From setting up business hours to scheduling tasks according to employee competency, managing staff as a small business can seem daunting when you’re just starting out. Fortunately, workforce solutions have come a long way since the time of depending on manually updating hundreds of Excel spreadsheets. A healthy combination of empathy, foresight and the ability to make data-driven decisions can make your time staying on top of keeping your workforce at the top of their game a breeze!
Why You Should Care
Aside from improving employee productivity, putting together a well-thought-out workforce management strategy can help with reducing financial risks while keeping your business operations efficient and running at their best.
Recruiting and Training Employees
One aspect of great workforce management involves extensive training and coaching to ensure employees are equipped with the skills they need to get to work on their assignments. This can also help in making sure that the talent you decide to invest in aligns with your long-term (or short-term) business goals.
Employee Retention, Conflict Management and Grievances
Employee retention strategies are highly underrated and deserve a lot more attention, especially when you’re working with a small, tight-knit team of dedicated people who care about making your business work. Pinpointing pain points, cross-training sessions and mentorship programs are a few ways to make continuing to work with you an attractive prospect for employees.
Dealing with stressed-out staff can take a toll on your business and spending your hard-earned cash on legal fees and lawyers may be out of the question if things get out of hand – mediation offers the perfect alternative to going the expensive legal route.
Forecasting and Planning for Changes
Change is the only universal constant, and running a truly efficient and effective team is all about adapting to the changes that will inevitably come your way. Planning ahead can help you figure out how your business will be impacted by various human factors, such as when an employee retires early, or the costs incurred by offering training in a new skill you’d like to incorporate in your work.
Change is the only universal constant, and running a truly efficient and effective team is all about adapting to the changes that will inevitably come your way.
Establishing Procedures and Guidelines of Work
Maximum productivity in having your business run smoothly is possible only when everyone is up to speed on the procedures that go into completing their work efficiently. It’s a great idea to have a good orientation and training plan in place for new employees, as well as a strong framework for the implementation of worker-related processes, be it dealing with conflict or regulations that take into consideration the safety and health of team members.
Higher Customer Satisfaction
Paying attention to your team’s needs has a direct impact on both your client as well as employee retention rate. Happy employees are guaranteed to deliver much better performance, in turn giving your business happier customers who are bound to come back for more!
Protip- Active listening is an important skill for staff to have, especially those who’re usually handling the counter, reception or customer service at your workplace.
Documentation and Compliance Laws
Not complying with your area’s employment laws can result in hefty fines and employee lawsuits, even if you think you’ve got your staff’s best interests covered. Take, for example, worker classification – this can be an expensive affair and lead to fines and taxes should there be a case of misclassification that could be easily avoided with the right documentation in place.
If you’re a small business owner on the lookout for employees, you need to ensure that you have the following paperwork secured for each person who will be working with you:
I-9 form: This form shows that an individual is eligible to work in the United States.
Medical file: This file will include information on disabilities, notes from doctors, requests for medical leave, substance test results and documentation about past or present health conditions.
Employee file: Types of employee files include personnel records with the worker’s basic information, job application and resume and other general documents.
Performance Evaluation records: These records could range from review reports and promotion letters to records documenting training and proficiency certificates.
Benefits and compensation documents: This includes documents pertaining to compensation such as W-4 tax forms, payroll records, beneficiary designation documents and timesheets.
Different states may have specific record-keeping and documentation requirements.
Employee file requirements in Canada vary for each province. For instance, here’s a guide to employee record-keeping in Ontario.
If your business is located in the United States, here are some important federal laws you must be familiar with:
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
Nation Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
You can check out more laws with the incredibly informative and easy-to-read FirstStep Employment Law Advisor by the US Department of Labor.
Canadian Federal Laws
About 90% of employees in Canada are protected by the employment laws of their territory. The remaining workers in federally regulated businesses have Federal Labour Standards governed by the Canada Labour Code.
Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA)
Check out a basic comparison of employment standards across Canada’s provinces here.
The experts at Womero Uno have the resources you need to get your small business off the ground! Get in touch with us today to schedule a call and get started on your journey.
