It’s amazing but somehow we’ve seen summer fly by and Fall is right around the corner.  Over the past couple of months hopefully everyone took some time to enjoy the great summer weather and to reflect on how they can improve their business going forward.
While the various components of human resources are not obvious revenue generators, the “people” that HR encompasses are!  Staying on top of how your business is growing and what infrastructure is required to facilitate this growth is critical to your success.  In August we looked at ways to automate and streamline the HR functions within your company.  We also talked about training, developing and rewarding your staff.
As you look at how you will meet your 2009 company goals with only 4 months left this year, it is critical that you re-engage your workforce with new energy and drive in order to get you there.  July and August are typically a slower time of the year for most companies and most of us do lose some of our drive during the lazy days of summer.  Now is the time to make sure that you are communicating your own enthusiasm, vision and goals to everyone on your team.  If they don’t know where you want them to go, they can’t help you get there.  Provide them with a great “roadmap”.  Set the goals and then make sure that everyone has the support and tools that they need to get there!

Sandra Reder

Managing Partner

Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting

www.verticalbridge.ca

The function of Human Resource departments is generally administrative and common to all organizations. Organizations may have formalized selection, evaluation, and payroll processes. Efficient and effective management of “Human Capital” has progressed to an increasingly imperative and complex process. The HR function consists of tracking existing employee data which traditionally includes personal histories, skills, capabilities, accomplishments and salary. To reduce the manual workload of these administrative activities, many organizations are electronically automating many of these processes by introducing specialized Human Resource Management Systems.  Currently Human Resource Management Systems encompass:
1.    Payroll
2.    Work Time
3.    Benefits Administration
4.    HR management Information system
5.    Recruiting
6.    Training/Learning Management System
7.    Performance Records
Many organizations have gone beyond the traditional functions and developed human resource management information systems, which support recruitment, selection; hiring, job placement, performance appraisals, employee benefit analysis, health, safety and security, while others integrate an outsourced Applicant Tracking System that encompasses a subset of the above.
There are many different products out there in the marketplace that allow an employer to do some or all of the above functions.  Automating your HR can be an efficient and cost effective way to manage one of your most valuable assets – your people!

Sandra Reder

Managing Partner

Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting

www.verticalbridge.ca

Being an entrepreneur myself I know the hardest thing to do is to let go and leave your “baby” behind.  Who’s going to take care of things while you’re away?

This is the reality that many entrepreneurs have to deal with (myself included).  Recent statistics show that one of the main reasons people take a job is because the potential employer offers learning and growth opportunities to their employees.  This is especially true of the Gen Y’s.

Learning and growth comes in many shapes and sizes.  You can send people out to take courses.  You can bring in trainers to train your employees on specific things like sales, communication skills, team building etc.  Or you can tap into their strengths and give them an opportunity to handle something that you do that they normally wouldn’t be responsible for.  Empowering your employees to take on new and interesting challenges is a great way to ensure that they are able to contribute and learn while working for you.  It also tells them that you trust them with the business.

Reassigning some of your responsibilities to others requires some preplanning on your part.  You will need to identify key strengths within your team and how they align with some of the things that you are currently responsible for.  Then you begin to train and develop those people.  Start doing this today and soon you’ll be in a position to free yourself up so that you can focus your efforts on business building activities or taking a well deserved vacation.

Sandra Reder
Managing Partner
Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting
www.verticalbridge.ca

Recently we had a client ask us to help her recruit a couple of solid sales people to help her grow her business and free up her time to focus on her company’s big picture strategy.  We discussed the roles she wanted to fill and why she wanted to fill them.  She told us that she is overwhelmed in her role.  Currently she is responsible for all of the business development for her company as well as numerous other areas within the business (what entrepreneur isn’t?!) She recognizes that in order to grow she needs to bring in some solid sales talent.  Good decision!

