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3 Top Tips for Reference Checking

Smart employers still check references and learn a lot about their preferred hire. But many small businesses just assume that they will not get any info beyond title and date confirmation. Or they think they know the applicant already and do not bother to check.

How do you get useful information?

1. Ask finalists for the right references – request at least four or five previous bosses, project leaders, others with knowledge of the person’s performance, each with current phone or email information. Entry level person? Ask for part-time work bosses, volunteer managers, professors/teachers. Tell the applicant when you are going to call the reference and who will make the call.

2. Create a basic script to use with the references. Tell the person a bit about your organization, the specific position, and that you need their help so you can hire the person. Build rapport. Ask questions about the critical elements of the job, starting with the easy questions. Remember to ask some questions to help you assess if they can succeed in your culture.

Listen to what each reference says and how they say it. Enthusiastic descriptions of past work are valuable but so are the long pauses and polite but limited responses.

If you get told that they cannot give a reference due to company policy, ask if you can call them at home. If they say no, ask for someone else they think can give a real reference but who is no longer with the company. Most references want to help IF the applicant has asked them to do so and told them you are calling. If they have not, what does that tell you about the applicant?

Think about the applicant – do you know […]

By |June 23rd, 2014|hiring, productivity, References, SMB|0 Comments
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SUMMER… THE LAST MINUTE GUIDE

Right about now each year I have clients who suddenly realize it is summertime. And they meant to consider summer hours or a summer family picnic or some other form of recognition for all the hard work of the last few quarters. But the firehouse of daily activities overcame the intent.

Is this YOU?  Yes, there are still things you can do to enhance morale and inject a little fun.

Tip 1. Bring some fun into the workplace

If all your employees are in one-two locations, this works well. Have an ‘ice cream sundae’ party or bring in catered lunches two-three times over the summer. Start with a short ‘thanks’ and push to get people talking to each other for 30-60 minutes. Make it a real break from work. And yes, that means the executives too – unless you are having them make the sundaes.

Tip 2. Cancel a workday

Independence Day is a Friday this summer. Shut down for Thursday July 3rd as well. Or just pick a random day, say August 1st. Announce it in advance a bit to give folks a sense of anticipation. Give a reason – or not! Yes, you will still pay everyone for the day so it has a cost. But it does not take a lot of effort to plan or run and most employees love this ‘playing hooky’ day.

Tip 3. Go All In

Set up a last minute picnic or area trip – say Great Falls National Park with bag lunches and a bus to/from the office for a mid-day break.

Each employee gets a chit for some ‘free’ time off – maybe 3 half-days or two full days, depending on your business.

Bring in a seated chair massage therapist 4-6 times in […]

By |June 17th, 2014|culture, Policies and Practices|0 Comments
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Celebrate Small Business!

Just returned from talking to the Women Veterans Conference on starting a business. What a great group of interesting ideas and plans among the attendees! As we celebrate Small Business Week, here are some useful background details for your use.

There are 23 million small businesses in the US and 3/4th are solopreneurs. Small businesses generate 54% of all US sales and provide 55% of all jobs.

Studies show that entrepreneurs who want to build a company flourish in places that
– have plenty of other entrepreneurs already,
– provide extensive learning options, and
– offer inspiration.

Veterans own 9% of all small businesses and are more likely to succeed than people without military service. These 2.4 million vets have $1.2 trillion in revenue. Their success is built on three main advantages. They understand the need to think ahead but also that plans change or fall apart and you have to be flexible. They have dealt with diverse people and groups successfully. They are experienced in hard work and used to heavy demands common in starting up. A slightly higher portion of veterans build companies than go out on their own in comparison to civilians.

Women are the fastest growing group of new business owners. There are 9.1 million women who have $1.4 trillion in revenue. A higher portion of women are solopreneurs than build companies. New women owned businesses are growing at a rate of 1288 per day according to SBA figures!

Currently there are a wide range of organizations supporting efforts to help people become successful entrepreneurs. These include the Kauffman Foundation, AARP, and many others.

How are you using Small Business Week to grow and develop your own business? Are you celebrating it in any way with your customers or […]

By |May 11th, 2014|Small Biz, SMB|0 Comments
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Improve your Surroundings

There is interesting research about the impact of negativity in the workplace. Regularly negative people significantly reduce productivity and creativity of those who work with them.

Which leads to the question: Who is the most negative person you deal with regularly?

If you are like most small business or non-profit leaders, you do have someone in your organization or on your Board who is consistently negative. S/he might be someone with a classic negative reaction to all change or a personality that sees their world through dark lenses. We are not talking about those who sometimes offer negative opinions or are realistically reacting to tough situations. We are talking about consistently ‘negative nellies.’

Some negativity is useful. Such people can provide a realistic voice in many discussions. They serve as a check on those of us who have a ton of new ideas but no filters. They may be a part of your unspoken ‘risk management’ process even.

Still a consistently negative person, no matter how good they otherwise are at their role, takes a toll on those around them. And they infect others with negative responses. You must assess whether their value outweighs those aspects. And think quite clearly about how they influence or impact your own leadership.

Could you reduce or eliminate dealing with this person? Is it worth a frank discussion or is this behavior so consistent that perhaps replacing this person to save the rest of your organization is really needed?

