Spring cleaning

Traditionally, people think about the New Year when the calendar changes on January 1. Personal resolutions are created to lose weight, stop smoking, get more exercise, read a good book or renew contact with an old friend. When we change our clocks to daylight savings time we replace the batteries in our smoke detectors. When the temperatures warm and the days become longer we clean up the house and the gardens to renew and refresh our living environment after a long cold winter. We sweep the cobwebs and stray leaves out the garage and begin the solemn ritual of washing the car again.

Spring is a great time to think about organizing and reviewing your business practices. This is important because as time passes, policies, procedures and manuals become out-dated or irrelevant. Most businesses are dynamic and experience a steady stream of small changes throughout the year. Changes in the products or services offered, changes in how the work is performed or changes in the technology we use. It's common to implement new procedures or establish new rules as we need them without taking the time to update the collection of documents we keep on the bookcase that describe our business operations, policies and programs.

Over the past several weeks, I've visited with several of our clients who had not yet posted their OSHA 300A Form summarizing illnesses and injuries for the prior calendar year. The summary, required by federal law, is to be posted with other required notices every year between Feb. 1 and April 30. Our clients are conscientious, hard working business owners, highly engaged in the activities of running their business and taking care of their customers. Like most business owners, they are regularly juggling multiple priorities. By utilizing a "business review checklist" they will be able to avoid penalties of up to $7,000 for forgetting to post this simple notice.

Other spring cleaning activities include reviewing employee manuals or handbooks to assure they accurately reflect current practices as well as compliance with new legislation. For example, the Family and Medical Leave Act was amended in late January to include new leave provisions for military families. Supervisors may need training to understand the new rules while policies and procedures covering leaves of absence may need to be revised and distributed to employees notifying them of the changes.

Other legislation, such as the minimum wage rate will be adjusted again on July 1 for the state of Nevada and July 24 for the federal minimum wage. Posters reflecting the graduated increases are currently available.

Small businesses need to be aware that as they grow they may become subject to legislation that didn't affect them when they had fewer employees. Posting requirements and compliance thresholds change at 15 employees, 20 employees and again at 50 employees. If your business has been fortunate enough to pick up some federal contracts, your obligations will change again!

As businesses evolve and improve their products and services, the nature of the work changes. Job responsibilities, expectations, processes and procedures change as well making job descriptions outdated or obsolete. Job descriptions tend to be a low priority for many companies until an employee is terminated for failure to perform some aspect of their work that lo and behold is not accurately reflected on the job description or that the employee claims they did not understand they were responsible for. We recommend that you ask employees to review their job descriptions and amend them to reflect changes in their job tasks and responsibilities. This approach moves the burden of updating the job descriptions from the manager's plate to the employee's and provides a concrete foundation for the accuracy of the contents as well. Updates to job descriptions should be dated, approved and signed by the manager and the employee.

The winter holidays have passed and it is a long stretch to Memorial Day and Independence Day. Spring is the perfect time to review employee turnover from the prior year. Retaining your best and brightest can have a huge impact on your company's bottom line. So if turnover is on the rise, you may need to investigate the cause. Employee retention is tied to a number of factors, and compensation is only one of them. If employees perceive wages to be below market, it will be challenging to retain them even if they love their job. Other factors like their relationship with their supervisor, the company culture, and the degree to which they feel challenged can all have a big impact on job satisfaction.

Turnover impacts a company's ability to effectively manage business operations and to compete for new business. Employee attrition affects productivity, profitability, quality, and customer satisfaction. We recommend a review of employee turnover, evaluating percent of turnover against industry standards and analyzing the reasons to determine if changes are needed in some aspect of your business or your hiring practices. Finally, it is important to research and evaluate wages to determine if salaries are at levels that enable your businesses to recruit and retain quality talent.

The nights are still a bit cool, but warmer days are on the horizon. Spring is the perfect time to dust off those policies and take a second look at your employee manuals and handbook to assure they reflect current information with the right tone and message for your business. And, like the long-awaited arrival of spring, you can't get started too soon.

Connie Johnson is the managing director of Talent Framework in Reno. Contact her through www.talentframework.com or 322-6836.