Creating office policies for your small business can be difficult, as most of us are well aware. How do you handle sick time, vacation time, personal time, or a death in the family? Better yet, how do your clients and/or customers handle it when it happens to you?
I was reading a very interesting article yesterday about “Can You Require Sick Employees to Stay Home“? My first reaction was “Wow! Good question” quickly followed by “as a small business owner I should be able to”. After all, it is officially cold and flu season and already every where you go people are coughing and sneezing; do you really want them bring that to work? I know I don’t want that to happen!
Sunburst, like many other small businesses consists of my husband Ben, myself, and Cheryl {who works 2 mornings a week}. It’s a given that if I get sick so will Ben and vice versa – but what about Cheryl? Does she need to come to work and end up with “whatever” we have, take it home and “give it” to everyone that she comes into contact with? Or should she come to work and we end up getting “whatever” it is she has?
Coming to work when you are sick isn’t any fun for anyone – you, the people you work with in your office, or your clients and customers. When we’re sick we just don’t perform our job duties with our usual amount of professionalism, courtesy, or speed – as a matter of fact I know I get downright crabby when I’m sick; mainly when I can’t think as fast as usual and especially if I have to repeat things to the same person multiple times during the same conversation.
There are no federal laws which specifically address whether or not employers can require employees to say home and not come to work; however, the Americans with Disabilities Act {ADA} does prohibit employers from discriminating against the disabled, although having a cold or the flu is not considered being disabled.
Encouraging employees to take a paid sick day and stay home when they have a fever, is often a common practice for larger companies and might be something that you want to consider having in place as an “office policy”. I’m sure many of you are gasping at this point and thinking “I can’t afford that!”, but think about it – which is cheaper – paying a sick employee to stay home so that others don’t get sick OR letting them come to work and you all end up getting ill? Just a thought….
In the ever increasing 24/7 connected world we live in – expectations run high – and sometimes people overlook that fact that people are sick, are away on vacation, at a Doctor’s appointment, or have had a death in the family. When we are connected 24/7 we fall into that immediate gratification or I gotta have it now trap and when those expectations are confronted by someone being unavailable some of us become very intolerant.
When you are the chief cook and bottle washer {or there is only yourself and perhaps a part time person} for your small business, it’s certainly difficult to justify taking time off; I know it is for us. Most years we are hear every day except major holidays, occasionally we are out of town {or out of state} on business, and if we are lucky once a year we take a week in vacation.
How do you handle situations such as sick time, vacation time, personal time, or a death in the family in your business? Do you have written policies in place or do you pretty much just “wing it” and handle it the best that you can at the moment? How do your customers or clients handle your being unavailable or away?
In a conversation with a builder today, I noticed huge similarities between the construction process and running a successful business.
This design/build contractor was stating that the best way to run a construction project was to take time to strategically outline the details and then execute the plan. He was explaining how costly and frustrating it can get when his customer makes big changes half way through the job. “Once the foundation is poured”, he said, “it can be very costly to change the design. Time spent planning will always pay off down the road”.
After a while we began to discuss his business and how he moves through his day. “I am constantly putting out fires and sometimes ask myself if I should be doing something else with my time, something more productive”
It hit me that the construction process is not unlike the business process itself.
Make a plan, then work the plan
When we think strategically about our business processes, we can be more effective, more efficient, and happier because we know the tasks that need to done. With a process in place our people then execute the system. Without the clarity of knowing what really works in our business, it’s not surprising that we wander day to day throwing stuff up on the walls of our business to see what sticks.
What specific activities generate new business? What percentage of business comes from the web/social media versus word of mouth referrals? Are you constantly changing course mid-stream? What is the most profitable part of your business? What’s the most productive use of your time and talents?
As the captain of the ship your people and your customers look to you for leadership and direction. Do you know how effective you are in the leadership role? Do you know what makes a good leader?
To successfully pour a foundation, for example, a specific process is followed. A plan is drawn up, general site work takes place, a survey is conducted and stakes positioned to mark the site. People and machinery are brought in to dig the hole, set the forms, pour the concrete, remove the forms, etc.
Do you have similar procedures in place for your business? How you market, answer the phone, take a customer through the sales process, and hold employees accountable?
Most of us come to business from the technical end. We are great carpenters, accountants, photographers, etc. The challenge is when we begin to grow and change our knowledge needs to change with it. Our job description changes from “carpenter” to leader. The activities and knowledge needed by a leader are completely different from that of a technician in the field.
In order to grow your business and have a sane life outside of work it’s necessary to have a solid strategic plan. A plan for your business, a strategic marketing plan, a road map for your people to follow and the desire to change.
