New Year, New Ideas!

Each year as business leaders, we have specific goals. Focus of increasing profit, hiring, improving efficiency, saving money or increasing customer loyalty. Each of these goals is strategic in nature, but requires some fundamental management practices to ensure success. Take a look at some ways to accomplish your new year, new ideas!

1. Lead your talent: This means pay attention to any hiring opportunities, to developing or managing the people in your organization that you see as important to the overall success of your business.   Remember that your employees are the best reflection of your company.
2. Leadership Development:   Who are the real leaders in your organization and are you providing learning culture for them so that they can continue to work at a high level and bring more value to the company? Are you ensuring that they are properly trained? Are you ensuring that they are involved in strategy setting? Are you delegating responsibility to them to improve their decision-making ability?
3. Succession Planning: Every business faces the prospect of employees reaching retirement age and needed a strong transition process to the next generation. It is sometimes difficult with small businesses to under-estimate the importance of how to transition information, process, procedure and institutional knowledge to someone else. A seasoned employee…just does it!   How do you ensure that there is an appropriate back-up that is ready to take on the responsibilities once that individual decides to leave?
4. Employee Handbook: Each year the employee handbook should be reviewed and updated to reflect the most recent changes in state and federal laws pertaining to employees and employee rights. All of your written policies should reflect actual current practices and comply with current laws.
5. Employee Compensation: There have been many laws put in place to protect employee compensation. Make sure that employees are properly classified and compensated under new wage hour laws. Employee compensation should be part of the strategic plan for any company regardless of size.
6. Salary reviews, increases and promotions: While we would like to think that employees maintain confidentiality as it relates to their salaries, the reality is come wage increase time, employees are the first to share this information.   Make sure that your increases and promotional opportunities comply with your employee manual. Nothing is more distracting to a company than unfair wage practices.
7. Rewards and Recognition: Many companies believe that the only form of recognition for employees is a wage increase. The reality is that different types of reward systems are the most beneficial. Reward and recognition is a very individual practice. Saying thanks or giving out gift cards year after year begins to lose effectiveness. Be creative; ask questions to see what employees really want. Make sure that whatever reward system you put in place promotes work force efficiency and ensures that all employees are working to their potential.

Happy New Year!