combat the high cost of healthcare

6 Proven Ways to Combat the High Cost of Health Care

Of all the different expenses a business must pay, employee health care continues to be one of the highest. While there's the direct cost of contributions toward employee health care coverage that most employers make, there's also the indirect cost of sick workers.

Health care is especially difficult to cover during a time of rising health care costs.

Read More
social media for business

Why I use social media for business

We've all heard the quote, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." It's another way of saying that you don't get something for nothing. As someone trying to grow my business, I'm well aware of this, as I'm sure you are too. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to assist with the huge challenge of running a business.

Read More
attract and retain the best

How to recruit and retain the best people

Is it better to have hired a quality employee and lost them than never to have hired at all?

Businesses invest a lot of time and money in hiring great employees, and even more time and money training them. As a result, replacing employees who quit is not just disruptive to your business, but it’s an expensive proposition.

Read More
How voluntary benefits can save you money

How voluntary benefits can save you money

Every workplace is unique. So is every person who works in it. And each employee has different wants, needs, and ambitions.

Take a look at the employees in your workplace. One might be young and single. The person sitting next to her might be a father in his thirties with young children. Across from them? A married woman in her fifties who runs marathons and has three dogs.

Read More
How to promote your benefits package

How to promote your benefits package

According to a report from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 68 percent of HR professionals are experiencing difficulty recruiting candidates for full-time positions. While some are having trouble finding skilled workers, another common issue is figuring out how to adequately promote what the company has to offer. If candidates do not know your company is a great place to work, they’ll take a job offer from another company that is effectively promoting its benefits package.

Read More
5 recruitment ideas to learn from big businesses

5 recruitment ideas to learn from big businesses

As a small business owner, I know it can sometimes be daunting to try and go up against the big boys, especially when it comes to hiring the right people.

Their slick HR teams, big budgets, and endless employee benefits might seem out of your company's reach. But there are a few lessons we can learn from big businesses when it comes to recruiting our next team member.

Read More
The fastest 6 ways to kill employee morale

The fastest 6 ways to kill employee morale

Employee morale is a tricky topic for any business owner. It can be hard to build, difficult to measure, and unfortunately all too easy to kill.

So many things can affect morale that it can be a difficult one to get right. Non-work related issues that your workers are dealing with and how well they're being supported can also affect how they feel within the workplace.

Read More
Improve Employee Satisfaction with These 10 Low-Cost Perks

Improve Employee Satisfaction with These 10 Low-Cost Perks

Most organizations offer similar types of employee benefits: health care insurance, vacation and sick time. Often what differentiates a benefits package are the perks.

An example might be giving an employee a company car but not every employer can offer premium perks. But, there are many low-cost ways to provide something great for your employees.

Here are 10 examples of low-cost perks organizations should consider implementing.

Read More
5 tough conversations to have with employees

5 tough conversations to have with employees

There are lots of amazing things about being the boss, but it does occasionally come with some downsides and, for me, these include having to have tough conversations with my employees. Normally I’m pretty informal and like to think that I get on with my team really well, which makes it even harder when I have to put on my ‘boss’ hat and have an official conversation with someone.

Read More
9 powerfully simple ways to build an engaged workforce

9 powerfully simple ways to build an engaged workforce

As an employer, it may be surprising to learn that most employees are not engaged in their work and don’t consistently give their best efforts. According to the most recent Gallup State of the American Workplace report, just 33 percent of U.S. employees are engaged at work. The remaining 67 percent are either disengaged from their jobs or actively disengaged – meaning they are a negative influence on those around them.

Read More