The desire to change is the first and most important step. Often business owners don’t make a change until they are feeling the pain. The pain of 60 plus hour work weeks, strained relationships, dwindling check book balance.
Time to face reality.
What’s working in your business? What’s not? By taking time away from the day to day operations and getting a 30,000 ft. view of your business, you will find clarity and direction. Your people, health, relationships, and business depends on it.
A payroll tip about personnel records and former employee access from HR Matters.
You may be willing to provide your current employees with access to their personnel files, but what about former employees? Find out why HR and legal experts do not recommend access for former employees unless required by law.
Personnel records are the property of the employer. Therefore, you generally have discretion over whether to give employees, or former employees, access to their personnel files unless a state law, court, or other government agency requires access. Federal law does not require you to give employees access.
However, many organizations such as yours, as a good will gesture, allow current employees to see and even copy their records. This openness usually reduces employee mistrust and concern about the information in their files. If your files contain only objective and job-related information, their contents should not surprise the employee or unnecessarily create the basis for a legal claim.
Approximately 20 states (including California, Illinois, and Michigan) require you to give employees, and sometimes former employees, access to their records. These state laws generally allow a limited number of inspections per year. Typically, some files, like records pertaining to future promotion, third-party references, criminal investigations, and other sensitive information, may be excluded from inspection. In addition, these laws usually allow you to require written requests for access to the files. Some states also give employees the right to copy their records.
In addition to allowing current employees access, a few states give former employees the right to inspect their files. For example, in Illinois, former employees can review and copy their file for up to a year after termination. Similarly, Michigan allows both current and former employees to review and copy their personnel files, upon written request, up to two times per year. Accordingly, you should check whether your state requires you to provide access to personnel records to former employees.
If your organization is not covered by a state law requiring access, you can be legitimately concerned that any personnel information may be used to support a legal claim against you. Therefore, you may prefer to deny access to former employees. Most HR and employment law experts, also concerned about the indiscriminate release of information, advise against giving former employees access unless required by law.
Remember, however, that employees or former employees who sue the employer can usually get their personnel records, and even other employees’ files, in the normal legal discovery process. For example, if a former employee files a discrimination claim in federal court, the court can order the employer to turn over all files related to the former employee and any similarly situated employees.
So, in establishing your records access policy, you need to address both your internal corporate operating philosophy and local legal requirements. But in doing so, remember that even if you limit access, you may still be compelled to disclose the information in a legal proceeding.
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You can download a free Personnel Records model policy including HR best practices and legal background by clicking here, you will be required to complete a brief profile form.
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HR Matters is a registered trademark of Personnel Policy Service, Inc., 159 St. Matthews Ave., Suite 5, Louisville, KY 40207
Clearly defining the types of support services you offer – technical support, IT support, consulting, or training – is critical to the success of your business
As a QuickBooks 3rd party developer or Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, what types of support services do you offer your customers or clients – technical support, IT Support, consulting, or training? Do you have a clearly defined support policy which defines free vs. paid support and what is included?
The term “support” can mean many things to many people, as I’ve found out over the years, it’s a very broad term and can be very confusing because each person that you talk with can have their own definition of what they consider to be support. Be sure that you clearly define what you offer in terms of support and what is included as well as what you provide free of charge and what will require payment.
Let’s take a look at some standard Widipedia definitions:
- Technical Support - Application Support or Technical support (also known as tech support) is a range of services providing assistance with technology products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods. In general, technical support services attempt to help the user solve specific problems with a product – rather than provide training, customization, or other support services. Most companies offer technical support for the products they sell, either freely available of for a fee.
- IT Support or Consulting – Information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, technology consulting business and technology services or IT advisory) is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives. In addition to providing advise, IT consultancies often estimate, manage, implement, deploy, and administer IT systems on businesses’ behalf, known as outsourcing. IT professionals perform a variety of functions that ranges from installing software applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases.
- Consulting - A consultant (from Latin: consultare “to discuss”) is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law (tax law in particular) etc. Consulting, therefore, is providing advice in a particular area of expertise and clients may purchase only as much service from the consultant as needed. Consulting is not the same as Customer Service.
- Training - The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relates to specific useful competencies. Training is TASK oriented and means T –> Training, A –>Attitude, S –>Skill, and K –>Knowledge. Training is teaching someone how to do something.
As a ProAdvisor, much of what we offer is consulting and training; offered at a billable hourly rate or perhaps offered in blocks of time for a set fee – it’s much easier for us to define what we do and do not provide or do. When we run into trouble, we can obtain free support and training simply by picking up the phone and calling Intuit ProAdvisor support or watch free webinars provided by Intuit.
