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Six Steps to Improve New Employee Onboarding

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Have you ever seen a new employee leave after just one day of work? What was your first thought when that happened? Probably somewhere along the lines of “Wow, it must have been bad”.

Unless there was some type of unexpected challenge or emergency, this is not a good sign for a company. And it must be addressed because the result is unnecessary monetary loss. Turnover is costly, but new employee turnover is particularly troubling, because you have just wasted all the time and money you spent to hire them.

Don’t give up right away! Feedback is critical. A quick phone call and some soft questions to this former employee may help you identify key areas for improvement, repair your company’s image and set the stage for changes to current processes.

New job opportunities, family emergencies or changes in personal circumstances are not always the reasons why new employees don’t return. Generally, they leave because they did not like the way they were treated. They would rather go home and look for another job than to work in an environment where they know they will not be happy, appreciated or productive.

How can you make sure your new hires return to work feeling comfortable or, better yet, enthusiastic about returning to work after their first date of employment? How can the company improve new hire onboarding? (a.k.a. new hire orientation and the probationary or introductory periods)

According to an online source, “Onboarding, (organizational socialization), refers to the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members and insiders.”

Here are six simple steps to improve your company onboarding process.

1. Organization

Prepare, right away. This includes preparing and mailing new hire orientation packages, or referring them to your intranet system to obtain necessary forms, policies, procedures and other paperwork, and request that they return this information to you no later than their first date of hire. Coordinate a company tour, order business cards, organize their work station, order supplies and make sure their equipment (including their computer and other technology) is working properly.  Is training material current and relevant? Has a comfortable and productive location for training been secured?

2. Communication

Greet new hires on time; be confident, professional and friendly. Communicate with new employees by name. Answer their questions and follow up with them to make sure they do not need further assistance. Make sure they have contact information for various personnel and departments within and outside of your company. In other words, provide outstanding customer service to them while they get acclimated to the company, practices and procedures. Remember to demonstrate this same service throughout the new hire’s tenure with the company.

3. Appreciation

After accepting the offer, have the hiring manager place a welcome call. Make the new employee feel appreciated by inviting him or her to lunch on their first day. Introduce the new hire to their team, customers and others. Answer any questions he or she may have about the unit, department or the company.

4. Education

Use your employee handbook! Teach them about the company’s history, mission, and vision as well as the accomplishments and challenges, and goals and objectives. Explain how their skills and their role will help the company meet and exceed department and/or company goals and objectives. Inquire about personal goals and objectives. Give the new hire information about the company’s training and development offerings, such as webinars, offsite seminars, certification classes, etc. Review an education assistance benefit program if one exists.

5. Dedication

Do not give into “sink or swim”. Schedule follow up meetings! Hiring managers or mentors should be meeting daily during the first week of employment and at LEAST weekly after week one through first 90 days. You should also consider having the employee meet with and be accepting of feedback from one or two top performers and/or long term employees. Schedule some time for the new employee to meet with the president and/or one of the executive team members to learn more about the company from their perspective. Make sure the executive team is also interested about the employee’s career path, goals and expectations.

6. Expectations

Use the job description! Does the employee know what is expected? When conducting employee development meetings during the new hire period, the manager should be reviewing and discussing the job description. It should be clear how the job description fits with individual, team and company goals. Regularly discuss individual goals and objectives. Be open to feedback regarding work related challenges and obstacles. Schedule regular employee development meetings; emphasizing an open door policy. The new employee should always feel that the can easily access their manager when questions or concerns arise. Lastly, the manager should make sure the employee is aware of the standard steps to be followed for a 90 day and annual review.

After three months, the company should send a survey to the employee to obtain feedback about the organization’s customer service, quality of service and processes, and request any suggestions for improvement. The company should address any problems or concerns immediately so they are able to attract and retain top performers and continuously improve the company’s image, performance, processes and reputation.

Are you prepared to cut the cost of unnecessary turnover and obtain a greater ROI on your new hires?

Click the link to view our recent blog: The Three Most Common Job Offer Mistakes or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

 

5 HR Basics for Any Small Business

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We often hear about the Department of Labor trying to combat “catch me if you can”. All those small business owners that, according to them, just love to ignore or avoid employment laws. While there may be some out there, the vast majority just don’t know these laws exist. And if they do know they exist, we can thank our government regulators for making these laws way too complicated for the average business owner to even understand.

If federal or state labor law agencies want to minimize the amount of business owners who are violating employment laws, it is time to simplify! Many business owners really do want to do the right thing and need to be educated in a manner that is sensible. Education starts with basics. A basic understanding of labor law compliance will help a business create sensible and compliant employee management systems and processes.

