Employee Retention Strategies

Employee Retention Strategies
Sometimes you just make the best out of a bad situation: Use employee retention programs

In an economy when good help is hard to find, dismissing or firing trained workers takes an especially big bite out of the company budget. Recruiting and re-training are costly and time-consuming. Is there a better way?

Jerry Strahan assures us there is. You think your employee retention strategies are miserable? Jerry’s crew of hot dog vendors is made up of extremely difficult personnel.” Like it or not, Jerry has survived 28 years in the business because he learned how to manage the unmanageable. Maybe some of his advice will help you think again before you submit yourself to the headache and expense of terminating an “unmanageable” worker:

“You have to set rules, you have to semi-enforce them, you have to be very forgiving when they’re not followed; otherwise you don’t have carts out, [and you don’t make any money,] says Strahan. “You can’t eliminate the madness. Sometimes you can control it.”

• Running a company is like raising a child - It is not a by-the-book activity for everyone. Strahan’s “best practices” consist mostly of learning to make the best of bad situations. “They need work, I need vendors,” says Jerry. While company policy expects each vendor to be neat, clean, on time, polite, and conscientious, Jerry is usually willing to settle for four out of five.

• Don’t trust the applicant who tries to sell himself -The ones who tell Jerry they’re looking for a career quit showing up for work after about two weeks. Jerry always hires the ones who say, “I’m only going to be here for a short time,” because he knows they’re telling the truth. Employees who are willing to give you the bad news, rather than sugar-coat everything are like pure gold. They help you see where you can improve.

Always consult with our human resources department before terminating any employee. We’ll help you determine whether other options are available.

(Source: “Buchanan, Leigh. “The Taming of the Crew.” INC August. To read more, pick up Jerry Strahan’s Managing Ignatiusr. Louisiana State University Press. )

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Helping With Employee Relations Challenges

Helping With Employee Relations Challenges
Improve Employee Relations: What are your employee corrective processes?

Do you know you have a Human Resources professional available to help you with your employee relations challenges? One of our goals is to help our clients identify options and best practices to manage the balance between the laws governing employer responsibilities and employee rights.

On a daily basis our Human Resources Team is in communication, either by phone or in person, with many of you to discuss the problems you're having with various employees in order to improve employee relations within your organization.

Our process is to discuss the situation with you, exposing as many different aspects as possible, run scenarios, help you identify the options available, and suggest the best ways of documentation to memorialize the event for the record. Together we help you manage the employee relation risks and fight unnecessary increases in unemployment compensation costs.

Do you have an employee corrective action process in place? No company is too small. Contact your Human Resources Department today. We’re ready to help you establish a system at no cost. This is just another one of the many services available to our clients!

AmCheck’s HR expertise can reduce your employee relation communication challenges while improving your processes and efficiency. Request a free HR solutions and service quote and start saving today.

How to Protect Your Business

How to Protect Your Business
Worker Comp Premium: Protect your business from worker’s compensation penalties

Failing to report all employees to our company can be an expensive proposition. For example, a drywall contractor was fined $361,000 for failing to provide worker comp premium.

The company neglected to enroll six new employees with the PEO Company before allowing them to work on a jobsite. By not reporting these employees and paying them in cash, they were not covered under the PEO's workers' compensation contract.

This practice is extremely risky. The employer faces the risk of fines, and since the PEO does not have the employees covered under their workers' compensation contract, the employer retains all responsibility for the risk. If an employee gets hurt, the business owner may have to pick up the tab.

More specifically, the owner of the business becomes personally liable for all medical bills and the injured employee's pay, should the employee be unable to return to work. These costs can be almost endless because the business owner no longer has the protection of the workers' compensation laws.

The answer is simple: make certain you enroll your employees as soon as you hire them.

If the State enters your business or jobsite, they will call us to confirm employee names. If the names do not match, you might find yourself in a tricky situation. Besides, who has $361,000 to throw away in fines?

AmCheck offers nationwide worker compensation and PEO Service. Get online quote to save worker compensation premium penalties.

