Business Management

Business Staffing Options

 

There are several issues to be reviewed when determining how a business should hire replacement staff. Here are a few considerations.





1. Permanent or Contract help?
• Staffs usually provide more continuity and stability but add to cost due to employment taxes and         perhaps benefit programs.
• Staffs may provide the advantage of employee loyalty and an edge in more positive morale and           productivity.
• Contract people can be terminated at any time negating the costs of severance programs.
• Contracting can add flexibility by allowing the adding or deleting of staff as demand requires.
• Hire a contract person as a temp. If the person works out you can make the job    
         permanent.

2. Promote from within or add new employee?
• Promoting from within does enhance employee morale and loyalty to the company. Employees           who see the company as interested in career development and loyal to staff tend to make a                   greater effort in supporting company goals and success.
• Introducing new employees from the outside does provide a fresh approach to some positions             and can re-energize the company. Also, securing new outside talent may reduce the cost of                   training and development of current staff.

3. Full time vs part time staffing
• Businesses should be careful not to add staff too soon. Temp or part time staff can be used as the         business grows and changes to permanent positions can be made as the business matures.
• If the business has seasonal peaks and valleys, use of part time staff provides the flexibility to             adjust to demand.
• In some situations, job sharing can provide the opportunity to maintain a larger pool of                         employees who are familiar with the work but prefer to work part-time.
• Let growth, profitability, and demand dictate when to expand permanent staff.

I hope these ideas provide a little insight into options for staffing as the organization grows.

Keys to Succession Planning

You can only be the “superhero” in the business for so long. Succession Planning is a purposeful and systematic effort within the business to ensure leadership continuity, retain and develop knowledge, create sustainability, and encourage employee growth and development.


Here are a few thoughts to help with planning:

1. Structure
What will the chain of command look like when a key executive or owner leaves the business? If the owner drives the business do the managers inheriting that role understand the depth of work the owner did? The relationships developed and maintained? How decisions were made?

2. Business Organization
This is the nuts and bolts of how you are going to handle the transition. Everything from transfers of ownership to identifying key management roles needs to be outlined and planned. The most important part of the plan is to ensure key people have enough time to ease into their new roles.

3. Continuity
Succession Planning is about continuing to identify the Stars in the business that will support the business mission and continue to deliver value that the current ownership has spent a lifetime developing. It is important to identify and refine key positions in the business and develop depth in the manager pool as the business grows. Successful succession planning happens when key employees fully embrace their roles and owners or other key managers are able to transition out of the business.

4. Benefits
Succession Planning is more than just protecting your business, it’s creating a legacy. Succession planning has the power to transform how a business manages the future of its talent base at all levels to positively impact bottom line results. Done well, it drives ongoing, proactive dialogue among owners, senior executives and other managers that identifies and tracks individual talent in key positions. The organization can then put key contributors on a growth path where they can be most valuable to the company.

I hope the thoughts help develop your business and provide insight into the benefits of looking forward to planning a way to ensure continuity of the business. Please let me know your thoughts; gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Need Coaching?

As a business grows owners may be in a position of managing more and more areas of the business that they are less familiar with. The owner’s original background may be manufacturing but now oversees finance, sales and HR issues.




An experienced business advisor may help develop these skills and improve decision making as the business grows.

Here are a few examples of situations where a coach may help:

1. Development of managerial skills for owners or senior managers.

2. Refocusing management to a strategic vision and plan.

3. An objective business performance review of results against planned objectives.

4. Improving operations by reviewing decision making processes and staff communications.

An independent coach can facilitate change with some of these issues if the environment welcomes an outside, fresh perspective. If the process is not welcomed by all participants the results will be more than counterproductive so owners should proceed carefully to ensure success.

I hope these few thoughts help as you develop and grow your business. Let me know what you think. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com.