Human Resources
Hiring on a budget? Play up your strengths
Your growing business needs more employees…but you’re on a budget.
The benefits of hiring a student
Student internship programs can create a win-win scenario for businesses and employees. Employers can gain an energetic and motivated employee at little or no cost, while an intern gains real-world skills, an enhanced résumé, and a future job reference.
Managing workplace conflict in a growing business
Unless you are a one-person business, you will ultimately have to deal with workplace conflict. The types of conflict that you may encounter will vary on a situational and personal basis, and your means for successfully resolving a conflict may also be dependent on the stage of your business. Here are some tips for workplace conflict resolution for enterprises at various growth stages.
Can telecommuting help your business?
Recently, we discussed methods to help deal with high gas prices, including using teleconferencing and telecommuting as a means to cut travel costs. While not for all, telecommuting may be an effective way to control costs, improve employee satisfaction and reduce your ecological footprint. Before introducing a system, there are tradeoffs to consider when deciding whether telecommuting is right for you.
Do you need an employment agency?
Finding the right employee is a challenge for any company, but perhaps even more so for small businesses. They may not have an HR department, or the resources to invest in tracking down the right talent. If that is your situation, consider working with an employment agency.
Annual checkup: what to include in your employee performance reviews
Odds are, no one interviewed you a year after starting your company to ask what you thought worked and what didn’t. And with a small workforce—possibly staffed with family and friends—you may not think you need annual performance reviews. But the informal nature of a small business can prevent the exchange of constructive criticism without a structured time to share.
Skillset: Build a solid business team
As an entrepreneur, you may have specialized skills in marketing or product development. But there are areas where it makes good sense to draw on the experience of professionals.
Human Resources Management
Throughout our cross-country tour, we met hundreds of entrepreneurs who rose daily to meet the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities of being an entrepreneur.
Their passion was contagious. They were excited by the future possibilities of their business. They were aware of the challenges and they were attacking them head on.
Human Resources Staff Management Worksheet
When small business owners are able to create staff friendly work environments, their businesses are best positioned to benefit from greater efficiency, favourable customer perceptions and improved bottom line performance. Use this worksheet to systematically assess your company’s human resources management practices.
The Competitive Edge: Attracting Skilled Staff
Each month, The Pulse offers up market research insights gained by polling small business customers. This issue of The Pulse looks at how small business owners distinguish their businesses from the competition.*
Staffing
Nineteen percent of small business owners said that staffing was their biggest challenge this holiday season. Indeed, finding help is becoming a big issue for Canadian businesses. The economy is strong, unemployment is low, and boom industries in the West are drawing workers from across the country. Small businesses will increasingly need to try different things to attract workers.
Small Businesses Finding the Employees They Need
Small business owners are not having any problem attracting good employees, according to a recent survey of Human Resources (HR) issues facing entrepreneurs.* Eighty percent of those surveyed reported no difficulty attracting or retaining talented workers. Whats more, one in five respondents reported that it has been easier to attract good employees over the past year, while just over 10% said it has been more difficult. This may be one of the silver linings of the economic slowdown of the past two years. The survey indicates that HR issues appear to be driven by the size of the business the bigger the business (typically five employees or more), the higher the incidence of HR concerns.
Recruiting Done Right
10 steps to finding and hiring the right person for the job
By Ceridian
By following these ten basic steps, you’ll be better able to identify and hire the best people and ultimately realize a higher return on investment for your organization.
How to reward your employees in a tight labour market
In today's tight labour market, it's more important than ever to offer employees incentives to stick around. After all, the better you take care of your workers, the better those employees will treat your customers. Unfortunately, all-expense-paid trips to Mexico and lucrative spa packages are financially out of reach for many of today's trades business owners. The good news is there are plenty of affordable ways to reward – and retain – your employees.
Hire a Sales Team
Step 3 of 8 steps for creating a sellable service business
Business owners often rely on their own rainmaking to supplement the sales their staff makes. Who will top up the funnel when you’re gone? If you’re doing the selling, your business isn’t worth very much.
Help Wanted: How to Find and Keep Staff
Finding help is becoming a big issue for business. Finding qualified help is an even bigger problem. And every indicator points to more of the same — particularly as the economy is strong, unemployment is low, and boom industries in the West are drawing workers from across the country. Small businesses will increasingly need to try different things to attract workers. This article can help get you started.
Integrate HR Into Your Business
Even in today's challenging economy, finding qualified help remains a big issue for small businesses. When the economy improves, it may be even harder to find and hold on to good employees. Developing sound human resource policies is not only good practice; it can even help you attract and retain staff.
Your Business Team
As an entrepreneur, you may be have specialized skills in functions like marketing or sales. But there are areas where it makes good sense to draw on the experience of professionals. Here are three professionals who should form part of your business team.