She was adamant that the people she wanted had to come from within her industry and they had to be able to bring clients with them.  While this is not an unreasonable expectation, what transpired next was.  We started to discuss her expectations and it was clear that they were not realistic.  She was not prepared to offer any training or orientation to the new hires (she was too busy).  She felt that these people should just “jump in” and get things done and she was going to give them 2 weeks to prove themselves.  If they couldn’t bring in business within the first 2 weeks then she wasn’t going to keep them. Well we all know that there are very few sales cycles that close within a 2 week period.  She was setting everyone up to fail (including herself).

She was burning out and she told us she couldn’t remember when she last took a vacation.  We explained to her that time invested in the training and proper orientation of her new hires today, would pay off in the long run and enable her to focus on her business strategy and to take that elusive vacation.

Have realistic expectations of the people who work for you and don’t set yourself (and others) up to fail.  Know what you want as an outcome from your people and create a plan to get everyone there.   Invest the time today and take that elusive vacation tomorrow!

Sandra Reder
Managing Partner
Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting
www.verticalbridge.ca
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As our companies grow we find that the day-to-day administrative requirements to keep them going grow as well.  When you are adding to your team this invariably causes additional paperwork.  This includes everything from developing great onboarding practices and materials, to ensuring that all the forms that are required by government are completed and submitted in a timely fashion.

It’s important to assess what you do well and what you should look at outsourcing.  Most successful entrepreneurs are successful because they are clear about where their strengths lie and they know what they should pass along to others.  There are a number of great HR firms and consultants out there that will take on your human resource responsibilities enabling you to focus on building your business.  They can handle everything including recruiting, creating onboarding programs, performance management programs, mentoring programs and policy and procedures manuals.  There are also firms that will handle all of your payrolling needs including government remittances and year-end T4 preparation.

Outsource what you don’t need to do and focus on what you love to do… build and grow your business!

Sandra Reder
Managing Partner
Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting
www.verticalbridge.ca

The sun’s shining and everyone’s enjoying the lazy days of summer but all too soon we will be buying school supplies again and pulling out the long sleeved sweaters.  Recently I’ve been speaking with a number of our corporate clients and many have indicated that they will be ramping up their businesses again in the Fall.  Now may be a good time for you to think about your business … who you will need onboard to help you drive your business forward.

Once you’ve determined where the business is going, you will need to consider who will help you get there.  If you need to add to your team, figure out what positions you’ll need to fill and share this with your current employees.  Ask them to think about who they know and to keep an eye out for these types of people in their own networks.  Let them know that you want to recognize their efforts by offering them a referral bonus for every successful hire.  Make sure you lay out the terms of the referral bonus program so that there is no confusion upon implementation.

Referral bonuses come in all shapes and sizes.  They can be everything from extra vacation days to gift certificates to restaurants and retailers.  Some companies offer their employees cash incentives.  A caution here; if you are going to offer cash incentives make sure they are aligned with the level of position you are looking to fill.  Offering someone $100 as a referral bonus is not going to incent anyone.  Cash bonuses are typically paid out after the new referred employee has completed their probationary period of employment.

Remember that good people know good people.  Offering a referral bonus to a current employee who introduces you to a great new employee is a wonderful incentive.  It will engage your existing team in the business.  They will feel they’ve had a part in building the company with you.

Sandra Reder
Managing Partner
Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting
www.verticalbridge.ca

Most of us tend to spend a lot more time out of doors in the summer, hiking, biking, playing tennis and socializing.  Ah those summer barbeques… there’s nothing like a juicy burger with a fresh corn on the cob!

This coming weekend I’m off to a summer party on Vancouver Island and the hostess is expecting 65+ people to attend.  I think I know 5 of them!  This will be a great opportunity for me to have some fun, but it will also allow me to meet 60 new potential friends and champions.  Many times when I am looking for great candidates to fill an open position we are working on for one of our clients the best people come through my personal and professional contacts as referrals.

While summer activities and parties are a great way to build business contacts and sales,  they also provide you access to people who you might not meet through traditional recruiting methods but may be looking for a great career opportunity!

