Archive for Business planning

Reopening Your Business – It’s Important to Have a Plan

As of this month, many businesses that have been closed or operating remotely during our Shelter-in-Place order are now able to reopen. If you are able to reopen, are you ready?

Public health guidelines call for continued social distancing, facemasks, and enhanced sanitation procedures in order to open while maintaining the health of staff and customers. This requires a considerable amount of planning on the part of the business owner and new processes and procedures for employees.

The most frequent request I’m getting from leaders and business owners these days who call about my Just in Time 3-Hour HR Advisory Service is for help in creating a COVID-19 compliant reopening plan. 

A recent Forbes article included a checklist of “the 5 most important things businesses must be able to do in order to return to work.”

  1. Track and comply with evolving government and healthcare protocols.
  2. Help keep employees safe.
  3. Analyze the threat of new outbreaks.
  4. Maintain the integrity of their supply chain.
  5. Audit their processes to maintain compliance.

Each of these items requires planning as well as knowledge of where to find the most recent credible information about requirements and protocols. And that’s where advice from a Senior HR Consultant can be very helpful. 

If you will be continuing to have some or all of your employees work remotely, it’s also important to strategize how to do that on a more permanent basis. Having employees work remotely for a few months is one thing, but when it becomes your standard business model there are many other things to consider. What additional equipment will employees need? How will you maintain team cohesiveness and workflow? How do you help remote employees maintain a balance between work-at-home and home-at-home so they don’t burn out?  

It’s also important to think about how you will handle specific employee issues that may come up in light of the pandemic. Some questions clients have asked me are:

  • What if an employee is afraid of returning to work in case they’re exposed to the virus and then expose a vulnerable family member?  How do we convince them that it’s safe?
  • How do we keep employees engaged when they’re working remotely?
  • What if we have another shutdown?

If you have questions or need help putting together your business reopening plan, contact me today to schedule a free 30-minute consultation to see how Just in Time 3-Hour HR Consulting Service can help you.

https://calendly.com/michellemendoza-connecttohr/30-minute-consultation

If you know of a business owner who may need advice about reopening or any other HR issue, please share our Just in Time 3-Hour HR Advisory Service flyer with them. Thank you!

Thinking of Hiring Employees? Start with a Strong Foundation

One of the things that I think has helped my business grow and thrive for the past 10 years is that I spent significant time at the beginning building a strong foundation.

As I mentioned last time, I went to a SCORE workshop to learn about the requirements (and challenges) of running a small business. I also made sure that I put the proper systems in place to manage my finances, do required reporting, etc. I invested in getting a basic website up and developing quality marketing materials to create Connect to HR awareness. I researched and joined relevant networking groups to build business connections.

Starting and maintaining a strong foundation will help see you through the good times and the challenging ones.

If you have or plan to have employees, there are additional foundational steps you need to take. Here are some key foundational HR items you need to address.

Effective hiring. As you identify the need to hire employees, be sure that you have developed a workforce plan that clearly defines job roles and requirements. Check out my previous blog about effective workforce planning for some tips.   Don’t forget, in California there are required notices and forms that employers must provide new hires.  Connect to HR offers a new hire tool kit that makes it easy for companies to understand their compliance requirements in the new hire process.

Job descriptions. Detailed and up-to-date job descriptions will help you recruit the right talent and assess their performance. They are also key in ensuring that you are legally compliant. A detailed job description not only protects you when you terminate an employee for non-performance, it also ensures that you comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other legal requirements.

Goals and objectives. Setting and communicating clear goals and objectives for employees (that are tied to company goals) will help reduce performance issues and keep employees engaged.  Goals are a great tool to help monitor performance with clear standards.  We suggest you review them with employees monthly, at a minimum, to ensure they are still relevant over time.

Labor law posters. Be sure you post all the required federal and state employment posters and have a system in place for managing your HR records. These posters are required for all businesses with two or more employees. 

Employee Handbook. It’s important to have an Employee Handbook that includes basic employment policies as well as policies specific to your company. You can avoid employee and legal issues if you clearly communicate expectations about work hours, conduct, etc.   

Health and safety. Company management is responsible for creating and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment. In California, all employers should have an Injury Illness and Prevention Program (IIPP).  

Terminations. Just as it’s important to have an effective hiring process, it’s important that you have an effective (and legally compliant) process for terminating employees. Creating and following a Termination Checklist will help ensure that you cover all the bases. Terminating an employee is never easy, but putting some structure around it can make it less stressful for both you and the employee.

Please reach out to me at michelle@connecttohr.com if you need guidance on any of these items.

Tips for Performing an Effective SWOT Analysis

In my last blog I talked about the benefits of taking some time to review your business by performing a SWOT Analysis. This will help you plan for next year and beyond as you understand your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

This time I’d like to give you some best practices to help you get the most out of your SWOT Analysis. Here are some tips about what you should do and not do as you are performing your analysis.

Do:

  • Get multiple perspectives by gathering input from employees, customers, suppliers, and partners.
  • Involve more than one person in the analysis. It’s also helpful to include someone external to the organization who can help you look at things objectively.
  • Use the goals and objectives from your overall business plan in your analysis.
  • Be forward-thinking. Where are you today, where do you want to be next year, in 5 years, in 10 years?
  • Create a clear definition of what a strength is as opposed to a weakness. Apply the definition consistently. Likewise, establish clear definitions of an opportunity vs. a threat.
  • Benchmark your strengths or weaknesses in comparison to your competitors.
  • Establish a process (and responsibility) for keeping abreast of what your competitors are doing and identifying any changes in the market.
  • Be realistic about how your business compares to your competitors.
  • Keep your SWOT short and simple but be sure you include all critical details.

Don’t:

  • Rely on opinions. Instead, focus on facts.
  • Limit input to just a few people.
  • Make too long of a list of suggestions under each category. Prioritize your list to those that are most critical and financially feasible.
  • Hesitate to admit weaknesses. Identifying them is the first step in improving.
  • Forget to include both technical skills and soft skills as you consider the skills you need going forward.
  • Use your SWOT analysis as your only planning tool. Combine what you learn from your SWOT with other business planning tools. 

Please feel free to reach out to me at michelle@connecttohr.com if you need some help in putting together your SWOT analysis.

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