management - 1 Stop HR

February 7, 2018 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

4 Ways to Tell if you have a Great Leadership Team

So you think you have a great leadership team in place at your company, but how do you know that they are great? Is it just a gut feel? Or do you truly have a good understanding of their abilities and positive impact on your business? If you are struggling to answer these questions, here are some thoughts to help you gain the answer.

Ask the Staff. Seems simple enough, but not a lot of employers actually do this! Send a survey to your employees. Ensure the results are compiled by an outside source so that employees can be reassured of confidentiality to their responses. Have them rank responses on questions like: “I can trust my manager” “My manager is knowledgeable” “My manager handles difficult situations in a professional and fair manner” “I have confidence in the leadership team”. Also look to add some open ended questions where employees can add additional detail, like: “The top 3 areas that my manager could improve on would be” “Things that my manager does well are” “If I were a manager at this company, the first few things I would change would be”. These types of questions will give you a good sense of how your staff are feeling with regard to the leadership at your company.
Set Leadership Goals and Monitor Results. Work with your team to set goals that coincide with the strategy of your company. Monitor the progress and attainment of these goals. If goals are being met, this is a great sign. As well, if your company goals are being met, this is also a good sign.
Monitor Employee Turnover. Have lots of turnover? This isn’t a good sign. Is there a lot of turnover under one particular manager? There could be a reason. Conduct exit interviews and ensure the individual conducting them is someone employees trust and can be open with. We highly recommend outsourcing this activity as this typically allows for employees to feel more comfortable in bringing about issues.
Employee Referrals. Do you employees refer others to work for the company? Yes? This is a good sign….No? Not a good sign unless you are not encouraging it…

Have other ideas? Email us! We would be happy to include them in an upcoming blog article.

Need help coaching or mentoring your team? Someone to complete your exit interviews? Contact us at 226-750-3160 we are always ready to help!

January 12, 2017 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

Hold up – Flexible Work Location?

If you have read our recent post on offering flexible hours at your workplace, this post will flow nicely into some more thoughts for you…

I am sure you have heard that many companies are offering flexible work locations. That is that they allow their employees to be able to work from home or run a satellite office.

No way Jose!

Are your feet stuck? Can’t see allowing your employees the ability to do this?

Why? What’s the concern? I know, I know….you are afraid they won’t do the work….that they might sleep in….say they are working but productivity will go down the drain. How can you “watch” them to ensure they are working? I get it….and we will talk about this, but first, let’s look at some benefits to the employee.

Employee Benefits:

If they have a commute, they will spend less time doing this and possibly put more time into work.
They will be happier employees.
They have the ability to have more control over when their work is done, meaning, they might choose to put in work hours in the evening or early morning to allow for some flexibility in their afternoon.
There may be less disruptions from the natural environment of an office setting, increasing productivity.
Improved work life balance.

Ok….I know, you are waiting to understand the benefits for the employer…so hang tight, here you go…

Employer Benefits:

You may be able to reduce budget put toward things like desks, office space…etc.
Your employee morale might go up…and even your absenteeism rate might be impacted in a positive manner.
Increased productivity.
Increased attraction for quality job applicants.

But but but…..stop with the buts….let’s look at how you manage this so that your concerns are diminished.

Managing the flexible work location arrangement:

Ensure you set clear boundaries and expectations on what this privilege entails. Make it clear that if productivity is a concern, and if there are not improvements if these concerns are noted, that this privilege may be taken away.
Ensure there are clear communication tools for your managers and employees to make contact and make regular contact.
Don’t forget about team building – this is still important, even if the majority of your employees are working remotely.
Ensure your managers hold employees accountable for their work commitments, hitting deadlines and their overall productivity.
Continue with meetings, regular meetings – involve remote employees via Skype or other conferencing tools so that there is still some “face to face” interaction.
Don’t forget that your off-site employees are still employees – involve them in everything you involve your in-house employees in – find a way.

Let us know the benefits this has had in your workplace – share this post on Social Media – tag us or email us with your stories!

January 4, 2017 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

Flexible Work Hours for your Employees – What are you Afraid of?

Stuck in the dark ages?

Do you have the traditional 9-5 work hours for your employees? Why? Let me guess, because that is what your clients expect right? Ok, how about your employees?

The trend to offer flexible working arrangements is huge. If you don’t offer this, you are not growing with what today’s employees want. For some the traditional 9-5 works, but for others, it is a nightmare.

Why is the 9-5 not working anymore?

Work/life balance. Our employees are looking to be able to be more involved in childcare, attend appointments or extracurricular activities or to be able just to balance their life in general.
Elder care. Some of our employees have elder care responsibilities that require them to provide coverage at certain hours.
Avoidance of rush hour. At times the commute during rush hour can add significant time to the morning or evening drive – avoiding this gives more time back for other activities.
Multiple jobs. Many people have two jobs, or need to work two jobs just to make ends meet. Having a flexible or alternate work schedule can allow them to be able to accomplish this.

How do you ensure your clients are taken care of?

