In this edition of Wash Wisdom, we cover summer employee management and how to make company decisions.
Avoiding summer employee management mishaps
According to the article “5 tips to avoid this summer’s legal hazards” by The HR Specialist on www.businessmanagementdaily.com, summertime brings its own set of management worries. As such, here are five tips The HR Specialist offers on what to watch for concerning summer employee management:
- Adhere to a strict vacation request policy. Summer means an influx of vacation requests, and if not managed properly, it could leave you short-staffed. Remind employees that vacation requests must be approved so many days in advance and that they may be denied.
- Enforce the dress code. The warmer it gets, the more skin starts to show. Shorts, miniskirts, tank tops and flip flops become the go-to wear. If you have a casual dress code at your workplace, remind employees of exactly what is acceptable and what is not.
- Be specific about temp positions. Seasonal and temp employees require special hiring considerations; for instance, you should always be sure to explicitly state in your ad and during the interview that the job is only temporary. Never guarantee a specific term of employment.
- Know child labor laws. There are limits on how long children under age 18 can work and on what jobs they can and cannot do. The website dol.gov/dol/topic/youthlabor provides links to federal and local child labor laws.
- Watch out for “sick days.” Many employees happen to call in “sick” on the most beautiful of summer days. You can prevent this “summer flu” by requiring a sick note from doctors for unexpected illnesses and by enforcing the policy for everyone across the board.
Read the original article here.
Related: Wash Wisdom: Keeping employees safe during a heat wave
3 ways to stop stalling on decision-making
According to the article “Keep Moving or Die: 3 Tips to Prevent Analysis Paralysis” by contributor Erik Huberman on Entrepreneur’s website, taking a long time to “consider” making a decision about your business actually translates into “stalling” — a practice which could kill your business. Huberman says that you have to accept that not every decision you make will be the right one, but that taking such risks is the only way to grow your business. As such, he offers these three tips for avoiding stalling on decision-making:
- Understand what you need to know. Identify the main factor(s) affecting your decision (price, feature, time, etc.), since chances are that you won’t have the time to retrieve all the data you need to make a completely informed decision; then, make it based on those factors. Remember, entrepreneurs often experience needing to make a decision within a day.
- Give power to other decision makers. As an owner, you can make any decision that you want to, but you need not make all the decisions. Expedite the process by granting others the ability to make decisions without your permission. That said, make sure they have enough authority and responsibility in their areas to be making those decisions.
- Don’t delay without good reasons. If you can’t make a decision at a certain moment, analyze why you cannot. Are you waiting to hear from others about their opinions? Do you need a day to balance the pros and cons? These reasons are perfectly acceptable for taking time to make a decision, but if you have all of the information, money and backing to make one, do not delay. In other words, if you can find a reason to hold you back, other than that you are “unsure,” make a decision.
Read the original article here.