We are a team of professionals committed to finding creative solutions to the real issues you face, delivering what we promise, with a passion for excellence.
We want to focus on what is important to you. Tell us what concerns you? What obstacles or issues are standing in your way? What are the people and business questions you are facing?
Your challenges may be large or small, but they are important to you. And that’s what counts.
As you examine the HR and Business issues you find throughout this site, you can click on the Headline or Challenge icon and have it entered into the area to your right called — Your Challenges Checklist. It will help us work with you to provide the information you want; to answer the questions you have. The more complete the information you acquire the better the decisions you can make for your business and organization.
Take the first small step and tell us how can we help you? Thank you.
Focus on removing costs out of your system
- What can you do to reduce the money you pay out each month for the HR administrative costs you need to have to run your business?
- What can you do to eliminate the roadblocks, obstacles, inefficiencies and mistakes that drain time, energy and money from your business?
The Issues: How to keep the transactional costs and day-to-day HR expenses under control
Payroll – Reducing your administration costs by 15 – 25%
Is your present payroll service not as responsive as you want? Would you like a less expensive and worry-free alternative?
The expense of a payroll service to manage the payments of salary and wages of your employees is very useful. It is not easy to correctly pay the government for the taxes, fees, and insurances that are owed by you and your employees.
We have options for managing your payroll administration that are Flexible, Reliable, Accountable and Personable; and affordable.
If you want us to contact you about payroll services, add this to your challenges checklist.
Benefits – Finding creative solutions to save you money
The Issue: Would you like to find a way to offer benefits that people want and at a price you can afford?
You may offer a variety of benefits now such as health care, vision, life insurance, pension, disability, paid time off (vacations, holidays, sick time) unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and a host of other programs. Or maybe you know you need to consider changes because costs have gotten out of hand. Some benefits you pay entirely now and some your employees pay some share in the expense. Yet most of your people are still not really satisfied with what they are getting and they are concerned about what is going to happen in the next few years.
So what should you do next? Now is the time to plan for the future.
Part of the solution is taking a look at the benefits you offer. Another major approach is to develop a really great communications process that highlights all that is available to them now. The new health care laws demand your attention to this right away. Don’t wait until the “future” arrives and you are not ready. Let the experts show you how do to improve the morale in your organization and take a first step towards meeting the requirements of the law.
By working with us and our trusted advisors, we can put together a benefits plan to make the right decisions for your organization.
HR legal compliance – What you don’t know can hurt you! A place to turn when you are just not sure.
When you have a question about managing your people or keeping up with changes in the laws, do you have a place to turn to get the guidance that puts you in the right direction?
There are literally thousands of rules, regulations, and laws that the federal, state and local governments impose on your organization. Keeping up with the changes and requirements that are being added to your burden each month is a nightmare. This is not easy when so much is asked and what you should do next is not clear.
Go to the Your HR Help Desk and Question & Answer Center if you have a specific question. »
Your HR Audit – Identifying where your HR practices are OK and where you are vulnerable.
Would you like to take an on-line Your HR Audit that generates a 45-50 page report on the status of your business?
What is Your HR Audit?
It is a review of your company’s existing HR policies and procedures. It tells you what you are doing well today and where there is potential trouble in the future.
Why do a Your HR Audit?
- To be sure that the people who work for you are being appropriately utilized.
- To review your compliance with a myriad of administrative and governmental rules and regulations that change all too often.
- To instill a sense of confidence in management and the human resources function that it is well managed and prepared to meet potential challenges.
- To maintain or enhance the organization’s and the department’s reputation in the community that it is compliant with the federal and state.
- To perform a “due diligence” review for shareholders or potential investors/owners so that their investment is properly protected from an HR viewpoint.
- To be sure that the people who work at your organization are treated fairly and with respect; that information is communicated appropriately to all who should know.
- See a Your HR Audit SAMPLE. Where it is green you are good. Where it is red you may be vulnerable.
Follow this link Your HR Audit Center to register to take an audit. It will provide you with a 45 page report on the status of your business and a roadmap on what to do next.
Employee Handbooks and Manuals – Keeping your people informed and on the right path
Are you looking to put together a handbook that clarifies the rules and regulations in your company and communicate it so everyone really understands?
An employee manual should be simple, but it can get very complex. Handbooks should be a roadmap or guideline to help employees and management know how things are done in the organization.
If your people are confused about what they should be doing, it will be almost impossible to get any consistency at all. The issue is the constantly changing legal landscape and our litigious society. Write the rules too strictly and there is no room for reasonable flexibility. Write them too loosely and nothing gets done.