Good question! And a reason why many don’t even consider it, as they can’t disrupt their clients. But, who said anything about reducing or impacting the service you provide to your clients? So, what do you do? Establish core hours that everyone must be at work, or that at least must be covered. Then go from there with regard to establishing some flexibility in your start and end times and or how many people you can accommodate on an early and later shift.

So is this all about the employees?

No! What is the benefit for the employer you ask?

You could actually offer extended hours of coverage for your clients!
You keep or attract employees that might otherwise not stay or be interested in working for you.
You compete with your competition.
Depending on the scheduling you put in place, it is possible you might be able to more efficiently utilize your office space, desks and even computers or equipment!

My challenge…

If you are stuck on the 9-5…I challenge you to really think about the above, create your own advantages and disadvantages list. Look at your disadvantages and see what you can do to combat them. Down the line…you will look back and be glad you took the leap.

We would love to hear your stories of success! Email us or tag us on social media with your stories! Share this post to encourage others to take the leap!

Watch for our Flexible Work Locations blog post coming soon!

November 18, 2016 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

6 Signs that Indicate it May be Time to Fire an Employee

First, Documentation

Any of our clients will tell you that Documentation is my middle name when it comes to employee issues. Documenting conversations involving performance issues, or behavioural issues is key to providing opportunities for the employee to change, but also for protecting your business. In most cases, you also have to show that as an employer, you have worked to do what you can to point out what is wrong and help the employee improve. But, when do you know that enough is enough? Assuming you have been documenting and have a trail to show that you have worked with the employee on changing the undesired behaviour or performance, how do you know when enough is enough?

6 Signs that Contribute to Knowing that it is Time:

1. Lack of Performance

The performance of the employee continues to decline. Maybe deadlines are being missed, mistakes are being made, job responsibilities are not being fulfilled. Performance is lackluster at best.

2. Absenteeism

The employee has been missing days of work, maybe without valid reasoning or just doesn’t show up for their scheduled work day.

3. Lack of Team Effort

There is no effort to engage in team projects or provide others with assistance as needed. The effort just isn’t there and you can see that there is no interest in propelling the concept of team or being an active member by contributing. You maybe notice morale is starting to be impacted by those that work with the employee.

4. Attitude

The attitude of the employee is declining. They are argumentative or just plain miserable. They argue with their co-workers or superior or look for things to “stir the pot”. Maybe it is even catching on to others, or maybe others are starting to avoid working with this person.

5. Complaints

Employees and clients are complaining. Multiple complaints are coming in.

6. Lack of Improvement

Lack of Effort to Improve. Even though the employee has been given warnings about their behaviour or performance, the employee shows no willingness or effort to change or improve.

If you have been doing your job and working with the employee on recognizing what needs to change, yet you continue to see the above signs or some of the above signs, it is a good indicator that enough is enough and it is time to cut ties.

Looking to outsource your Terminations or Exit Interviews? We are only a phone call away… 226-750-3160

November 16, 2016 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

Top 10 List for Employee Engagement!

Ever Wonder?

Ever wonder why it is that your employees don’t seem happy at their job?

Are you tired of walking into the office and feeling like people just don’t want to be there?

What’s the Problem?

Most likely you have a problem with your employees really feeling engaged in the work that they are doing and maybe they really don’t feel like they are a part of the company direction. So what do you do? Fire them right? No no no….first we want to ensure that we have done our job as a manager to make them feel part of the team and feel that they are part of the success of the company. So where do you start?

Start Here for your Tips on Improving Employee Engagement!

Build your team through icebreakers, team building, things that bring them together, things that make them work together and get excited about.
Don’t shut yourself in your office with the door closed. Make an effort to walk around and say good morning, ask about their weekend, engage in some small talk. Get to know your team.
Get your team members involved in projects that mean something, that give them opportunities to grow, ask for their feedback, their thoughts, their suggestions. Make them feel like they have a voice.
Listen to their concerns, listen to their ideas, listen to their comments. If you don’t hear anything, ask them how they are doing. Ask them for feedback. Look to respond to what it is that you hear.
Your employees will count on you to address concerns and not let them fester. This is how you gain credibility with your team. Act on the problem areas and deal with them effectively.
Look for the wins and celebrate them. Whether you send them a note, go out for a team lunch, congratulate them in person, whatever it is…look to celebrate accomplishments.
Recognize significant contributions. Recognize tenure. Recognize effort, attitude, and the work that they do.
Talk to your employees about their goals. What knowledge would they love to learn more about? What are their aspirations? Are there things you can do to help them grow in their role?
What can you do to coach, train, mentor your team members? Can you provide a workshop, send them to any, bring in a speaker? Give them knowledge, and help prepare them for growth.
Lead by example. Respect your people. Provide and give them the opportunity to thrive in an environment where they are respected and appreciated.

To Do:

Take employee engagement seriously. It is serious, an engaged employee will produce more work, be happier while doing it and will inspire others. This will directly impact morale and overall happiness of your people. Make steps today to make a difference in both your people and your company by engaging you team.

Looking for help? Contact us today: 226-750-3160