So, where do the basics start? Here at the top five HR basics for any small business:

  1. Employment law posters. Put them up! They must be displayed in a common employee area  such as a break room. Make sure they are current. Yes you can print them from various web pages. But why would you do that when there are a ton of vendors out there that will put all your federal and state required postings on one single laminated sheet from $30 or less plus shipping?
  2. Fair Labor Standards Act. This is a federal law that most small businesses get wrong. It regulates minimum wage, OVERTIME and child labor. Here is the thing about overtime. Unless a position is clearly exempt, according to defined Fair Labor Standards Act exemption categories, it is non-exempt and all hours physically worked over 40 MUST be paid at one and 1/2 times the employee’s hourly rate. Just because a job has supervisor or manager in the title, or just because you choose to pay someone a salary DOES not make them exempt from overtime.
  3. Wage and Hour laws. There are federal and there are state. If state law is more generous than federal law, the business should follow the state law that is applicable to where the employee works, not necessarily where the business is located. If a business operates in Virginia, but also has Maryland based employees, then the business must comply with both sets of state laws.Wage and hour laws include regulations on when you are permitted to take deductions from an employee’s pay, meal and break periods and when final wages must be paid. When you are trying to determine your state’s wage and hour laws a simple Google search will usually land you right to the FAQ page of your state Department of Labor web page.
  4. Immigration Law Compliance. In other words, form I9. A new one was just released. It expires in 2016 – refer to top right corner. Start using it ASAP and do not use old forms past May 1, 2014. This form verifies the employees you have hired are legally authorized to work in the United States, not that they are a citizen. This form should be filled out in full, identifications should be witnessed and noted in section two, and section two must be signed. If immigration chooses to audit your files and finds missing or incomplete I9s, there is a high likelihood you will be fined. An I9 is required for every employee hired (put on payroll). A new employee legally has up to three business days to produce the documentation required for this form. After three days, if no identification is presented, suspend them from work until they do. Continuing to allow them to work past the three days is a willful violation of the law.
  5. Anti-Harassment and Non-Discrimination. Get a policy in place immediately. It would normally be found in your employee handbook and should clearly state zero tolerance for harassment in the workplace and clearly outlines for your employees how to report potential violations of the policy. Going without an anti-harassment policy in your business carries significant risk as the company will likely be without an effective means to defend itself if accused of not responding appropriately to a claim.

There is no need to fear or run from HR. Look for simplicity and start with the basics.

Click the link to view our recent blog: We Have an Employee Handbook, Now What? or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Original Source: http://inspiringhr.com/5-hr-basics-for-any-small-business.html

 

 

We Have an Employee Handbook, Now What?

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Congratulations on even having an employee handbook! Many small businesses try to go without, which ends up being a mistake. A current and labor law compliant employee handbook is an ASSET. It welcomes new employees, answers commonly asked questions and establishes standards for consistency and accountability; it proves what the employee should have known when you must correct their actions or are forced to terminate. It also minimizes risk in key areas such as harassment claims and wage and hour law compliance.

Make sure your handbook is current! There were at least three labor law and best practice changes in 2012 alone that created a need for existing handbook updates; ADA amendments; FLSA Safe Harbor and NLRB social media/blogging guidelines.

But it is not good enough just to have one. Any kind of employee management document or tool is only as good as how it is used. Once you have an employee handbook ready to go, follow these steps to maximize effectiveness:

  • Plan for distribution. Will you take the handbook to a printer and have a bound copy created for each employee? That works great in a small office but can get expensive the more employees you have. How about printing a single copy for each employee to reference in their primary office location and saving a copy of the PDF version of the handbook? Better yet, is there a shared drive or an intranet it can be saved to? This way you only have to print the Acknowledgement page, typically the last page of the handbook, for each employee to sign.
  • Execute a company wide roll out. This can include a single event or mini group meeting, perhaps by department or team. Make the roll out sessions as positive as possible. Sell employees on why the company needs the handbook and why it is of benefit to them. Establish a script or checklist to follow ahead of time. Identify 5-7 key policies or areas of concern to review with the group; cover zero tolerance in your anti-harassment policy and how to report a potential violation.
  • Collect signed handbook acknowledgements. This document alone is what makes the handbook a true company asset. If you want to be in a position to effectively defend the counseling, disciplinary action or termination of an employee, you need look no further than their signed handbook acknowledgment. It proves what they “should have known” they were being held accountable for. During roll out, instruct employees to sign the acknowledgement and return it to their supervisor or other authorized representative of the company within 2-3 business days. Keep track and make sure all are returned and placed safely in each applicable employee file.
  • Incorporate employee handbook review into your new hire process. Even companies with a loose new hire training process sets aside time for employees to complete payroll paperwork; form I9 and tax forms. Use that time to review the employee handbook briefly with them. You can even follow the script of key points you used for the roll out meetings.
  • When updating an employee handbook, notify employees properly. This usually entails re-issuing the entire handbook (painful) to every single employee and collecting new acknowledgements. Or, you can post and distribute a company wide memo that advises of the key changes, where to locate the latest employee handbook and requires a signature per employees. Remember, anything signed by an employee that can be used to prove what they should have known needs to make its way into the employee file.

