It’s safe to say that employee assessment tools are all the rage these days. Pretty much everyone expects a background check and maybe a drug screen before starting a new job. Many people have taken a leadership or aptitude assessment when being considered for a promotion or as a team building activity. But over the last few years, the variety …
Back to school time and it isn’t just for the kids
It is that time of year again. All of the back to school sales are in swing. Crowded aisles of school supplies at the local stores stacked with the endless supplies that are needed for each child. The anticipation of who is going to be in classes, and of course the excitement of being able to drop the kids off …
Setting Expectations
Have you ever worked for a manager that was great at coming up with new and exciting projects and ideas? Each time there was a new project you got overwhelming excited and passionate about your job. Then they told you their timeline and you realized that they had completely unrealistic expectations of how quickly that project would be able to …
Unpaid Interns or Indentured Servants?
Don’t assume that hiring interns mean free labor for the Summer. As the summer season heats up, college and high school students are busy interning in many businesses. And there’s a lot of misconception out there about the “yippee, I get labor for free” mentality that we see within companies all too often. It’s true, you have the opportunity to …
Gladwell, Maslow, and the Unintended Organizational Chart
So, the subject sounds pretty deep this week, but before you start wondering if we’ve taken leave of our senses – we’re talking about your organization and all of its structure – or lack thereof. You know; your unintended organizational chart. It happens – you’re going along someday thinking you’re the coolest boss in the free world, when all of …
Go Big or Go Home – The Big Five Mistakes in Growing your Business
We’ve all been there. You know, that moment when you have to make the decision to play in the “bigs” or continue to do things the way that you do them now so that your competition can leave you standing in their dust. My advice? For heaven’s sakes, go big or go home. Nobody invests their whole being into creating …
Of Buzzwords and Buzzards
Straight talk trumps pretention every time So this week, and because we all need a dose of good humor now and again, we decided to switch it up and address (in a humorous way) the buzzword code-words in business these days that we published a couple of years ago. Seems that in business, times may change but buzzwords go on …
Are your HR practices helping or hurting your relationship with your employees?
Spring is finally here, along with the sunshine, flowers and bunnies. Of course that also means it’s time to throw open the windows and get your spring cleaning under way. While your house could probably use a good once over I am actually talking about your HR practices. When was the last time you gave them a good once over? …
Beware the Ides of Holiday Employee Recruiting
Beware of the holiday hiccups when it comes to recruiting during the months of November and December. There always tends to be an influx of new job openings around the end of October leading into the end of the year. Retail and warehouse positions flood the job posting websites, all looking for seasonal help to get them through the holiday …
Why on earth do I need an Employee Handbook?
by Sadie Barker Many entrepreneurs and small business owners simply don’t think they need a handbook. They associate handbooks with big corporations and think that if they have a handbook they will become the stodgy, oppressive corporation with 8-5 mandated hours, an hour for lunch and two 10-minute breaks (heavily discouraged, of course). Some small business owners feel their size …