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  • Hiring a new employee is an exciting occasion for a small business. However, it does call for a lot of paperwork.

    The onboarding process requires new employees to review and sign several documents. These papers range from government forms to records specific to your business. Regardless of their purpose, it’s important to make sure new hires address these documents shortly after they join your company. Let’s break down the various documents required for onboarding a new employee.

    The Different Types of New Hire Forms and Documents

    Onboarding documents have many different functions. Some are needed to collect important information from a new employee. Others are designed to properly inform new hires about certain practices and give them the ability to sign up for certain benefits. Essential onboarding documents are broken up into a few different groups.

    • Initial hiring documents
    • Employee eligibility forms
    • Tax forms
    • General business documents

    Regardless of their intent, it’s best to have employees review and sign these documents on their first day if possible. While the paperwork may not be all that exciting, it’s best to get these steps out of the way early and create a good foundation for new hires.

    Initial hiring documents

    The onboarding process starts with a job offer. There are a few documents that new hires will need to sign in order to get the job and help ensure that they’re the right fit for a company. As such, all prospective employees should fill out the following documents to get the onboarding process into motion.

    Job application form

    The job application form is the very first official document required to onboard new hires. While this form may seem obvious, it’s crucial to have it on file so that you have information such as work history, education, and personal data available in case any issues were to occur in the future. Some states have requirements for including specific statements in job application forms, so having this document can help you prove that you followed any legal obligations.

    New employees should sign this document to verify all the information and consent to a background check. It’s also important to note that this form should be included even if a job candidate already submitted a resume. You can then hold onto this document for a full year along with any notes or other details documented during the hiring process.

    Offer letter and/or employment contract

    The offer letter is another standard part of adding on a new employee. Still, it’s important to not only give employees an offer letter and employment contract, but also attach a copy to the employee’s file. This inclusion will just give businesses another document to reference in case any issues arise in the future regarding that contract or offer details.

    Drug testing records

    Whether a company wants to drug test a job candidate upfront or conduct tests throughout employment, you’ll need to provide employees with a copy of the company’s drug testing policy. You should also maintain records of any test results for at least one year, although some regulations may increase the minimum time frame for saving these records.

    Employment eligibility forms

    Once you’ve decided on the perfect candidate, the government requires them to confirm their eligibility to work in the United States. There’s only one document that falls under this section, but it’s a very important one: Form I-9.

    Form I-9 requires both the new employee and the employer to fill out parts of the document. New employees must fill out and sign the first section of Form I-9 on their first day of employment. Employers are then required to review the first section for completion.

    Employers also must also fill out the second section of Form I-9 within three business days of the date of hire. This step requires new employees to provide unexpired original documentation to prove their identity and employment authorization. This documentation can come in may forms such as passports, driver’s licenses, Social Security number cards, and more. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provides a complete list of acceptable Form I-9 documents online.

    Once an employer has the required information, they can fill out the remainder of the form. Employers do not need to fill Form I-9, but they should keep it on file for at least three years after the employee’s first day or for a full year after an employee is terminated. This will allow employers to present the form if any authorized U.S. government officials visit the business for inspection.

    Tax forms

    Employment eligibility is just the first step toward completing government-mandated documents for new employees. Employees are also required to fill out Form W-4 so that you can properly manage payroll for their business.

    Form W-4 is used so that employees determine the federal income taxes that their employers should withhold from paychecks. As such, new hires should fill this form out right away so that employers can apply the information toward their first pay period. Some states also have their own version of Form W-4 for local income tax withholding, while others simply use the federal document.

    Employers aren’t required to regularly submit these forms, but they should keep them on file for reference and in case the IRS requests a copy to compare withholdings. Each W-4 should be kept on file for at least four years after these taxes are either paid.

    General business documents

    While some onboarding documents are required by law, many others are simply a means to provide new hires with all the information they’ll need at their new company. These papers can range from means to gather payroll and benefits information to simply giving individuals more detail about their roles and other company materials.

    Direct deposit form

    Direct deposit is a convenient arrangement for both employers and employees, but businesses need some details to set up this payment method. New employees that will receive direct deposit will need to fill out a bank account information form to ensure that their paychecks go to the right place. These forms should require the employees to include:

    • Their full name
    • Bank account number
    • The account type (checking or savings)
    • Name and routing number of the bank

     Benefits forms

    If a business offers a benefits package to its employees, that company should provide information about those benefits to new hires and have them opt in or out of programs. These programs can include:

    • Health insurance
    • Life insurance
    • Retirement plans
    • Disability insurance
    • Wellness programs

    Employers will need to hand out different benefits forms for each offering in their plan. These forms should have details about each offering and give employees the chance to opt in for them if they’re eligible. Even if they opt out, employers should retain those signed documents as evidence that they were informed of benefits options and chose not to enroll in them.