You have invested time and money into creating an employee handbook. It is the backbone of all the employee systems and processes you have in place or will create. Don’t delay your return on investment. Now is the time to put it to effective use.

Click the link to view our recent blog: Five Tips for Successful PEO HR Services or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Source: http://inspiringhr.com/we-have-a-handbook-now-what.html

 

5 Tips for Successful PEO HR Services

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Congratulations!  You have chosen to work with a professional employer organization (PEO) to make your payroll, benefits, workers’ compensation and human resource management life easier – all at a one stop shop and price.

There are many advantages to using a PEO.  Many of them were likely presented and discussed during the sales and enrollment process.  Now that you are anticipating the service relationship beginning (or perhaps it has already started, you might be having a hard time making sense of what HR service you should be accessing and when.  Here are five tips to get you started.

1.     Determine Who Internally Can Implement Delivered HR

a.     A PEO HR specialist is there to help you solve and implement HR.  They need a partner at the client location to get that done.  Typically this partner or point of contact(s) would be the person most likely to request HR support, call the HR specialist with questions and would be the person the HR specialist would provide consult to if there are products or services that would be of benefit to your company.  For example, a PEO HR specialist can create an Employee Files Guide, but it is typically up to your internal contact to receive it and use it.  A PEO HR specialist is also there to guide decision making when it comes to employee corrective action measures.  But they still need that internal contact and/or the employee’s supervisors to execute based on the guidance provided.

2.     Ask for an Overview of Options; Typically Referred to as the “Basics”

a.     It is reasonable to expect that the PEO you are working with has a dedicated HR specialist or an HR service team member to explain in as much detail as you need, how the platform will support your business’s human resource management needs.  If you have the time and are inclined to participate in a collaborative discussion, ask your HR service representative to conduct a labor law compliance and HR best practices audit.  In doing so, you can gain a better understanding of where the “holes” may be and how the HR services being offered can fix that.

3.     Get Your Employment Law Posters Ordered

a.     Some PEO’s will do this automatically once the service agreement is signed.  Some will ask the HR specialist assigned to your account to evaluate if you need them, for which states and how many.  This is a labor law compliance basic requirement and unless you recently ordered federal and state labor law posters that are current, you have a right to expect that your PEO will provide you with a new set and will keep their eye on when you need a new set due to labor law changes.

4.     Get Your Employee Handbook Done

a.     A good PEO will have a template, based on federal law, ready to use.  You have to request that you want a handbook and the HR specialist should take it from there.  Usually that means answering a few basic customization questions and the HR specialist researching applicable state labor laws.  The PEO will create as many handbook drafts that you need for review and the convert the document to final when all content has been ironed out and is ready for employee distribution.  You can also ask for guidance on the best path for handbook rollout, collection of signed acknowledgements and how your supervisors can use the handbook to their benefits.  You get a copy, the HR specialist (HR service team) retains a copy and the HR specialist will keep you posted if a labor law change at the federal or state level requires a handbook update.

5.     Request Standard Employee Management Forms

a.     As your “partner”, the PEO HR service specialist/team is there to help you build up your HR/employee management foundation.  You can’t do that without implementing some standard forms and processes into your workplace.  Those include an employment application, deduction authorization forms, employee counseling forms and performance reviews.  You should expect these to be in MS Word format so they can be customized to suit your specific needs, but PLEASE make sure you lean on your assigned PEO HR specialist for guidance on how to customize; particularly when there may be concern that content being added is creating liability or violating a labor law.

There is so much more than can be offered by a PEO to support the creation and evolution of your internal HR/employee management functions.  What you have access to largely depends on the price you pay and the sophistication and structure of the PEO’s service team.  Whether you are paying a discounted rate to a smaller PEO or a larger price with a PEO that has a huge HR service offering remember this: if you think you need it, it never hurts to ask!