Pension and financial planning – Building your wealth and retaining your best employees
Do you have an exit plan for your business? Do you offer a financial needs analysis to each employee?
Many people are in the dark about their finances. 61% of workers live paycheck to paycheck. The issue is not a lack of money; it is a lack of a program. Especially in the turbulent economic times we face today, most pay their bills and do the best they can to prepare for the future. Every family deserves financial security and peace of mind.
A financial needs analysis can show each employee where their finances stand today and what they need to do to prepare for tomorrow. It examines:
- Debt Solutions:
Strategies for paying off credit cards and loans in the quickest, most efficient manner. - Retirement Income:
An analysis of how much money you need to prepare for retirement - Education funding:
Projecting the actual costs and several strategies for funding your children’s education expenses. - Income protection:
Strategies to ensure your family’s financial future should you die prematurely. - Building your financial future:
Summarizing all the information and putting together a plan of action.
Focus on improving the productivity of your people - S.O.A.R.
- How can you create a plan to hire, train and then retain your best people so they serve your customers more effectively and more efficiently?
- What can you do to reshape employee behaviors so people do what you need them to do (and it sticks)?
The Issue: How can you implement an integrated HR solution that instills your values in the workplace?
S.O.A.R. © is our exclusive human resource system.
- Many small and mid-sized companies face critical human resources and business planning problems that can seriously affect the ability of the enterprise to the next level.
- Some of these owners, who recognize this dilemma, also face the problem that they may not be able to afford to hire a full time staff to support these activities.
- Today, these organizations turn to their accountants, lawyers, insurance agents, bankers, and business friends for guidance. Each of these professionals knows only their part of the picture, and, as a result, cannot develop an integrated, linked business plan and human resource solution.
- You have built your operating systems to run your company.
- You have built your marketing systems to find the right customers for your business.
- You have built your financial systems to manage the money.
- We build the human systems!
Selection - Placing the right person in the right job
Do you have a system to find, select and hire the people most likely to succeed in a job?
Have you ever hired someone who was not what they appeared to be? Or even promoted someone who greatly exceeded your expectations? You used the same system and got significantly different results. Some great; Some good; Some bad. Well you might wonder, “How could I avoid these problems? How can I hire the correct people, or actually have a good insight of who these people are; their knowledge, their behaviors, integrity, work-ethic, skills and morals before I put them on the payroll?”
This is all about matching the RIGHT people with the RIGHT job at the RIGHT time. 63% of all hiring decisions are made in the first 4.3 minutes of an interview. The rest of the time is spent justifying the decision you made at the beginning. Can you really trust the decision you just made? Resumes are exaggerated. Interviewees have been trained to answer your questions. Past employers are afraid of being sued and don’t give you all the information you need. References give only the “best” and “safe” information.
So 41% of the people end up in jobs they are not trained for and 67% don’t like the job they do have. And we go with our basic instincts and hope we can hire the right person. What a system we have created!
With our 8 Steps to a First Class Selection System, there is a plan to give you the confidence you need to hire the right person for the right job. For more information go to Your HR Toolkit and look at the details under S.O.A.R. © and then under Selection.
Orientation - Learning the essentials of the position
Would you like to find a way to get your new hire up to speed faster than you have ever done before by showing them exactly what to do and precisely how to do it every time?
A Great First Day! Joining a new company is an exciting time in everyone’s life. A fresh start; A new beginning. How long before the enthusiasm wears off and the new job is just like the old one they left behind? Buyer’s remorse can set in 3 weeks after starting a new assignment. Did I make a mistake? You need to build a support system so each individual gets the attention and care they need to be productive as fast as they can… and serve your customer correctly.
Your manager may be a fabulous technician, but is often a lousy trainer. So their training can be sloppy and may forget to pass along vital information; both the formal and informal rules about how things are done “around here”.
Why is this important? New employees who get a positive first impression and “buy into” your culture are more likely to be loyal, cooperate with coworkers and supervisors, and take a personal interest in the organization’s success.
Do you have a thorough on-boarding process to give your new employees the best chance to succeed early?
For more information on orientation and on-boarding go to Your HR Toolkit and look at the details under S.O.A.R. © and then under Orientation.
Assimilation - Developing each person into a member of the team
Now that you have the right people, how will you integrate them into a team to maximize their full potential and capabilities?
Do you have a group of individuals who tend to go their own way or a team of professionals that work together? This is so important because the best teams are able to develop better systems, methods, products, or policies than would result if worked in isolation from the others.