    Mission statement and strategic plan

    Some onboarding documents are simply to help new employees get more accustomed to a business. A company mission statement, strategic plans, or any other relevant documents will help new hires understand the company’s culture and goals. This type of information will help them understand how their role fits in with the organization’s vision and fit in from day one.

    Employee handbook

    As long as an organization has an employee handbook, it’s best to give a copy to new employees right away. A good handbook lays out all the important elements about a business – company policies, procedures, and other key details.

    Handing out a handbook to new employees allows them to consult this document about key questions they may have about an organization. A handbook also serves as a noteworthy compliance tool, acting as proof that employees had prior information about company policies. As such, you’ll also want employees to sign an employee handbook acknowledgment form to verifying they received and read through the handbook.

    Job description and performance plan

    Every employee should be given a clear direction of what their role should accomplish and how their success will be measured over time. Employers should provide new hires with a document that lays out responsibilities, expectations, and potential timelines of what should be accomplished during their first few months. Having employees sign off on this document will not only help them understand expectations, but also provide employers with written guidelines when it comes time to evaluate performance.

    Employee onboarding checklist

    There’s a whole lot that needs to happen in the first few weeks on the job. An onboarding checklist is a detailed action plan that documents all the training, tasks, and other key items that will happen at the beginning of someone’s tenure with the organization. A solid outline will help keep everyone on track and give new employees a sense of reassurance that their new employer has a plan and values their position.

    Security and parking signoffs

    If the job calls for special security or parking details, employers should lay out all that information and arrange for special clearances in time for a new hire’s first day. Employees should receive any forms they need to sign and key items or information related to parking, entrance, and more. These items can include parking passes, keys, and passcodes. Documentation for these items should also include details on next steps if an employee leaves the company or is terminated.

    Emergency contact information and plans

    Everyone hopes that they’ll avoid any emergencies, but it’s important to be prepared just in case. New employees should be given relevant contact information for managers and other individuals in case anything happens after hours. Employees should also provide the company with an emergency contact in case something happens to them on the job as well. Finally, provide new hires with any disaster readiness plans if the company has any created.

    Set Up Your New Employees for Success

    While new hires call for a lot of paperwork, a good onboarding process can make for an easier transition into your company. Of course, gathering all these documents is just the first step in a long process. It’s important to set the right tone for new employees so that they can help your company grow.

    Fortunately, GMS can help your business build an onboarding process that not only sets up new hires for success, but also takes the administrative work off your hands. Contact GMS today about employee onboarding management and other critical human resource functions.

  • Terminating an employee is an unfortunate, yet sometimes inevitable aspect of running a successful business. For a small business, where owners and employees often think of themselves as a “family,” terminating an employee can be an especially difficult decision. When the employee who is being terminated and the owner or manager have a long work history and possibly even a personal friendship, the situation can become even more charged. As a business owner, it’s important not to let personal feelings get in the way of making sound business decisions.

    terminated employee packing desk

    Signs It’s Time to Part Ways with a Long-Time Employee

    Many employees can thrive in their careers working decades for the same employer. Long-term employees who continue to provide value to your business have deep knowledge about your products, services, systems, and business structure and are certainly worth holding onto.

    Sometimes, though, even employees with long tenures at an organization can create difficulties that can be draining on a business. Although sometimes difficult to admit, if you’re honest with yourself, you may already have an idea of who these employees are. Long-term employees who have overstayed their welcome typically exhibit the following traits:

    Obsolete skills

    It often becomes clear that a long-term employee hasn’t taken responsibility for their career or training when they don’t actively seek out new information or express little if any curiosity about their industry or profession. A noticeably stale skill set is often one of the first signs it’s time to let a long-term employee go. These employees often have an outdated mindset and little, if any knowledge of current best practices. They only know what they’ve learned early in their career and have continued with those same processes for years, sometimes for decades.

    Resistance to change

    As industries and technology evolve, so should a business. A resistance to change could be holding your company back from operating at its full potential. You could be missing out on key opportunities to reach new markets or create innovative products or services. When an employee is perfectly content maintaining the status quo, it could be a sign that it’s time to move on.