Click the link to view our recent blog: Before Promoting to Supervisor There are Five Key Trainings or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

 

5 Key Trainings Before Promoting to Supervisor

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As a small business owner it is great to identify high achieving employees that are being groomed to become a manager or supervisor.  This means your business is growing and you are in a position to lighten or re-distribute your load by trusting a supervisor to make a certain level of operational and leadership decisions on their own.

But please don’t overlook liability.  Keep in mind that “I didn’t know” is never a good defense and that a poor supervisor can create significant risk for the business you have worked so hard to build.

The person being promoted might be highly skilled at the technical aspects of work.  But do they know how to lead?  Will they do so in line with your expectations?  Do they understand basic labor law compliance so you can reasonably trust them not to create unnecessary liability?

Here are five key areas of employee management ‘education’ we encourage you to put in place for new supervisor training.  It is a good idea to cover this BEFORE they assume supervisor or manager duties.

  1. Employee Handbook.  Have them understand not just that the company has one, but why and how to use it.  Key Point!  The largest liability that can loom for an organization is failing to properly respond to a discrimination or harassment complaint.  First time supervisors need to understand what discrimination and harassment is, how to lead in a manner that curbs it, what your employee handbook states in terms of how to report a claim and, if brought to them direct, how the organization expects the supervisor or manager to respond and initiate an investigation.  Last but not least, first time supervisors should be reminded of the very real cost of a retaliation claim. Coming forward with a complaint of harassment of discrimination is a PROTECTED act. Don’t let a new supervisor double your liability by taking some form of retaliatory action against an employee who had the courage to come forward.
  2. Job Descriptions. Great for hiring, but also critical to supervisor success. How? A job description keeps the employee the supervisor is leading accountable. Make sure first time supervisors know why you have job descriptions AND how to use them. Job Descriptions can and should be used through the full employee lifecycle. They dictate how to craft an advertisement of a job opening, help you structure effective phone screen and behavior based interview questions, create documented accountability when signed upon hire and should be used as a basis for how employee performance is evaluated and measured.
  3. Contractor (1099) Versus Employee.  If you organization uses contractors as a part of your workforce, make sure your supervisors understand the difference between “managing” the two.  Since the IRS defines a very clear line between 1099 and employee, you need not let a first time supervisor unknowingly open your business up to the liability of back payroll taxes and fines. If a new supervisor is being trusted to oversee the work deliverables of contractors, they need to understand that they are vendors, not employees. As such, the supervisor needs to abide the by service agreement terms in place.  They should not be dictating hours worked, should not be reimbursing expenses, should not be offering employee like benefits and should not be formally evaluating work as if they contractor was an employee.
  4. Wage and Hour Laws. There are two to pay close attention to. (1) The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) – it regulates overtime, among other things.  Train a first time supervisor on the very clear difference between exempt and non-exempt.  Paying a salary is NOT how you qualify to be exempt.  Neither is putting supervisor or manager in the job title. Non-exempt employees who physically work more than 40 hours per work week (not per pay cycle) must be paid those additional hours at one and 1/2 times their hourly rate.  No exceptions.  Non-exempt employees are not legally permitted to “bank” overtime for future time off.  Nor are they permitted to voluntarily waive overtime wages. (2) NO unauthorized deductions from pay.  Outside of taxes and benefit plan elections, deductions from pay must be voluntary, specific, written and signed by the employee to be legal.  Don’t unnecessarily invite the Department of Labor in to audit your payroll records.  It is not fun and tends to not end well for the employer.
  5. Define a Good Manager or Supervisor. Here is how we break it down: a good manager is able to be a “reasonable person”, limits liability by handling issues fairly and consistently, understands when to seek higher level or HR assistance, has the courage to immediately counsel poor performers (and document such counseling), hires employees who fit the job requirements, provides documented coaching and feedback, leads by example (and not by fear), is approachable and accepting of diversity, discusses concerns privately, offers praise publicly, is not afraid to cut their losses and learn from mistakes. Last but not least, if trusting a new supervisor to interview and hire, train them on an effective and compliant process.  They need to know discriminatory versus non-discriminatory practices and how to look and listen for reference flags before an employee is hired.

The name of the game with new supervisors is risk aversion.  Otherwise, how will you gain a comfortable level with trust and delegating?  All it takes is some training on employee management basics, in a simplistic form that can be easily understood. You can groom their leadership effectiveness as they go along, but don’t overlook the risk of the untrained.