Software Developers, on the other hand have a much tougher time defining the types of services that we provide. We are expected to provide technical support not only for the products that we develop but also for other products as well {QuickBooks and Microsoft}, IT support {such as networking and computer setup}, Consulting, and training {not only for our software but QuickBooks as well}. When we run into trouble we have no one that we can call for free assistance, but rather must rely on Support forums or purchase a support incident.
What are your thoughts on support? Do you have a clearly defined support policy? What’s free vs what’s paid? Are you conveying this clearly to your clients?
Good work habits are essential with today’s hectic job demands in order to avoid the procrastination bug – you know, that tendency to say “I’ll do it later”.
People with good work habits tend to be more successful in their careers than poorly organized individuals, and they tend to have more time to focus on their personal life. Good work habits are more important than ever because of today’s emphasis on productivity and quality.
The procrastination “bug” is the leading cause of poor productivity and self-sabotage. People procrastinate for many reasons, including their perception that a task is unpleasant, is overwhelming, or may lead to negative consequences. Fear of success can also lead to procrastination. Awareness of procrastination can lead to its control.
Seven techniques for reducing the procrastination bug are:
- Calculate the cost of procrastination – Think about what could happen if you delay the start of a project or task. For example what could possibly happen if you wait until the last minute to submit your payroll?
- Counterattacking the burdensome task – Don’t dwell on the complexities of your job, consider them as challenges. Deal with the task. You are going to have to deal with the task sooner or later.
- Jump-starting yourself by creating a list of priorities and setting time limits for tasks.
- Pecking away at an overwhelming task will make the task seem less of a chore.
- Motivating yourself with rewards and punishments. Postponing or delaying tasks at work can be self-sabotage so be aware of the consequences and try to be more positive.
- Making a commitment to other people.
- Expressing a more positive attitude about your intentions.
Developing good work habits and time management practices often start with developing proper attitudes toward work and time. Seven such attitudes and values are:
- Develop a mission, goals, and a strong work ethic that provide you with a sense of direction that is needed to accomplish quality work in the shortest amount of time possible.
- Value good attendance and punctuality, do so can get you off to a good start and can be a positive asset on your part.
- Value your time and the time of others by planning your activities and concentrating on one key task at a time. Complete tasks which are top priorities first instead of focusing on the least important ones.
- Value neatness, orderliness, and speed by cleaning up and getting organized. This will allow you to work faster because it will be easy to find things when your workspace is clean.
- Work smarter, not harder by managing your time well. Separate activities into time wasters and those that maximize the use of your time. Find ways to automate time-consuming tasks.
- Become self-employed psychologically by thinking of yourself as your own boss. You want to make thing happen in the business, do good quality work and receive a bigger income from it.
- Play the inner game of working, you know what your purpose is at work and do your job with your own best desires and to the best of your ability.
- Appreciate the importance of rest and relaxation, good work habits are not just about working. Our body and our minds need a break from all of the tasks that we are doing. Taking a short break will allow you to think more clearly.
Eleven skills and techniques to help you become more productive are
- cleaning up and getting organized
- planning your activities
- getting off to a good start
- making good use of office technology
- concentrating on one key task at a time
- streamlining your work and emphasizing important tasks
- working at a steady pace
- creating some quiet, uninterrupted time
- making use of bits of time
- staying in control of paperwork, the in-basket, and e-mail
- using multitasking for routine tasks.
Eight suggestions for overcoming time wasting are
- Minimizing day dreaming, don’t get lost in memories of the family picnic over the weekend.
- Prepare a time log, set time limits for tasks and evaluate your use of time. This will help you evaluate if you have done productive tasks or timewasting activities.
- Avoid being a computer goof-off or cyber loafer by making good use of office technology and avoid using them for personal use.
- Keep track of important names, places, and things to avoid unnecessary and time consuming recalls and trackbacks.
- Setting a time limit for certain tasks and projects at the end of the project compare your planned time to your actual time. If the task took longer than the time you allotted try to figure out why the task took longer.
- Schedule similar tasks together and develop a multitasking routine. Routine tasks are simple tasks which you know that you will be doing all the time.
- Bounce quickly from task to task as you check off the list of tasks for the day. It is easier to move from one accomplished task to the next thing to do. The quicker the transition, the more tasks you will complete.
- Be decisive and finish things. Being decisive would mean having the ability to make firm decisions with speed and clarity.
Sure it’s fairly easy to write an article about how to develop good work habits and avoid the procrastination bug or I’ll do it later syndrome – but it isn’t easy to implement it. This is something that I struggle with every day.
Each morning when I go to work I have a plan and a list of things that I need to accomplish in order to maintain and run our business, from paying bills to creating updated product demo’s or support articles. But once the phone starts ringing my priority becomes the person on the other end!
What are your biggest challenges on a daily basis?
