New Year, New Plan for Small-Business HR

employees New Year, New Plan for Small Business HR Here are several excerpts from an interesting article by the Associated Press, New Year, New Plan for Small-Business HR:

January can provide a fresh start for everyone in a company.

Small-business owners should think about sitting down now with employees to discuss what is expected of them in the coming year. They should also take the time to create or re-evaluate policies for vacation and other time off, and re-examine the benefits they offer.

“Do an overall check of your [human-resource] procedures” in January, suggests Rob Wilson, president of Employco, a Chicago-based human-resources firm.

Many companies are setting their annual budgets in January, and determining staffing levels should be an integral part of that process. But owners should be looking at more than numbers — they need to think about whether they have the right people in the right jobs.

That is where meeting with workers one by one is critical. “Help them set goals individually and parlay them into corporate goals,” Mr. Wilson says.

Conversations with workers should be two-way. “Take a survey of employees about what they think of things,” says Rick Gibbs, a senior human-resources specialist with Administaff, a Houston company that provides human-resources outsourcing. But, he warns, “it’s important not to do that unless there’s an intention to act” in response to staffers’ concerns.

Another good idea: hold group staff meetings, and consider a schedule of meetings throughout the year.

Also, take a look at your time-off policies.

Your policies need to be written down, too, ideally as part of an employee handbook. These documents detail not just vacation time, but sick and disability time, leave for jury duty or military service, disciplinary procedures, dress codes, etc.

You can search online for “employee handbook.” The U.S. Small Business Administration has a good overview here.

There are also books that can help you create a handbook, and you can get advice from a retired human-resource executive free of charge by contacting SCORE, an organization of retired business people via their web site by calling 1-800-634-0245.