Tài liệu Human resource management [146 trang]

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENTBonuses: How To Be Fair
Bonuses can be a great motivation tool, even for employees of the smallest business. They can also be a waste of money. How they are planned and administered makes the difference.
Properly administered bonuses can reinforce behavior that will lead your company to success by rewarding people for making a specific contribution to the organization. Bonuses dolled out improperly will lead to disgruntled employees who expect a bonus, but who may not be happy with what they receive.
Set Goals
To reap the most out of bonuses, tie them to clearly-set goals. A good time to set these goals is at the beginning of the year. These goals should be concrete, attainable, and critical to the growth of your business. The steps below will help you set good bonus goals:

Set goals with Employees
Employees are often the best source for information about what job-specific goals will contribute to overall increased productivity, responsiveness, or other business goal. Involving employees in goal-setting will also do away with resentment that can come from the imposition of goals from senior management.

Reevaluate goals frequently
Do this, at a minimum, halfway through the year to insure that goals still make sense and that employees are on track. Big companies tend to have concrete goals but smaller companies let this information slide.

Make goals specific and measurable
Don't set goals such as Do a better job, because a general goal does not instruct an employee in what steps to take. An example of a constructive goal is Increase response time to customer calls by one-third or Cut customer complaints by 50%.

Set goals that tie employees into the success of your company
Don't automatically assume that bonuses should be tied to increased sales or even profitability. For example, it may be most important in a given year for your business to cut costs or raise visibility. Tie bonuses into that critical goal rather than one that is traditional.

Make sure employee goals are attainable
Most people tend to set goals that are too high and this leads to employee frustration and demotivation over time, which kills off the value of setting goals.
Other Reasons to Give Bonuses
If you didn't set goals with your employees last January, that doesn't mean that you can't pay bonuses this year. There are a number of reasons that you might want to consider paying year-end bonuses to your workers. According to Ted A. Hagg of Ableman Management Services, a New York City-based financial and management consulting service for individuals and small businesses, you can still make an educated decision at year-end by asking yourself the following questions:

Can I afford to give bonuses?
It is legitimate not to be able to give bonuses every year. If you did not make a profit, for example, bonuses are inappropriate.

Do I want to retain the workers I have?
Bonuses are a tool for attracting and keeping good employees. If you are concerned about losing someone to the competition you should factor that into your decision.
How Much to Pay
There are no hard and fast rules except that you should make bonuses equitable among peer groups and always have performance justification for bonuses. Employees will discuss bonuses, and paying inequitably will generate strife or potentially lawsuits.
When you deliver bonuses, be sure you explain the reasons for them. These reasons should be non-subjective, measurable, and performance-oriented. When you deliver bonuses, make it clear that a bonus is an extra that may not always be available. As nicely as possible, drive home the fact that you are rewarding them for this year's accomplishments and that bonuses are available based on the company's performance this year only.
Bonus Nuances
The end of year is not the only time bonuses can be given out. Some business owners believe that whether you give bonuses or not, you should also provide periodic rewards for jobs well done. Accountants often give them at the end of tax season, other entrepreneurs give them at the end of a large job or busy season to demonstrate appreciation for employees' devotion and hard work.
Even a bonus as small as $50 can mean a lot to someone because it demonstrates that you acknowledge their hard work. If you don't have a lot of extra money to spare, a small bonus or a bonus in the form of time-off can work.
Some people believe that giving all bonuses at the end of the year is not a good idea. According to David H. Bangs, Jr. author of Smart Steps to Smart Choices (Upstart Publishing Company), end-of-year bonuses can create a mine-is-bigger-than yours syndrome in your company. Bangs recommends providing bonuses for goals attained at the time of the achievement.
When you are doling out bonuses during the year or at the end of the year, don't forget the behind-the-scenes people who have made the big orders, the successful client presentations, and the travel, possible. Clerical staff is instrumental in making all other functions of the company operate smoothly. Reward them for it.
Bob Adams, author of Adams Streetwise Small Business Start Up (1996), and head of Adams Media Corp., contributed to this story.
How to Create an Effective Employee HandbookAs a small business owner, you can help keep yourself out of legal hot water by clearly spelling out on paper what you expect of the people who work for you. For the most part, you do not need to create a separate employment agreement for each employee on your staff. An employee handbook that details your company's policies should suffice.
A successful employee handbook helps cut down on misunderstandings. Your staff will be clear on what your corporate policies are, and they will have a place to go to have their basic questions answered. More importantly, it can keep you from facing an expensive lawsuit should someone charge that your policies are unfair or discriminatory.
The tips below will help you create a document that will serve your company well.
What to include
Your employee handbook should clearly state your company's policies. Among the areas it should cover:

general working hours
company rules and regulations (dress code; how people interact with customers; safety regulations; etc.)
how vacation time is earned
paid holidays and personal days
sick leave
salary and performance reviews
overtime/comp time policy
health and medical benefits
pension plan and other fringe benefits
maternity policy
any other rules or regulations
Be clear and concise, and most importantly consistent
The purpose of your employee handbook is to communicate your company's policies to your employees. It is essential that it is written clearly and directly, so there is no chance for confusion. It should detail your specific human resources policies. The fact is, many lawsuits occur because companies don't have documentable, consistent policies and therefore open up the door to charges of discrimination (genuine or not). Your handbook should rectify this.
Explain your right to terminate an employee
Part of your handbook should cover the fact that employment with your company is at will. This means that your company has the right to terminate the relationship with the employee at any time without cause, and your employee has the right to leave at any time. The purpose of this at will statement is to override an employee's claim that you may have made an oral promise of job security. Again, this can protect you from possible legal action.
It doesn't have to be fancy
You might think of an employee handbook as this big, thick printed manual. But many small businesses can easily make do with something much simpler -- even a one- or two-page fact sheet that's produced on your computer. It's not the look of your handbook that's important. It's what's inside that counts.
Write it yourself, but have your attorney review it
You can save on legal fees by writing your employee handbook yourself instead of turning the whole project over to your attorney. But be sure to have your attorney review it and fine-tune it if necessary. It is important that your policies are in accordance with federal, state and local laws.
Be sure to have your employees sign for it
Just handing out your employee manual won't do. When you give your new employee your company handbook or fact sheet, be sure to have him or her sign for it. This form should state that the employee received the handbook and understands your company's policies. Give a copy of this receipt to the employee, and place another in the employee's file. This will help protect you from possible claims that a person was fired for rules he/she did not know about. Your attorney can help you draft this form.

How to Run a Formal Meeting
As your small business grows so will the size of your company meetings. Informal get-togethers can be effective, but when time is tight and projects are complex, more order is necessary. Working with corporate clients may also require you to lead a formal meeting.
Step One: Set Objectives
A clear objective will encourage people to attend the meeting because they will understand its intent. It also will set the foundation for a focused meeting.
Meetings usually have one of two objectives - to inform or to decide. Discussion is not a meeting objective. For example, to determine the market positioning for Series 2000 trade advertising is an effective objective. It is focused and clearly announces the aim of the meeting. To discuss Series 2000 marketing sounds aimless and could invite rambling instead of action.
Step Two: Assemble Attendees
Create a list of who needs to attend this meeting. Think carefully about whether or not someone needs to be in the room for the duration of the meeting (perhaps they can join you via conference call, or for one specific topic). Remember, if you waste someone's time, he or she will be less likely to attend and participate in the next meeting you run.
Be definitive when you invite people to a meeting. You must be courteous of people's schedules, but you will have an easier time scheduling a meeting if you say Please plan to attend and if you cannot make it let me know. Always let people know the objective of the meeting, the time it will begin and the time it will end. Also, stress that it will begin on time.
Step Three: Create an Agenda
An agenda is a list of the key items to review in order to meet your objective. It can be something you use for yourself or hand out at the meeting. The upside of handing out an agenda is that it provides a script for people to follow. The downside is that it may distract your attendees; it could tempt them to jump to issues you're not ready to cover. For example, if the fifth bullet down is engineering, the engineers in the room may want to jump right to that. If you need to resolve other issues first you may want to keep the agenda to yourself. If you are running a status meeting you can use your project timeline as your agenda.
If you decide to hand out an agenda, be sure to state the objective and date at the top of the page. All points should be bulleted. Everyone in the meeting should receive one, so be sure to make more than enough copies.
Step Four: Maintain Control
Once the meeting has begun, it is your responsibility to keep it moving and keep it focused. Here are some tips for accomplishing this:

Start on time, even if people are late. If you wait until the last person arrives, you train people to be late.
Briefly state what the meeting is about.
If you have passed out an agenda, be sure everyone follows it so that you accomplish your objectives.
If discussion drags on a topic and a decision is not being made, it is your job to interject and say something like, For the sake of the timeline of the project, we need to make a decision.
If it is apparent that something cannot be resolved, determine what will be necessary to resolve it in the future and add it to the project timeline.
Crowd control: You have to be firm if the group gets off track and suggest that the matter be discussed at another time.
Schedule the next meeting at the end of the current one.
If you called the meeting, you are responsible for taking notes or appointing someone to take notes.
Step Five: Follow-up
Once the meeting has ended, you still have work to do.