Managing Employees and HR

Engaging From Afar

SBOCTeam — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:49:00 GMT

Keeping remote employees engaged can be a difficult task for a small business owner. But when managed well, your off-site employees can be just as productive as the ones you see every day.

by Max Berry

Sometime during the 20th century, the water cooler assumed a crucial position in the American office-it became a trading post not only for gossip and recaps of last night's television shows, but also for ideas and advice. With a growing number of 21st-century employees working remotely, the water cooler is a quieter place, its role more often filled by e-mail and instant messaging, videoconferences and webinars. Trading ideas used to be simpler, but that doesn't mean your small business has to endure a communication breakdown. Here are a few ways to keep your remote employees engaged and the conversation flowing.

Remote Connection
"It's all about staying connected," says management consultant Carol Hacker of managing remote employees. Regular contact via phone, e-mail, VoIP- or instant message is of course necessary for monitoring work flow and hashing out ideas, but members of a team who aren't working side by side need an established forum, one that can be accessed around the clock, on which to collaborate and check in with their colleagues.

Remote access services like those provided by Citrix (citrix.com) allow for remote workers to securely access and update centrally maintained information from their computers as easily as if they were working in the home office. Microsoft® Office Groove® offers a similar service, along with the capability to share files and create a workspace accessible to every member of your team.

With remote access to company information comes an increased security risk. However a manager chooses to keep his or her employees connected, an annual consultation with an IT specialist will help to ensure that remote connections to sensitive company and client data remain secure.

Being Clear: The Golden Rule
Once a reliable system is in place for remote employees to connect to the central office, a manager needs to set specific protocol for relations between the two entities. Since a manager can't be on-site to monitor remote employees directly, Hacker recommends creating a reference manual for remote workers. The manual should provide detailed summaries of company policy regarding data security and backup, project deadlines, appropriate use of company-issued equipment (especially notebook computers and other portable devices), the frequency with which a remote employee is expected to check in with the manager, and appropriate response times to requests and inquiries from the central office.

As Hacker puts it, "The most critical thing a manager can do is manage expectations." This means delineating, on a project-by-project basis, the objectives, deadlines, and anticipated challenges of every task a remote employee takes on.

Of course, the value of a remote employee's work can't be judged by hours logged in the office. Since they are not able to observe the way a remote employee goes about his or her task, managers must set clear guidelines pointing their employees to the desired end result. Assessing a remote worker's job performance requires a manager to trust the employee to meet company standards using his or her own strategy and technique. "Managers need to measure success by results," says Hacker, "not activity."

Keeping The ‘I' Team
A major component in job satisfaction is working with others toward a common goal. Feeling isolated from the rest of the team can diminish a remote employee's morale and hurt job performance. It is up to the manager to keep a sense of camaraderie and singular purpose among employees, remote and otherwise.

The first thing to remember is that some employees simply aren't cut out for remote work. Either they need supervision to be productive or they simply get listless if they aren't around a surplus of people. Managers looking to hire remotely should address these issues during the interview phase to make sure a new employee can handle the remote environment.

Regularly scheduled face-to-face meetings and social events can stave off the disconnected feeling in remote workers, as can the occasional "just because" call. "Don't always call [remote employees] when there's big news," advises Hacker. "Call to check in." Informal gestures like this quash the potential for a Charlie's Angels dynamic, in which a recognizably named-but eternally unseen-leader provides instructions only when necessary, and only by telephone.

But the opposite tack can be problematic as well. Hacker warns of becoming a "helicopter manager," an employer who compensates for a lack of face time by checking in too often, hovering from afar. This can be just as damaging as infrequent or impersonal contact. "It speaks to a manager not trusting his or her employees," says Hacker. "If you do that, you're going to alienate your best people."