By |May 5th, 2014|culture, productivity, values|0 Comments
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REALITY BITES: POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND YOU

My friend’s Mother died 17 days ago after a long illness. And without warning, her Dad died two weeks later. I cared for several aunts in their last years, including handling their final hospitalizations, hospice, funerals, and estates. This is pretty common for many employees who are care-givers.

Yet here I am again talking with an organization which wants to define quite carefully the three days for bereavement leave and who it applies to. Can you even get to the funeral and back in three days, much less help your family cope?

Sure, I have known of an employee who had four grandmothers die within 18 months and was gaming the 3 day bereavement system at his company. But one of those in four decades leaves me wondering why we feel such a need for a tight policy. And when a manager’s son was killed in a skiing accident, do you think the company actually enforced its ‘3 day’ rule? Of course not.

One of the bigger risks you can take is to have a policy – on any topic – and ignore it. Too often that may be done for reasons you think are valid. But a good lawyer can find that you did it in a discriminatory manner against their client.

Did you really get anything positive out of your policy in the first place? For every potential issue it may have been meant to protect you against, did it?  Or did it also send a message that you did not trust your employees or did not think they were adults.

This be the right time to look at your policies and see whether you really need them all. Think of it as spring cleaning. Which ones […]

By |March 24th, 2014|Communications, Policies and Practices, values|0 Comments
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Giving up ‘Always On’

Saw a short article recently stating about 17% of people who participate in giving something up for Lent were reducing their social media time and turning off their smartphones for periods each day. Whether you could actually manage to do this or not, it raises interesting questions.

How do you grow and run your business successfully when you do not make time for uninterrupted thought and planning? Many successful CEOs schedule regular time for such work and give it their undivided attention.

What legals risks do you take, without thinking, if you are given to emailing your employees outside normal work hours? Worse yet, what is this doing to your employees’ creativity and engagement?

Research shows that multi-tasking is a myth. Our brains love the feeling of being important which being always connected provides. But they do not function effectively when doing more than one thing at a time, even though most of us believe we are being more effective!

What message are you giving to others when you check messages during a meeting? A meal? An event? If you do not respect their time and are not committed enough to pay full attention, why are you there?

OK, I can and do shut always-on connections down regularly. Can you? Do you? Now, can I give up mindless TV late each night….

By |March 14th, 2014|Communications, culture, productivity|0 Comments
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How Can I Help You?

I was appointed to the Virginia Small Business Development Center’s Advisory Board and am quite honored. One of our roles has to do with enhancing outreach. What does this mean to you and your organization?

Do you know about the many services available through your local SBDC? Do you attend events there to meet people who might be good business connections? Or go to learn critical information to your success?

I have worked for several years with the Alexandria SBDC to provide free seminars on critical HR topics for small businesses and non-profits. Last year they began offering their clients a free hour of my time to discuss HR issues – and we have covered a wild (and wide) range. They offer many other such free seminars and events covering social media, marketing, health-care reform, and business planning.
If you are interested in learning more, do contact your local SBDC and see what they can do for your organization! If you are interested in specific issues which might be a good focus for the SBDCs across Virginia, let me know. I look forward to helping small organizations benefit from SBDC services. And to representing small organizations, solopreneurs, and veterans to the Virginia SBDC.

By |March 10th, 2014|networking, Small Biz, Small Business Development Centers|0 Comments
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HR Tips for 2014

Just had a great group at an Alexandria SBDC seminar on HR, lots of good questions and networking. One of the first discussions was the usefulness of an HR calendar. Take an annual calendar from any system you use regularly and:

Add in all legal compliance dates that apply to your business. These include due dates for getting out W-2 and 1099 forms, OSHA logs, EEO reports if you are covered.
Put on your benefits policy renewal or due dates if you offer benefits. Figure in when you will do open enrollment.
Look at your planned hiring for the year – and work backwards to when you need to start your process to fill each position. Put that on your calendar.
Schedule regular employee communications. Whether you write a short email or do a formal newsletter or just a ‘state of the business’ note – regular communications of what is going on, what your goals are, customer/client information are critical. Having them on your calendar helps you do them on-time.

Other things you might want to add include company events, payroll dates, pay reviews, employee recognition dates.

This calendar will help keep you focused on upcoming needs for your attention and action. That reduces your stress and helps cut last second goat-ropes. This is a simple process that pays big.

Be sure you keep the calendar somewhere where you see it regularly. And can use it easily. That may be in any format or method that works for you. But do try it for a year and you will discover how useful it really is.

By |January 16th, 2014|Communications, HR, productivity|0 Comments
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Smart HR Moves for 2014

Come join me for a great discussion at the Alexandria Small Business Development Center. We will talk about easy ways to tame your HR challenges.  This will include some simple solutions, ideas for creating a pro-active employee communication process, and provide compliance deadlines you need to know for your calendar and planning.  Whether you have employees or sub-contractors or independent contractors – or just want to get ready to grow,  this program can help.

And SBDC events are a great way to grow your network too.   Plus the price is right – free.

Just register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/managing-your-employees-smart-moves-for-success-in-2014-registration-9816745149

By |January 3rd, 2014|Communications, HR, networking, Small Biz|0 Comments
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