A Practical Tailored Approach to
I can think of a ton of reasons why every small business should have an HR expert on speed dial. One reason is that your people are are a key business differentiator for you. Another is that it is critical to ensure your employees, the “face” of your company, are the best and most engaged around. And I know that people can be a strategic priority for impacting your bottom line. I get it. Those Read the full article…
On November 16, 2016
Your start-up is a success. You are now facing an exciting challenge. Scaling up. In the first post of the ‘Delegate in order to Scale your Business’ series, I reminded you that the bottleneck is always at the top. To scale up you will need to delegate tasks, or functions, or perhaps both to unclog the bottle. So, what should you be thinking about as you prepare to make the handover? Start with yourself. You Read the full article…
On July 5, 2018
Its often the case that entrepreneurs like to operate on their own. Understandable for sure. And it’s a pretty big step, and a bit scary, to bring someone else into the inner sanctum. Delegating can be tough but it is a ‘must have’ if you want to scale your business. When its just you and perhaps a few others, you are doing it all. You are the head of marketing, sales, IT, finance, accounting, Read the full article…
On June 16, 2018
The Alberta HR Trends Report put out by the Human Resources Institute of Alberta in March indicates that the cost of turnover has gone up significantly over the past year, from $16,790 to $22,600. Not surprising given the amount of lay-offs and the inevitable severance pay that employers provide. But the costs include more than just severance. Things like legislated notice requirements, the time required to manage the departure, the time and money to recruit Read the full article…
On April 7, 2017
There are hints everywhere that the economy is beginning its slow recovery. I’ve been seeing some business activity that makes me think its true, particularly in the number of recruiting conversations I’ve been having recently. From an HR perspective getting prepared for a recovery is very smart. And certainly, thinking about recruiting is exciting. But thinking about how you are going to retain top talent is perhaps even more important. Over the past year or Read the full article…
On March 6, 2017
As small business owners we often worry that we can’t offer enough salary or fabulous health and dental benefits to attract talent away from big business. But remember, not everyone is in it for the money. And I would argue that there are lots of people working in big companies that would be happy to trade their large salaries and “cog in the wheel” jobs for something better. What you really need to do is get Read the full article…
On January 7, 2017
Nobody likes feedback. It is almost always associated with judgement, its usually negative and in many cases it creates a feeling of conflict. It has become a dirty word, not just at work but in many aspects of our lives. In most cases giving feedback is really code for “I don’t like something you are doing and want you to stop”. So why not take a new approach? Why not try ‘feedforward’? To improve performance, try Read the full article…
On April 4, 2016
Most managers take a lot of time and expend a lot of energy in ensuring that they have done their due diligence when deciding to terminate a poor performing employee. Important stuff for sure. Paying some attention to the actual termination meeting itself is also important but often overlooked. The goal should be to get through the meeting without anyone feeling tortured or beat up, and with all parties leaving with their dignity intact. Here Read the full article…
On November 25, 2015
The CEO of a small company I have been working with was interested in what his employees were thinking and whether there were any hot button issues that could be resolved in order to keep his team engaged. The organization had just doubled in size, from 11 to 24 in less than six months, and was continuing to grow. The CEO knew that retention of his current high performing team was critical to achieve some incredibly top Read the full article…
On June 9, 2015