    These types of employees tend to be champions of old systems and familiar processes. You may often hear them say things like, “This is how we’ve always done things.” When employees are constantly undermining change and new or progressive initiatives, it’s typically a clear indication that it’s time to let that employee go.

    Defensive attitude

    Long-term employees may be painfully aware of their dwindling value within a company. As a result, they may feel threatened over particular aspects of the job. These types of employees may become defensive when questioned or having to justify their processes. They might even undermine or sabotage new hires by hoarding information or dismissing a new hire’s ideas or skills.

    Slower productivity

    Long-term employees may no longer have the skills or capabilities to efficiently produce high-quality work or work quite as fast as their peers. As a result of not having the appropriate skills for their position, long-term employees may try to compensate by working long hours and weekends. These types of employees often claim they are overworked and may even be too busy to attend meetings. They’re critical of co-workers who have a life outside of work and don’t put in extra hours. They may even see themselves as company martyrs and call out co-workers who don’t spend as many hours working.

    Overcompensated

    Often, long-term employees have incurred higher salaries over their tenure that can weigh heavily on a company’s bottom line. Of course, long-term employees who continue to provide value and have experienced growth within your organization are likely deserving of a higher paycheck. However, it can be harder to justify when a long-term employee’s salary and title is grossly inflated to reward them for their tenure when it doesn’t correlate with the value and skills of other employees.

    How to Terminate a Long-Term Employee

    When it comes to terminating a long-term employee, much of your usual termination process will be the same. However, there are some special considerations to keep in mind when firing a long-time employee.

    Review past performance

    Termination can certainly come as a shock to an employee, especially one who may have felt secure in their tenure with a company. You’ll want to ensure due diligence by reviewing past performance reviews and feedback. If the employee has only ever received positive feedback, you may want to wait until you can provide some honest feedback and evidence of negative performance. An employee performance review is an optimal time to set goals and expectations for an employee, identify areas for improvement, and provide resources for training. You may notice signs like resistance to change or a defensive attitude during this time.

    Terminate long-term employees in person

    When it’s clear that a long-term employee can no longer provide value to your organization, it’s time for termination. When firing a long-time employee, be sure to give them the news in person if possible. Not only is face-to-face firing the right thing to do, it can also help keep your remaining workforce strong, especially when losing a long-time colleague.

    Be transparent with your remaining employees

    Speaking of your existing workforce, you’ll also want to take into consideration how you communicate the termination to the rest of your team. The “loss of a colleague can send shockwaves—and extra workload —across the company. By firing someone, you’re asking everyone around them to take the news and the extra work in stride,” says Piyush Patel, author of Lead Your Tribe, Love Your Work: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating a Culture that Matters. While transparency is key, you’ll want to focus less on the negatives and more on the positives. Leverage this as an opportunity to bring your team back together, understanding that additional tasks may fall onto your employees as a result of the loss.

    Don’t fire employees by yourself

    It’s also a good idea to have another person, such as an HR representative, in the room to serve as a witness when terminating an employee. There’s always a chance that your former employee may try to accuse you of an unjust firing, such as age discrimination. Having an HR representative in the room can help you stay on track and avoid any potential legal issues.

    Severance pay

    While post-termination severance packages are most commonly associated with executives, they have now become more widely extended to long-term employees. According to a Manpower Group survey, 75 percent of companies have a formal severance policy in place because “severance is one of the keys to ensuring a difficult action has the best possible positive outcome while speeding the return to productivity, profitability, and employee engagement.” Offering severance pay can also help you show appreciation for a long-term employee’s loyalty to your company.

    Terminating a long-time employee may not be enjoyable, but it’s important that it’s done legally and gracefully. Need help creating a termination policy or managing employee performance? Contact GMS today to learn more about our employee performance management services.

  • My two older boys, ages 9 and 10, are playing ‘kid pitch’ baseball this year. Believe it or not, when I asked them what position they wanted to play, they both said “Dad, I want to be the pitcher”.

    Then we asked each player on the team what position they wanted to play and each and every player said “Pitcher”. On paper this is not strange, as this is the most glorified position in baseball. After all, they make the most money, get the most publicity (when they are good), and seem to have the biggest fan base.

    The other coaches and I talked to our 13-man roster about how important every position is on the team and how every position contributes to the overall goal. We teach them that they all have to play together to win.

    This conversation made me think of a business and all the “players” within a company. I bet if you asked most employees, “If I could give you a new position, what would it be?”, a popular responses would be, “I want to be the manager, the president, or the owner.”

    I am not downplaying the pitcher, the manager, the president, or the owner positions, as they are still important. But isn’t the baseball team just like a company, where that every position is important?