The best teams trust each other; have healthy and honest conflict to find the best solution available; a solid commitment to the team as a whole; accountability to each other and ultimately deliver the results expected.
Performance management systems and employee performance reviews, Customer Service, Talent Management, Executive Development, Team Building, Customized training programs are just some of the programs that can blend together to enhance a well-run organization.
Are you doing the team building necessary to pull people together to achieve the results you want for your organization?
For more information on team building, performance management, customer service and training go to Your HR Toolkit and look at the details under S.O.A.R. © and then under Assimilation.
Retention - Keeping and recognizing our best people
Would you like each employee (both management and staff) to be more fully engaged in achieving results for your organization and your customer?
A study of 664,000 employees in 71 companies found a 52% difference in income between those companies with high engagement scores and those with low engagement scores. Companies with high engagement scores had a 19% increase in operating income and a 28% increase in earnings per share over those companies with low engagement scores. Highly engaged workforces have an 86% higher customer loyalty, 70% lower turnover, and 70% higher productivity among their employees.
Do you think this is a coincidence?
With any engaged workplace there are 3 interconnecting relationships that must be nurtured: (
- Relationship between employee and management
- Relationship between employees and their job
- Relationship between employees and other employees
How do we get our entire workforce engaged to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her own work? A business plan that sets the right direction; Leadership development building strong charismatic leaders; Recognition and reward systems that reinforce performance rather than entitlement; Communications programs that let people know what’s going on; Surveys to determine the perception of the employees and the customers; Succession planning to create a continuity throughout the organization; Building the right organization structure to manage the enterprise efficiently.
Are you willing to invest the resources and time to retain your best people in your organization? If not, they will certainly find another place to capitalize on their talents.
For more information on business planning, leadership development, communications, executive coaching and a more highly engaged and productive work force, go to Your HR Toolkit and look at the details under S.O.A.R. © and then under Retention.
Focus on building your leadership team - L.E.A.D.
- Are you looking to enhance and build the capabilities of your leadership team?
- Do your management and leadership inspire the entire organization to take it to the next level of effectiveness and efficiency?
The Issue: Leadership is getting people to do, what they otherwise would not want to do, but will readily do so anyway.
Have you organized your leadership team to deliver what you require?
As the leadership team gets stronger, the ability of the entire organization to function better gets stronger. The end result is a more successful organization that meets the needs of your customers, your employees, the community you serve, your management team and your shareholders.
This is about putting the appropriate organization structure to an organization, but also about how to build relationships within the group that provides the achievements you want. It about setting the right priorities, creating the right goals, implementing the right plans, executing against the plan, and measuring the results. The trick is pulling all of the pieces and people together into a single unit and making it work.
Do you know how to create a great leadership and management team that delivers great results?
We have developed a leadership system to focus your efforts to build great leaders and managers. It is called L.E.A.D. It was developed through surveys that asked why people stay in organizations, why they leave, and the most the most discouraging, why they just stop trying and give up.
Why do people leave their jobs?
- No one told me how to be successful at my job? — Truly lousy supervision
- No one trained me — I am not learning what I want.
- No one thanked me — I am not recognized for what I do.
- No one paid me — I don’t see the point of staying here.
Why will people stay? They want their leaders to L.E.A.D.
- Leading:
How to become better by providing a clear and understandable direction. - Educating:
How to become better by growing and learning; developing a challenging, inspiring and creative workplace. - Appreciating:
How to become better by building our teams; recognizing each person’s contribution. - Dollarizing:
How to become better by focusing on the results; communicating your values; creating your employee’s R.O.I.; making sure your people know they are respected.
If you want your people to S.O.A.R. then management needs to L.E.A.D.
To understand the connection between the motivations of your people and the effectiveness of your leadership team click here to read the article called Make it a habit to L.E.A.D. every day.
The Ant and the Lion
This is an old management fable whose origins are not known. It illustrates what can happen when leaders do not L.E.A.D. It is worth the 2 minutes to read the story.
Read the Story about the Ant and the Lion »
“Every day, a small Ant arrived at work early and started work immediately. She produced a lot and she was happy.
The boss, a lion, was surprised to see that the ant was working without supervision. He thought if the ant can produce so much without supervision, wouldn’t she produce more if she had a supervisor!
So the lion recruited a cockroach who had extensive experience as a supervisor and who was famous for writing excellent reports. The cockroach’s first decision was to set up a clocking-in attendance system. He also needed a secretary to help him write and type his reports.
The Lion recruited a spider to manage the archives and monitor all phone calls. The Lion was delighted with the cockroach’s report and asked him to produce graphs to describe production rates and analyze trends so that he could use them for presentations at board meetings.