Of course, employing remote workers also offers myriad benefits to employees, managers, and clients. A satellite office in a different time zone means staggered hours to help meet customer needs. A prospective employee who would have faced a long commute to a company's central office may be closer to a satellite office or, if both manager and worker are okay with the idea, may even be willing to telecommute. Remote offices with small staffs appeal to workers who prefer quiet and detest interruptions. And this is to say nothing of what working remotely can do for an employee's confidence. "Remote employees have the ability to approach their work according to their own strength and preferences," says Hacker. "They're almost entrepreneurs."

Farm It Out

SBOCTeam — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:58:00 GMT

How outsourcing payroll can save your business time and money

By Chris Freeburn

As an employer, you are probably more than happy to pay your employees well for their work, but handling all the paperwork that comes with each paycheck is probably not something any small business owner anticipates with pleasure. Keeping payroll records in order, keeping track of the correct taxes and dispensing checks or managing direct deposits for your employees is a time consuming and sometimes frustrating task.

Despite this, most small business owners choose to do it all themselves. Indeed, a recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), found that roughly 64 percent of small businesses handle all payroll functions in house. "The smallest enterprises are the ones most likely to prepare payroll in-house, while the largest small businesses more often send it out," says William Dennis, a senior researcher with NFIB. "Even then, half of the largest small businesses--those employing 20 or more workers--handle payroll themselves." The survey found that in more than half the businesses that prepared payroll in house it fell to the owner to do all payroll preparation. According to the survey, cost was the most frequently cited reason for small business owners to prepare the payroll themselves.

The outsourcing solution

Fortunately for small business owners weary of tabulating tax withholdings and writing checks, payroll outsourcing options have grown rapidly over the past decade and, thanks in large measure to the Internet, the cost of outsourcing your payroll has fallen sharply.

Typically, a small business with between five and ten employees can expect to pay $100 or less, per pay period, for payroll preparation (including pay checks, direct deposit payments, employee tax and benefit calculations and record-keeping). Outsourcing payroll will also allow you to take advantage of the payroll firm's expertise in preparing tax documents like 1099 and W2 forms, which can be difficult for small business owners trying to do it on their own.

While outsourcing your company's payroll will certainly save you frustration, the benefits go well beyond reducing your stress. According to management consultant Dave Bowman of TTG Consultants, many small business owners don't realize how much time they spend on preparing payroll--time that could be better spent running or growing their businesses. "Letting yourself get distracted every week or two weeks by a huge pile of paperwork keeps your attention off the business, away from looking for new customers or streamlining operations," Bowman says. Moreover, payroll preparation is complicated, requiring small business owners to keep abreast of the latest changes in IRS guidelines. Professional payroll preparers, on the other hand, make it their business to keep track of local, state, and federal employment tax requirements, and their experience and expertise in preparing and filing employment tax reports make it far less likely that costly mistakes will be made. Or that tax reports will be filed late. Better still, most payroll service providers will prepare and file end-of-year tax documents like W2 and 1099 forms, properly and on time.

Choosing an outside payroll firm

When looking for a outside payroll provider, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

Choose an established firm with a good track record. Contact your local Better Business Bureau to see if there have been any complaints made against the company.

Make sure the payroll company can handle your company's specific needs. Some payroll companies only handle federal and state taxes, but not city taxes. Other payroll companies will not handle companies with locations in multiple tax jurisdictions or states.

Ask how the company receives payroll information. Many large payroll firms now strongly prefer to receive payroll data over the Internet, or by email. But most will accept data via phone call. Make sure the payroll provider uses a means you are comfortable with.

Will the payroll provider accept any tax penalties that arise from its own errors? Not all payroll companies do, and the government will hold your business, not the payroll provider, ultimately responsible for any mistakes, so make sure you know where the payroll firm stands on this.

Online Management

The Internet has not only reduced the cost of payroll services, but has streamlined the process and made it much easier for small business owners. Almost all payroll service providers offer online management of payroll accounts, permitting small business owners to sign-up for payroll services, change information (adding employees, changing salaries or benefits, adjusting pay periods, etc.) with the click of a mouse. The major payroll services providers also provide telephone customer service support to deal with any questions and issues small business owners may have.