    • Without Risk Managers – workers gets hurt and worker’s comp rates go through the roof.
    • Without Payroll Employees – we have anarchy because no one gets paid.
    • Without Tax Administrators – the IRS is knocking at the door (actually they don’t even knock, they just enter.)
    • Without Sales People – there are no new customers.
    • Without Benefits Administrators – no one has healthcare, 401K’s, or vision and dental insurance.
    • Without Wellness Coordinators – people miss out on learning to improve their health choices.
    • Without Human Resource Employees – you have a disheveled mess.

    You get my point? Every business needs:

    • Right, center, and left fielders
    • Catchers and pitchers
    • First, second, and third basemen
    • Shortstops
    • Teammates on the bench ready to play
    • Fans
    • Beloved mascots
    • Coaches
    • Umpires

    No team is successful without all of these positions working together towards a unified goal. Isn’t the same true in business? Whenever everyone works together—bringing their special talents and experiences with them—games are won, and businesses grow.

    “Trend Following Little League Team,” © 2012 Michael Covel, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.

  • If my mom only knew.

    When I was younger, my parents would encourage (mandate) that I help them in the family garden out back. However, that really cut into my wiffle ball playing/tree-climbing/insect-torturing summertime. I came up with every excuse in the book to get out of it. I was told it was good exercise and that the vegetables we grew were healthier and better for me than anything we bought at the grocery store. I didn’t care. I was a kid. I hated vegetables.

    Now we appear to have come full circle. Not only are gardens making appearances in the suburbs, they’re also starting to dot cityscapes and in a surprising twist, corporate campuses.

    Four years ago, GMS built ten “garden blocks.” Any employee who wanted to take part in gardening was assigned to one of five teams. Each team could grow anything they wanted to in the garden (provided it was legal.) GMS would provide the soil and the water, and Mother Nature would provide the sunlight. The rest was up to the team members. Anything we grew, we could keep.

    Needless to say, most of us didn’t have a whole lot of gardening experience. But we learned. We worked together, and each year, the garden got better.

    And special things happened along the way.

    Team members who worked in different departments got to know each other outside of work. We worked together to strategize what vegetables would give us the best yield and what could we do with those vegetables. We got to work out in the sunshine, and we started eating a little better.

    Turns out, we were ahead of the trend. A recent article on workforce.com reports that more and more companies are creating gardens as opportunities for team-building, morale-shifting, and overall wellness promotion.

    A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of a good wellness programfor employers looking to keep their healthcare costs low. At-work gardening may not be the end-all, but it’s an inexpensive way to start.

    You can grow more than vegetables. You can cultivate teamwork.

  • Do any of these sound familiar?

    • Losing good employees to competitors.
    • A cranky work environment.
    • Excessive workplace injuries.
    • Out-of-control healthcare costs.
    • Ridiculously high unemployment insurance costs.

    If you’ve been dealing with any of these issues, no doubt you’ve come to the conclusion that HR is more than just a luxury enjoyed at big corporations. HR is a necessity for small and medium-sized businesses, too.

    It’s possible that you have HR problems. What are you going to do?

    HR Outsourcing

    You’ve heard about HR outsourcing, but maybe you don’t know what it entails or how to learn more about it. How can you tell if it is right for your company?

    You’ve heard about Professional Employer Organizations (PEO). But maybe it sounds a little shaky since you don’t know of anyone who’s using a PEO. How popular are PEOs?

    You might be surprised.

    The HR outsourcing industry has grown from $61 billion in 2002 to $103 billion in 2007 and is projected to grow to $162 billion in 2015. The largest chunk of that is the PEO industry.

    Professional Employer Organizations (PEO)

    PEOs work with small businesses to help reduce time and cost when it comes to the things that an HR department would do at a large company. If you walked into a large corporation with thousands of employees and asked to see their HR department, what do you think you would see? The department would include a payroll department, a benefits department, a risk management department and actual HR manager or department. You might even find a wellness department to work hand-in-hand with the benefits department.

    These huge companies have tons of money to throw at problems and lots of high-priced attorneys to get them out of trouble. Yet they still keep all of these departments active. They know how important HR can be.

    Big corporations realize they need HR departments. It’s even more crucial that small businesses understand that they should have access to these essential HR services.

    Specializing in Small Business HR

    Not all small businesses have the means or the resources to keep all of these HR departments in-house, and that’s when they should begin looking at outsourcing their HR.

