EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: NOT FOR BIG BUSINESS ALONE

Many small business owners think of formal employee performance management as "overkill" administrative activities that they can put off until their business gets bigger. After all, you spend every day working closely with your employees. Why should you implement a formal process that adds administrative burden and stress? 

Actually, a good deal of research shows that effective employee performance management enhances employee morale and performance, and helps drive better business results. As a small business, you likely can’t afford to ignore any program that is proven to help you better run your business. And it isn’t as hard as it may seem. 

3 Basic Performance Management Practices 

There are three basic performance management practices every company, regardless of its size, should have in place to gain advantages in human capital.

1. Individual Goals Linked to Organizational Goals 

Developing a business plan and strategy with goals and milestones is an accepted business practice that most small businesses employ. You can take this strategy a giant leap forward by tying your employees’ efforts to your business strategy. You can do this by helping them plan individual goals that support your larger business goals and by clearly defining what you need them to know and do to achieve them. 

 

For Example: If your overall strategy is to position your business as a leader in customer service, your receptionist might have a goal of answering the telephone on the first ring. Your field service representatives may have a goal of reducing equipment down time by 20%. And your customer service representative may have a goal of responding to complaints within 2 hours.

Cause and Consequence

Cause and Consequence

It’s important to remember that there are implications for gathering this type of personal information, whether or not the information is publicly available online or is available online with limited access to “friends” or other allowed individuals. 

 

What if you find out that a candidate is pregnant on a Facebook status update? Does that raise the risk of a human rights complaint being filed even if the decision not to hire was based on lack of training? What if you make a decision based on completely inaccurate information? What if you did not obtain the consent of the potential employee for such a search and a complaint is made to the Privacy Commissioner?

 

Think of the consequences of your actions and the risks you are creating for your business.

Minimizing the Risks

To minimize the risk of improper use and the resulting penalties for this use, it is important to have in place clear policies of when a personal search would be necessary and how those searches will be conducted. The policy should specify what information you intend to look for, including the steps you would take to confirm the accuracy of the information, how you will produce the information if required, and when you will destroy the information that was collected.

Find Out More

In October 2011, the Information & Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia released a publication to help you understand your responsibilities when using social media. It will also help you understand how to develop a privacy policy and answers Frequently Asked Questions of what is, and is not, allowed when hiring a new employee.

 

The publication, entitled “Guidelines for Social Media Background Checks” can be found at www.oipc.bc.ca under “Resources for Businesses and Organizations”

GUIDELINES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA BACKGROUND CHECKS

Have you ever Googled a candidate you’ve interviewed to find out more about his or her background? Or considered checking LinkedIn, Facebook or other social media platforms to find out more about him or her? Stop! If you are conducting internet searches to gather information about potential or existing employees or volunteers, you are collecting and using personal information subject to privacy laws.

The Legislation 

As a private company, the privacy of your employees or prospective employees, is regulated under either the provincial or federal privacy legislation. Most business are provincially regulated meaning that the Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”) applies. If you are a federally regulated company, such as a shipping or telephone company,  the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) applies.

 

This legislation was established to strike a balance between an individual’s right to control collection, use and access to their personal information, with a businesses’ need to collect and use the information for legitimate and reasonable purposes. 

 

Personal information included in this legislation includes:

• Name, age, weight, height
• Home address and phone number
• Race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation
• Medical information
• Income, purchases and spending habits
• Blood type, DNA code, fingerprints
• Marital status and religion
• Education
• Employment information

PIPA gives the individual the right to see, and ask for corrections to personal information that you may have about them. 

Spread some holiday cheer

Spread some holiday cheer. Another alternative to the holiday office party is planning a group event focused on volunteering or charitable giving. Volunteering as a group is not only a great way to give back to the community but it provides an opportunity to encourage teambuilding and strengthen relationships among employees.

 

5. Keep holiday stress in check. While the holidays can mean relaxation for some, the holiday season can be the busiest time of year for some small businesses owners. Excessive overtime hours to meet year-end goals, financial pressures and calendars overscheduled with holiday parties and commitments are a recipe for stress. There are a number of ways you can support employees during this busy and sometimes overwhelming time of year. Encourage employees to take their allotted vacation time and implement policies that promote flexibility within day-to-day work days. Consider scheduling holiday events or parties within work hours, as evenings fill up quickly with family commitments, shopping and errands. 