The cockroach naturally had to buy a new computer and a laser printer and recruit a fly to manage the IT department.
The Ant, who had been once so productive and relaxed, hated this new plethora of paperwork and meetings which used up most of her time. The Lion came to the conclusion that it was high time to nominate a person in charge of the department where the ant worked.
The position was given to the Cicada whose first decision was to buy a carpet and an ergonomic chair for his office. As the new person in charge the cicada also needed a computer and a personal assistant, who he had brought from his previous department, to help him prepare a work and budget control strategic optimization plan.
The department where the ant works is now a sad place, where nobody laughs anymore and everybody has become upset.
It was at that time the Cicada convinced the boss, The Lion, to start an employee climate study of the environment. Having reviewed the charges of running the Ants department, the Lion found out that his production was much less than before.
So he recruited the Owl, a prestigious and renowned consultant, to carry out an audit and suggest solutions. The Owl spent 3 months in the department and came out with an enormous report, in several volumes, that concluded: “The Department is overstaffed.”
Guess who the Lion fired first?
The Ant of course “Because she showed lack of motivation and had a negative attitude.”
By the way, any resemblance to an actual organization is strictly “coincidental.”
And if you want a cost effective and straightforward approach to solving your human resource issues add The Lion and the Ant to Your Challenges Checklist or contact us.
Creating a Business Plan for Success
- How can you build a business plan to grow the company profitably?
- What can you do to create a business continuation program to protect the business and your family?
The Issue:
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up somewhere else.”
— Yogi Berra
“Plans are nothing. Planning is everything”
— Dwight Eisenhower
A business plan should be clear and straightforward. The number of words is not the key. You must know exactly what you want to accomplish and execute against your plan. Ultimately, there are 3 main components to creating a successful plan and achieving your dreams:
Plan - Creating the Plan
Establish the critical values of your organization; What kind of company do you want to stand for in the Future?
Why write a Value Statement?
- To ensure a consistent, clear purpose throughout the organization.
- To provide a point of reference for all planning decisions.
- To gain commitment from those within the organization by clearly communicating the nature and concept of the organization’s business.
- To gain understanding and support from people outside the organization who are important to its success.
- It is a dynamic, living document that enables everybody within the organization to focus their efforts in the right direction. Whether you call it a value statement or a mission statement is less important than clearly defining the core of who you are to the marketplace.
Define where you stand today; Do a SWOT analysis of your business.
Your Priorities – What is both important and urgent?
If you know where you are today (The Present) and you know where you want to be tomorrow (The Future), what do you have to do to get there?
- First: 5 years out
What fundamental changes are in store in your industry? Will there be a new class of users to target? What technologies are needed that don’t currently exist? What are your long term plans to make the fundamental changes necessary? - Second: 2- 3 years out
What do you have to do to move the company in the right direction? What are your mid-range plans to get ready for the changes coming? - Third: The current year
What are the most important things you have to do in the next 6 to 12 months that would have the greatest impact on your business?
Your Scorecard - Be Brilliant on the Basics
- What are your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?
- How will you measure your success?
- How will you know you are on the right track if you don’t have a way to evaluate your progress?
Establish Measurable Objectives. Create specific goals.
Those people who write their goals down are up to 10 times more successful in achieving their goals than those who don’t.
What specifically is going to be done to achieve your priorities? These are the priorities you have already admitted were the most important things to do this year.
Write SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and with a Time Frame.
They also have to be HARD goals: Heartfelt, Animated, Required and Difficult.
Action Plan: Turning your ideas into reality
- Be very clear about what will be accomplished: The ‘what”, “where”, “when”, “how” of achieving each objective.
- Describe the project
- Define the objective
- Identify the KPIs
- Describe the benefits of completing the objective
- List the Action Steps
- Clarify the Training required
- Recognize the Communications necessary
- Explain the costs
- Assign who is responsible
Do - Executing against your Plan
Do what has to be done, when it has to be done, whether you like it or not.
Review - Learning and growing from where you have been before
Most everyone can put together a plan. Most can execute against the plan. Very few do the proper review to learn and adapt.
Review and evaluation
You need to establish a regular schedule when you will check your progress against the objectives you set. This needs to be at least once every 3 months at a minimum. It is here where you will make your corrections to the plan based on the changes that have happened to your business.
Celebration
Celebrate the work and successes you have achieved. Day-to-day activity is hard work because you are bound by the details. Step back and enjoy the progress and success. Let everyone who has participated in your journey celebrate with you. They need it. And so do you.