    A small business is already probably outsourcing their payroll, their benefits and their Worker’s Comp administration to different companies. All of those departments need to be able to share information with each other. If you can have one vendor do all of that for you, allowing you to focus on growing your business, wouldn’t you? What if you could do that while saving money as well? What if in addition to saving money, you could also offload a lot of your tax and employee liability in the process? Can you see why this industry is growing?

    What about compliancy issues? In the last five years, have you seen an increase or a decrease in the amount of regulations imposed on your business? What about the Affordable Care Act? Do you need to be compliant? If not now, will you someday? What does that mean to you? Do you know who to turn to find out?

    There are tons of HR questions that small businesses have, and PEOs—like GMS—have the answers. Ask us anything.

    ***

    “Footbridge to Canary Wharf,” © 2008 Stephen McKay, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.

  • Once you’ve hired your employees, it’s important to keep them happy on the team. In addition to the cost benefits of employment continuity, there are also morale and productivity benefits.

    Now that you’ve got great workers, how do you keep them?

    • Train your managers.
      Much of the time, employees do not leave organizations—they leave managers. You may have excellent managers that can perform many functions of the job, but if you don’t have a manager in place that knows how to effectively manage, motivate and treat employees fairly, you will face employee dissatisfaction and turnover.
    • Offer extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
      Yes, you need to make sure that pay, benefits and bonuses are equitable within your geographic area and industry (extrinsic reward). But when employees are motivated only by financial incentives, they tend to focus more on the financial reward than doing good work. Employees don’t stay just for the pay. They also need to know that their work makes a positive difference to the goals of the company, their managers, customers and fellow employees (intrinsic reward).
    • Consider company culture during the hiring process.
      A candidate may possess all the skills necessary to perform the job, but if they are not a good fit with your company culture and fellow employees, they are not a good fit for the company. Hiring them anyway will result in increased turnover.
    • Promote from within.
      When employees are given the opportunity to create a career path within their company, they are motivated to stay. However, if good, qualified employees are passed over for promotions or desired lateral moves, they will leave and go to a company that will recognize and reward their efforts.
    • Use satisfaction surveys and foster engagement.
      Ask your employees what’s important to them, what’s working and what’s not. Yes, in some instances you may open for the door for negative feedback, but the majority of employees will appreciate that you care what they think. After all, they are performing the job every day and can give you the best feedback and offer great suggestions for improvements or changes.
    • Give frequent feedback.
      Don’t wait until review time to give feedback. Your employees want to know how they are doing and how they can improve their performance. Don’t be negative. Give clear examples and specific tactics they can use to improve their performance. Set goals together. Engage your employees by asking what they can do to resolve any performance issues. Don’t forget to give positive feedback to those who are doing a good job. Nobody wants to hear about their performance from their manager only when it is negative.
    • Encourage executive conversations.
      Employees want to hear from executive level management about what’s happening in the company—the good and the bad. Did you have a really good year? Let your employees know and thank them for their part in it that success. Take time to share your goals for the future of your company with your employees. Help them to have a clear understanding of their role in meeting these goals. If there are major changes in your organization, your employees need to hear that from you. Changes can often cause fear and stress. You need to address these changes and alleviate your employees’ concerns.
    • Recognize employee successes.
      Appreciation is a fundamental human need. This is one of the most important factors in employee motivation and retention. Employees need to feel connected to their organization and know that their work matters. Recognition does not have to be complicated. If an employee is consistently doing a great job or excelling on a particular project, let them know. Send an e-mail, write a letter. Even a high five and “great job!” from you can mean a lot. Be specific when you express your recognition. This can be especially influential when it comes from top management.
    • Offer autonomy.
      Employees want to have direction from their manager, but they also value a certain degree of autonomy in their jobs. Employees need a clear job description, and their manger must clearly express what their expectations are from an employee for their overall performance and day to day responsibilities. With this clarity, an employee can direct their work flow and performance without being micromanaged. The employee can take ownership of their role and responsibility for their own performance.
    • Facilitate teamwork.
      People spend a large majority of their time at work and with their fellow employees. It is important to build strong, functional, well-led teams. Successful teams communicate, are respectful of other team members, and are focused and committed to their organization and to achieving goals. Good teamwork facilitates positive relationships with fellow coworkers. It helps bond them together as they work to achieve common goals—an important factor in retaining employees.

    ***

    Your employees are the backbone of your company. If your employees are happy, it will show in their performance—and it will be one the most important factors in retaining your customers and increasing the overall profitability of your organization.

