How the 2016 Overtime Rule Affects Small Businesses

As a small business owner, your largest overhead component, 70% on average, is labor. You might have assumed that, within the bounds of things like the minimum wage, you’re essentially free as a small businessperson to negotiate whatever wage and salary with your employees that you’d like. There are, however, additional requirements that you must…

Read More

Alarmed by Employee Attrition? Here’s Why They Leave

An employee may seem content on the surface, but may actually be actively seeking a new job. This kind of scenario is very common in the workplace, and it often leads to disgruntled managers having to go through the hiring process for a replacement. In this situation, bosses are sometimes left scratching their heads, wondering…

Read More

Offering Workers Remote Access Benefits Everyone

Remote working and flexible schedule opportunities have been popular within the tech industry for many years, but an increasing number of employers in various other industries are beginning to realize the potential benefits of allowing staff to work from home. Of course, this is not a viable option for all employees, many of whom need…

Read More

How to Protect Your Business from Employee Theft

As a business owner, I have to say that statistics on employee theft are frightening. According to Statistic Brain, $50 billion are stolen from U.S. businesses every year by their own staff, and roughly 75 percent of employees have admitted to stealing from their employer at least once. In the past, it has been something that I…

Read More

Ditching the Performance Review: Another Look

There is no doubt the performance planning and review process in most organizations is broken. Too often, it’s a meaningless annual exercise of managers and their people filling out forms, having “the conversation” then going back to their real work. Too often, the review process has become completely detached from how managers work with their…

Read More

Employees vs. Contractors: What’s the Difference?

Picture this: You’re a successful small business owner with a growing venture. You’ve reached the point where you simply can no longer handle everything on your to-do list each day. You’re now ready to hire some help. But should you hire talent as employees? Or, should you make your team members independent contractors? It’s a…

Read More

Let Your Benefits Tell Your Story

Let your benefits tell your story. What does that mean? Most prospects and customers have no idea what your company’s mission statement or tagline is but they definitely know how they felt when they did business with you. Those experiences spark more word of mouth marketing than anything else. The interactions your employees have with…

Read More

How to Manage and Pay Tipped Employees in Restaurants

In the restaurant industry, tips are more than something you’d associate with a homespun tip jar by the cash register—they’re a primary source of income for tipped employees. The catch is tips are also taxable income with specific responsibilities for employees and employers. Tips Are Not Small Change In its research, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) states that restaurants…

Read More

Don’t Be Held Hostage by an Employee

Understand that most problems are a good sign. Problems indicate that progress is being made, wheels are turning, you are moving toward your goals. Beware when you have no problems. Then you’ve really got a problem… Problems are like landmarks of progress. ~Scott Alexander One problem with which some business owners or managers continually struggle…

Read More

5 Secrets of Employee Retention for Small Business

Great employees are the lifeblood of any small business. However, as the job market accelerates, even happy workers may be tempted to explore whether the grass is greener at another company. Losing employees is a concern for most small businesses, not least because of the cost: a study from the Center for American Progress estimated…

Read More