Once we start talking about what’s really involved in...

Role clarity, or more often the lack of role clarity, is an issue for a lot of small businesses. It’s something I consult with my clients about frequently, and it’s an issue I’ve seen in businesses of all sizes through the years. When an organization goes through a...

When it comes to assessing risk for small businesses, workers' compensation is a big one. Many employers are afraid of workplace injuries and have a tendency to ignore the issue because it’s something they don’t want to deal with. But it’s only an issue if you don’t...

In working with small businesses, I talk with a lot of people who have questions and misconceptions about employees versus independent contractors. Sometimes they think they have independent contractors but they really have employees. And often times, they don’t fully...

Small businesses are subject to a wide range of state and federal regulations, and it’s the responsibility of the business owner to know those regulations and be in compliance with them. But when people start a business because they have an idea for a service they...

Employment engagement requires two-way communication from things like feedback loops, evaluations, open-door policies, and effective meetings. Stay interviews can be a powerful addition to that mix, but it’s a process that very few companies use, and that’s...

Exit interviews are an extremely beneficial process, but many organizations don’t take the time to do them. Or, if they do them, they don’t take the time to analyze the data and really evaluate the trends identified through exit interviews. When an employee leaves by...

In the human resources industry, we often quote the statistic that it costs an employer 60% of someone’s salary to replace them. That’s an average statistic, so it will be less for some employees and more for others. But it’s a measurable number and one that has been studied and analyzed many times by the HR industry.