Have fun and keep your ears and eyes open.   Your next superstar sales person may be noshing on a piece of corn right next to you!

Sandra Reder, CPC
Managing Partner
Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting
www.verticalbridge.ca

Lately there has been a lot of news in the media that Western Canada is seeing the first signs of economic recovery.  Housing sales and starts are up, unemployment numbers in June were significantly lower than predicted and companies are starting to hire again.

Summer is traditionally a slower time of year for most companies and this year with the economic slow down it has given us all time to pause and reflect on how we do business and whether or not this is getting us the results we are looking for.  Now is a great time to take a close look at your business from an HR perspective in order to ensure that you are ready for the upturn in the market.

Some of the things companies should be looking at are:

• Do you have the right people in the right jobs?

• Do you have enough people to get the work done when the economy shifts forward again?

• Are you compensating your people at fair market value?  There was a skilled labor shortage prior to the economic downturn and that shortage will be a reality again as the economy improves.  Now’s the time to access talent that would normally be very difficult to find.

• Do you have the right human resource systems, policies and practices in place?

Spend some time now while things are still relatively quiet and make sure that you are ready to hit the ground running in the Fall!

Sandra Reder
Managing Partner
Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting
www.verticalbridge.ca

With all the talk of retaining your top performers during these tough economic times now is a great time to look at ways to do this.  With the warm, sunny weather upon us, there are a few things you can do to say thanks to those who work so hard for you all year round.

• Have a tailgate party in the parking lot of your office – bring in a barbeque, hot dogs, hamburgers and all the trimmings and invite all your staff on a sunny Friday afternoon.

• Throw a company picnic for staff and their families.

• Host a pool party for everyone.

• Buy tickets to a Vancouver Canadians game for all your staff.  They’re very reasonably priced and it’s a fun event for everyone to participate in.

• Alternate Friday afternoons off in the summer.  Have half you staff take one Friday afternoon off and the other half take the next one.  You are still able to operate your business but your staff will really appreciate the little bit of extra time off (and Friday afternoons during the summer are often very quiet).

• Run contests for your staff and reward the winners with gift certificates or tickets to some fun summer events i.e. the Jazz Festival, Bard on the Beach, etc.  This is also a way to motivate your teams to give the business that extra little push during the slower season.

While we all know that we should be acknowledging our staff year round; summer is typically a slower time of the year for most businesses so some of these rewards are more easily implemented.

If you make your business a fun place to work now, the rewards will be tenfold as we move into the final quarter of this year.  Your people will go the extra mile for you when things get busy again.  Remember you can either love them or lose them.

Sandra Reder
Managing Partner
Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting
www.verticalbridge.ca

We’ve talked before about whether or not the skilled labor shortage is over and the reality is that it is not!  In many areas there is still a supply and demand issue for mid to senior level people.

So how do you find the best people in today’s job market?  Here are some key things that you should be doing.

• Always keep your website careers section current.  A dated website with old job postings sends out a big red flag to potential employees.  It says you are a company that doesn’t follow through.

• Target post secondary institutions that train the type of people you’re looking for.  They often have job posting boards for their students and alumni.

• Create an employee referral program within your company.  Great people know great people.  There are many ways you can reward your existing employees for their referrals; cash, gift certificates, time off etc.

• Utilize industry or career specific websites for posting available positions.

• Build a relationship with a good recruiting firm that understands your business and works collaboratively with you on each search.

• Ensure that you have a presence at job fairs that are applicable to your industry.

• Be active in any associations that you belong to.  They are a great way to network and meet great potential employees.

• Virtual recruiting/career fairs.  This is a new technology but it is starting to gain some traction in the market place as companies look for new and innovative ways to reach a large audience.

• Social networking sites like LinkedIn and Plaxo as well as Facebook and MySpace can be great ways to connect with potential employees.

The trick to finding the best people is to target the type of people you want working for you and then figure out where they are most likely to be.

Happy Recruiting!

Sandra Reder
Managing Partner
Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting
www.verticalbridge.ca