Making Better Hiring Decisions

Making Better Hiring Decisions
Employee Hiring Assessment: Hiring Permanent Employees to eliminate hiring errors

As we move toward greener economic pastures, many managers and employers are struggling with the question of how to make the best hiring decisions and get expert employee hiring assessment. Yes, the economy looks better, but can you afford to make hiring errors right now? Replacing an employee can be costly.

Experts estimate that you will spend up to 35% of a job’s annual salary looking for a suitable replacement employee. The costs can include recruiting expenses, more wasted time reading resumes and interviewing, loss of productivity, decreased morale among co-workers who must handle added work burdens while managers search for a replacement, and of course, training costs for the new employee.

Three suggestions will help you make better employee hiring assessment decisions:

• Avoid interviewing errors
• Learn how to evaluate a candidate’s work habits
• Consider non-traditional hiring options such as permanent placement.

Avoid interviewing errors
One of the costliest employee hiring practices that managers make is premature decision-making when hiring new employees. Typically, the executive doing the interviewing makes a hiring decision within the first five to nine minutes of the interview, and these decisions are often based on “gut feeling” rather than hard facts. Great managers must learn to hire with their heads rather than their hearts. Hiring the best people is the simplest way to turn yourself into a “superb” manager. The extra effort it requires is almost always worth it.

Discuss work habits
While a prospective employee may have a great resume, it’s pretty tough to tell what his or her work ethic is like. She may possess exactly the skill-set you’re looking for, yet be a chronic latecomer. Another prospect’s confidence and poise may mask his tendency to be condescending to his subordinates, or hide the fact that he was dismissed from his last job for harassing co-workers.

As a manager, you’ll need to key in on six or eight of the “work habits” that are indispensable at your workplace, and ask questions that will help you assess whether or not the potential employee possesses those habits. Maybe you value integrity above all else, or perhaps sensitivity to diversity is important in your corporate culture. Asking about past experiences related to these necessary work habits is one good method of discovering the individual who is the best “fit.”

Permanent Placement
Yet another option is to consider permanent placement. If you don’t have the time or the expertise to perform exhaustive recruiting and careful, thorough interviews, we can help. Because it is our business to recruit, select, and refer the best candidates, you can depend on our ability to find a candidate who best meets the needs of your company.

We’re pleased to help you discover the ideal candidates for your permanent workforce. Please contact our office today to learn more about permanent placement options.

Source: “Firms Can Avoid Costly Hiring Errors” USA Today. http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1272/n2632_v126/20258650/p1/article.jhtml

AmCheck offers nationwide employee hiring assessment services. Get online quote for better & cost effective employee hiring practices.

PEO Services

PEO Services
We take the headache out of ERISA 401(k) compliance

Among the hefty employment responsibilities we help you tackle is ERISA compliance. Managing a 401(k) plan, for example, requires a specific set of standards and diligence. We assume these responsibilities for you, so that you can concentrate your efforts on building your business. As part of ERISA compliance, we monitor available 401(k) plans to insure that they meet appropriate guidelines. This service includes:

• Establishing a prudent process for selecting a 401(k) administrator, or other service provider.
• Ensuring that fees are paid, and that the level of service and quality matches the fees incurred (The law requires that the fees charged to a 401(k) plan are “reasonable,” but it does not establish a level of permissible fees. We help insure that fees are indeed reasonable).
• Educating investors about available plan options.
• Seeing that investment alternatives are adequately diversified
• Monitoring investments to assure that the alternatives offered by a specific service provider are appropriate
  

401(k) administrators charge many different types of fees, depending on how the plan is managed, but most fees fall into one of three categories: Plan administration fees, Investment fees, and Individual service fees. When these fees are carefully managed, the return on the employee’s investment is maximized. Unmanaged, the fees have the potential of taking a significant bite out of overall earnings. (For a detailed discussion on 401(k) plan fees, see “The Hidden Cost of 401(k) Plans,” HR Wire).

If you have questions about your 401(k), or would like to make one available to your employees, contact one of our representatives at your earliest convenience.

AmCheck offers nationwide ERISA compliance & 401K Plans. Get online quote for cost effective ERISA 401K compliance plans.

Random Drug Testing

Random Drug Testing
Workplace Random Drug Testing: Is it worth the costs?