    ***

    Check out Part I of this series: Employee Retention: What Does Employee Turnover Cost?

    ***

    “Happy Coffee,” © 2012 Jim Wolffman, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

  • In a former life I was a general manager. A large part of my position was screening and interviewing potential new hires. This important yet time-consuming process included:

    1. Phone screening
    2. Background checks
    3. Scheduling initial interviews
    4. Clearing my schedule to make time for interviews
    5. Conducting interviews

    …you get my point.

    Recruiting Takes Major Time

    My assistant managers and I would spend between 1 to 3 hours each week on these administrative functions, depending on the season. That averages out to 100 hours over the course of a year.

    During this entire time I was unaware of the HR and recruiting assistance offered by a professional employer organization (PEO) such as Group Management Services Inc., which would have cut those hours by more than half.

    Saving time – sounds good right? It gets even better.

    Finding the Best Candidates

    In a recent Inc. article, Ed Powers shares this insight about initial recruiting efforts:

    “Get a big funnel. You don’t want to be overwhelmed with candidates who all look the same, but you do want to have enough candidates so that you can be selective within a large pool. Reaching out beyond your usual go-to sources can uncover skilled candidates you may not have realized were out there.”

    When recruiting to add to your team, it’s important to:

    • Have a larger reach of candidates
    • Ask consistent questions
    • Fully comply with EEOC and labor laws

    Who can consistently meet those criteria: your HR recruiting professional from GMS, or you?

  • Take off the Recruiter Hat

    Life-work balance for small business owners begins with self-control. Owners say they have too many roles to play but stubbornly hang on to them all. Sooner or later, owners like you have to give up something. I would start with recruiting.

    Just for a moment, apply some time management to the task. List the minutes you spend on framing an ad or posting, on qualifying phone calls, on live interviews, and background checks. Add it up, and you will find you spend 4-5 hours on each candidate. If you are doing it well, that is about 30 hours out of your week.

    Assign your hourly rate to the 30, and add the hours it will take to train and orient the new hire. Lastly, determine how long it will take to regain the lost cost.

    Why Do it at All?

    Structured recruitment, expert interviewing, and regulatory compliance are some of the benefits of an established PEO.

    Leave it to Them

    One you are confident that your PEO understands your staffing needs and business culture, job descriptions and required skills, delegate the recruiting to the real pros. Among other reasons, the PEO has a fully functioning pipeline tapping the available labor pool for your needs and those of other clients. They have a constant figure on the pulse of available candidates. They also have a greater playing field, interview within Federal and state labor laws, and place those candidates who are ready and anxious to prove themselves.

    About the Author

    Carolyn Sokol is founder and President of PEOcompare.com, a current member of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and writes on issues that affect small businesses.

    Image Credit: www.akersassistants.com

  • When you think “sexy,” you don’t automatically think “HR.”

    I’m not talking about the kind of sexiness of the first time I held my wife’s hand. I’m talking about business sexy— what makes a company interesting and what makes an industry intriguing. What gets people excited.

    On the surface, HR doesn’t seem like it would fit the bill. Labor laws, payroll, benefits, HealthCare reform, compliance, BWC, worker’s compensation, unemployment, recruiting, handbooks, job descriptions etc… this is not necessarily scintillating stuff.

    But is sexiness like beauty? Is it in the eye of the beholder?

    I mean, look at what PEOs can do:

    • Provide jobs when the unemployment rate is high.
    • Offer essential benefits to employees and their families.
    • Recruit talent so owners can focus on growing their business.

    Look what GMS has done:

    • Reduce a company’s unemployment rate from 7.7% down to 1.2%.
    • Shrink a company’s healthcare premium from $82,473 to $71,397.
    • Lower a worker’s comp bill from $211,000 to $130,000$13,622 to $9,409.
    • Decrease the number of a company’s habitual tobacco users from 33% to 11%.
    • Replace a company’s method of using a typewriter to prepare payroll checks with direct deposit.

    These are real-life stories, and they represent a fraction of the services we provide. We tangibly improve peoples’ lives. When you look at it with this perspective, it’s clear that we are in one of the sexiest of industries around. It may not be as sexy as seeing her walk down the aisle, but nonetheless: PEOs are bringing sexy back.

    So I ask you, what is it that makes your business or industry sexy?

     

    Image from Free Images

  • What if I told you that you can accomplish all of your HR goals?

     

    You can. You just need to form a few good habits.

     

    Check out my guest blog post on Easy Small Business HR. In it, I explore the ways to make success a habit. Your HR successes help you — and your business — succeed.