Click the link to view our recent blog: Don’t Be Held Hostage to Poor Performers or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Source: http://inspiringhr.com/before-promoting-to-supervisor-5-key-trainings.html

 

The ROI of an Employee Handbook: Does My Company Really Need One?

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As the business owner, you probably know the basic policies and practices you want included in an employee handbook so that current and future employees follow. But do you know what labor laws you are required to comply with, and what optional policies might benefit your organization? As a national professional employer organization (PEO), one of the most common questions we get asked by small business owners and clients is how much does an employee handbook cost. In short, the answer is that it depends. Books or software can run anywhere from $50 to $100, and then you must decide whether to do the work yourself or delegate to an administrator who may or may not know appropriate content for the handbook.

Several often ask if it would be more efficient or effective to hire a consultant to aid in the process of creating an employee handbook. Experienced human resources consultants run from $80 to $120 per hour, and legal counsel costs can tend to run much higher than that. So, is the cost worth it? YES! Here is why.

Time is Money

First, let’s evaluate how much your time is worth. On average, it is likely that your time or that of other senior managers is worth at least $100 per hour. You and these other senior managers likely handle day-to-day employee questions and spend time focusing on revenue generating activities such as sales or business development. So if you spend just 15 minutes, four times a month answering the same company policy questions over and over, you are losing $100 a month or $1,200 a year. Not to mention diverting attention away from generating more revenue for your business. To avoid this, simply invest in getting an employee handbook created so the answer to these questions can easily be found and accessed. While an employee handbook project may initially cost $800, in just one year (in this scenario), you would save $400.

Consistency and Accountability

There is no better way to create an equitable, non-discriminatory organization where employees are held accountable for their conduct and performance, than through the implementation of a compliant and thorough employee handbook. It clearly informs your employees of the rules and provides a roadmap for managers and supervisors on how to handle policy violations, performance concerns and other employee management challenges. This roadmap will save you time and money; allowing you to comfortably delegate to your supervisors. Without an employee handbook in place, it is likely that you would be called on to address an employee management concern. Perhaps this occurs just once a month for a 30 minute session. But wouldn’t you rather save the $600 of your time for more productive activities?

Wage and Hour Guidelines – Cost of Overtime

Do you have hourly employees who are bleeding you dry in unnecessary overtime? Do you have to pay them if the overtime wasn’t approved? While the answer is yes, why not let a policy in your employee handbook address how to handle the matter? The compensation section of your handbook should not only include paycheck and payday information, but also a very clear policy on non-exempt overtime and that supervisor approval is required before working overtime. If an employee continues to violate that policy, it is grounds for corrective action–including termination–if repeated.

Employee Conduct and Performance

Did you make a bad hiring decision? Has a complaint about harassment or a hostile work environment landed on your desk? Whatever the challenge, don’t delay in correcting the situation and taking appropriate action. An employee handbook should always include a section on standards of conduct, clearly state zero tolerance in regard to harassment and outline your right as an employer to correct the situation with the appropriate disciplinary action–up to and including–termination. Let an employee handbook give you peace of mind that you can trust your supervisors to handle any type of misconduct properly. A charge of discriminatory treatment from the equal employment commission or a complaint of harassment is a huge hassle and can be very expensive. The contents of your employee handbook are your best assurance and best defense that a situation has been handled in a fair, consistent and compliant manner.

Get a Signed Acknowledgement

Addressing employee misconduct or poor performance is never easy and is often dreaded and avoided by those of us who don’t like confrontation. But that underperforming employee may be costing you money; directly or indirectly. If the situation has been properly addressed, you’ll have the documentation to show for it. This will include proof that the employee handbook has a policy regarding conduct and performance and discipline, along with signed acknowledgement by the employee. If you can show both of these things and the problem hasn’t been resolved or continues, don’t be afraid to terminate.  When you do decide to terminate, you don’t want the employee collecting unemployment benefits. Protect yourself from an unemployment rate increase with good documentation and a signed employee handbook acknowledgement.

In conclusion, you may also want to consider an employee handbook in order to better communicate attendance standards, update your email and internet policies, add a privacy policy, or amend your family and medical leave information to include military Leave changes. Whatever the reason, the costs of creating or updating an employee handbook are far outweighed by the return on investment.

Click the link to view our recent blog post The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Four Things Every Business Should Know or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Original Source: http://inspiringhr.com/the-roi-of-an-employee-handbook-does-my-company-really-need-one.html

 

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