When you add up the hidden costs of hiring an employee with a substance abuse problem (increased absenteeism, loss of productivity, theft, increased health insurance costs, and increased workers’ compensation claims), the expenses can amount to a substantial loss of profit.

More and more frequently, employers protect their “bottom line” by implementing workplace random drug testing. A recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor reports companies which used a workplace random drug testing program reported a whopping decrease of 63.7% in worker’s compensation claims. Injury rates reportedly are lowered by 22.3%.

In this article dealing with drug testing featured in the March issue of The PEO Insider, Randall W. Montalbano wrote: “One mechanical contractor firm paid $2 million a year in claims prior to implementing a random drug-testing program. The first year their program was in place, they paid only $1.26 million. At the close of the second year, the total for insurance claims was only $264,000. You do the math.”

Montalbano’s articles rated drug use among several industry categories. Eating and drinking establishments reported drug use in up to 16.3% of their employees. Other industries figured in with comparatively high rates of drug use. A sampling follows:

Furniture and appliance retail 16.3%
Advertising, Consulting 13.1%
Construction 12.2%
Printing and publishing 11.7%
Auto Supply and Gas Stations 11.2%

Source: The ProEmp Journal.

AmCheck offers nationwide workplace random drug testing & employee screening services. Get a quote for better & cost effective employee screening solutions.

COBRA Regulations: Have COBRA Compliance

COBRA Regulations: Have COBRA Compliance
New IRS COBRA compliance regulations you need to be aware of

The IRS released Final and Proposed COBRA regulations and we want you to be aware of the changes so that your business will remain in COBRA compliance and avoid penalties. We are currently reviewing all health plans to insure that proper documents and procedures will be followed. You can help us by understanding the new laws.

Essentially, the changes relate to a recent Supreme Court decision (Geissal v Moore Medical Corp.) which mandates that “an employer may not deny COBRA continuation coverage to an employee on the grounds that he or she has already been covered by another health plan prior to making the COBRA election. COBRA may only be denied when the employee becomes covered by another health plan after he or she has elected COBRA continuation coverage.” While this rule has the potential to increase health plan costs, it should also simplify COBRA administration.

The lynchpin question is this: “Is the employee covered by another health plan before election to continue health insurance coverage with your company under COBRA Regulations?” If so, you are still obligated to offer to continue coverage.

Remember that it is our privilege and obligation to assist you with compliance issues. This allows you to focus your efforts on improving your business. Call today if you have additional questions.

*Headline Quote:

• Advise all active employees of their COBRA and HIPAA rights
• Maintain telephone records of inquiries about COBRA and HIPAA
• Refer all inquiries about COBRA compliance to our office.
  

*The headline quote is designed to accompany the article, but is printed next to the article in a larger font for added emphasis.

AmCheck offers nationwide COBRA compliance services. Get a quote.

Employee Evaluations & Appraisal

Employee Evaluations & Appraisal
Are you giving Fair Employee Performance Evaluation and Appraisal for Employee Retention?

Everybody likes getting a good “report card.” Unfortunately, our society’s educational grading process programs us to expect an “A” for average performance – for completing all of our work on time and turning everything in. You may encounter the same line of reasoning when it is time for employee evaluations.

Employees come to expect a top rating for average performance, and too often, supervisors are willing to give it to them. As Jonathan A. Segal puts it, "Poor employees are evaluated as marginally competent...and good employees [are rated] worthy of sainthood." The problem with the system is that it creates a liability for your company in the event that you terminate an employee for poor performance.

When an employee is evaluated as “marginally competent” when in fact his performance is substandard, the employer who dismisses him runs the risk of a discrimination lawsuit. An employee evaluation which doesn't clearly spell out the problems that caused the employee’s dismissal is going to make the employer come out smelling foul in court.

How do you avoid sending mixed signals? How do you evaluate employees fairly without damaging morale? Consider some of the following possibilities:

• Don’t focus entirely on the negative
• Keep a running record
• Administer discipline consistently
• Let the employee rank him/herself

Choose your words carefully. Train your supervisors to think about the possibility that someday they may be defending their criticisms in court, and to word them accordingly.

AmCheck offers nationwide Employee Performance Evaluations & Appraisal Services. Get a quote.