CENTRAL NOVA BUSINESS NEWS: BDC ARTICLE

Title: Getting the most out of your employees

Experts say that businesses’ most valuable assets are not desks, computers or production equipment – it is their people. But attracting and retaining competent employees, and getting them to perform at the highest level is hard. Central Nova Business News recently asked Tanya Sieliakus, a  managing partner at HP Pros, who  trains some  of the Business Development Bank of Canada’s most promising clients, about how to optimize human relations strategies.

CNBN: What are some of the best practices in finding and retaining top talent?

TS: There has been much talk about a labour shortage, but what we are seeing is better described as a “skills shortage.” Many Canadians are looking for work.  But they don’t all have the education and experience to handle the highly specialized jobs that are increasingly being created. That said, businesses shouldn’t fall in the trap of hiring simply based on credentials. Managers need to ensure that potential employees fit in with existing corporate cultures. For example if your company has a fluctuating work week, hiring someone who is used to working 9:00 to 5:00 may not be the best fit.

CNBN: What are some things that managers can do to ensure peak performance?

TS: The most important consideration is to make sure that everybody is working together as a team. That means ensuring that tasks and goals are defined and that performance is formally reviewed. Too often employees are left alone to do their jobs and the only feedback they get is when something goes wrong. A formal performance review process gives managers a chance to provide feedback about all aspects of an employee’s work, both positive and negative. For worst-case scenarios, a formal review process also creates a paper trail in case disciplinary action or even employee termination is required at some future point.

CNBN: What is a company’s role in keeping its employees’ skill sets up to date?

TS. The business world is changing all the time. If your employees aren’t keeping up, the whole company risks falling behind. Businesses need to look at employee training as a long-term money maker. Sadly, many of them regard training as an expense.  As a result, they tend to overly focus on hiring employees with new skills, rather than on developing them internally. That’s a big mistake, because new employees run a bigger risk of leaving than do current employees who are already comfortable with the way your business works.

CNBN: What are your thoughts regarding succession planning?

TS. Effective succession planning is a huge potential money maker. Close to 85 percent of all businesses in Nova Scotia have less than 50 employees, yet many of the entrepreneurs that run them keep all of the most important information in their heads. That means when they bow out, entrepreneurs tend to end up merely selling the company’s assets rather than by selling the business as a going concern. The only way that a potential buyer can get full value for his purchase is if the owner passes on the bulk of his knowledge, his skills and his contacts, to existing employees. Getting that done requires an effective succession strategy.

CNBN: At some point it becomes clear that things will not work out with a given employee. What are some best practices in the area of progressive discipline and termination?

TS. One of the biggest issues for small businesses is legal compliance. Entrepreneurs, - many of whom put in exceptional energy into their companies - are far less tolerant of employees who do not pull their own weight than are line managers in bigger firms. Under the law, managers who have troubles with an employee have an obligation to inform that employee and to give him (or her) a chance to remedy the situation. Today’s workers are extremely savvy and well aware of their rights. If a company does not follow the proper procedures, it could end up explaining its actions to the Department of Labour or the Department of Human Rights. The resulting bad publicity could impact their recruiting efforts down the line.

CNBN: What do human resources professionals need to know about health and safety issues?

TS: It goes without saying Nova Scotians rightly expect that they should be able to go to work knowing that they are safe from injury and illness on the job. But what many smaller companies don’t yet fully grasp is how much an effective health and safety record can contribute to the bottom line. For example businesses are required under law to produce a Corporate Safety Statement and if they do not do so they could be fined. Furthermore, Workers Compensation Board premiums can be surprisingly large in many industries, often rising into the double digits as a percentage over overall salaries. More important though, if your company has an enviable record those premiums can go down. But the opposite can happen too.

·          How to attract and retain competent and dedicated employees;

·          Learn to deal with problem employees and avoid legal issues;

·          Discover how simple tools can impact on performance and your bottom line; and

·          How to motivate team members.

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