 

A great tool to help you get started with workplace wellness is WellnessFits. The program is a free comprehensive workplace wellness program that is a partnership of the Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon and the Province of British Columbia’s Healthy Families BC initiative.

 

The team behind WellnessFits is looking for small BC businesses (under 50 employees) to participate in a survey looking into new training tools and resources that would be helpful for businesses wanting to implement the WellnessFits program in their workplaces. Contact information provided during the survey will only be used if you wish to learn more about the WellnessFits program.

 

You may complete this quick survey online by clicking here. 

 

As a thank you for completing the survey, the WellnessFits team will send you a free starter kit including items that can be used to support workplace wellness activities, such as pedometers, and tips to help you get started with your own workplace wellness program. 

PROVIDING A HEALTHY, HAPPY WORKPLACE

Providing a healthy, supportive workplace can be challenging around the holiday season with the added stress of year-end deadlines, financial pressures, an abundance of unhealthy holiday treats, and schedules overloaded with work, family and social commitments. 

Here are five tips to help you and your employees enjoy a happy, healthy holiday season:

 

1. Give the gift of health. Instead of the usual box of chocolates, give gifts that your employees or co-workers will not only enjoy but feel good about using. Potted plants or a healthy cookbook are a great alternative to calorie-laden treats. Or, for larger gifts, consider giving gift cards to a produce store, farmer’s market, sporting goods store or a spa. Setting spending limits on gifts or organizing a Secret Santa can help relieve some of the financial burden of gift-giving.

 

2. Combine physical activity with your traditional office holiday party. Instead of the typical holiday party at a restaurant or bar, why not come up with a fun physical activity that will provide employees with the opportunity to be active. Try a new winter activity such as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing or ice skating. Or, if it’s too cold (or too rainy!), play indoors. Bowling or skating at an indoor rink are great affordable options.

 

3. Provide healthy options.  Around this time of year, staff lunch rooms get filled with all sorts of unhealthy foods high in fat, sugar, and calories. Foods high in fat and sugar can make you feel like crawling under your desk for a mid-afternoon nap. Encourage employees to leave the unhealthy treats at home or provide some balance by offering healthier choices for employees such as a bowl of fruit, tray of veggies and low fat dip or dried fruit and nuts. 

There has been

There has been a lot of press lately about embarrassing online mistakes that have cost individuals and businesses significantly in reputation and credibility. 

The internet has brought an incredible amount of transparency to business dealings, meaning small business owners can no longer afford to ignore what’s going on and what people are saying about them. Whether you pay attention or not, there are conversations happening about you and your business online. Have you taken the steps to protect its online reputation?  

 

Here are 5 basic steps to protect your small business reputation on the web…

1. Give Your Customers a (Great) Place to Go

Make sure you have a well designed website; it’s the foundation of all your online communications. A poorly designed or unpleasant website experience can really tarnish your reputation. Customers are becoming more web savvy and will make a decision about the credibility of your business upon first glance at your website. 

 

Your website should be a place that welcomes customer feedback and interaction. Ask customers for their opinion: and respond. Provide your customers with different ways to get in touch with you: a contact form, an email address, a phone number. And make sure that this contact information is easy to find. 

 

If you make it hard to be contacted or don’t answer, you run the risk of an angry customer publicly commenting on their experience. 

2. Own Your Online Real Estate

Have you claimed your business on major online directories, such as Google Places, Trip Advisor, OpenTable and Yelp?  As mentioned inGoogle Places Update: What it Means for Small Business, 93 per cent of consumers look to the web to find a local business, therefore if you’re not listed it might be a red flag that you’re not a credible business. 

 

Don’t get confused if you are already listed in a directory.  Many directories grab information from business websites to create a basic listing without you knowing it. Even if you are already listed in this way, take time to check that the information is correct, that it is complete and that there are no negative reviews which customers can see that you have not responded to. 

 

Once you have listed yourself on these directories, make a careful note of their locations and details and be sure to check back regularly to respond to any comments, positive or negative.