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End of Year Reflections
For some of you who are ECPs, practice or lab owners and managers, the month of December brings with the holiday season a time to reflect on your business. No doubt, thoughts that cross your mind may include some of the following:
- "Has this been a good year financially?"
- "Did we truly provide exceptional service and value to our patients?"
- "Did our team work well together?"
- "What could our team have done differently to make this a more successful year?"
Your practice and your business have a number of critical elements. One of the most important—and some would suggest the most critical element—is your employees. As many of our readers have found in their careers and business lives, recruiting, training, developing and retaining your employees is not as easy a task or a problem-free process as you may have envisioned when building, buying, or managing an eyecare practice or optical laboratory.
This month’s edition of Business Essentials provides you with some very key thoughts to consider as you enter the New Year. We hope you find these points valuable and the articles meaningful and easily integrated into your thinking and operational management of your practice and your business in 2008.
The staff of Business Essentials extends our very best wishes to you, your families and your teams for a happy, safe, healthful and joyous Holiday Season.
As always, we appreciate your thoughts on future topics as well as feedback on subjects covered in this and previous editions. Your
feedback is important, so do take a moment and let us know your ideas on articles and subjects of interest to you and your colleagues.
Hedley Lawson, Jr. is the managing partner of
Aligned Growth Partners, LLC, a strategic, operational and organizational consulting and executive search firm. Lawson also serves as consulting editor for Jobson's Business Essentials monthly e-newsletter.
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Gift-Giving During the Holidays
Q:
I own a retail optical chain, which has had a great year. I want to send gifts to companies and sales representatives who contributed to our success. Are there guidelines for business gift-giving?
A: According to the Office Depot Holiday Survey conducted in October by
Harris Interactive, only 10 percent of U.S. employees are familiar with the latest workplace gift-giving etiquette.
First, make sure your recipients are allowed to accept gifts. Many companies have policies against accepting gifts from firms with which they do business.
If your vendors and suppliers can accept gifts, here are some rules of thumb.
"The key is to create a list, set a spending limit and stick to it," said Hilka Klinkenberg, founder of
Etiquette International. "Try to spend the same amount from year to year. If you spent $100 last year, a $20 gift this year might send the wrong message."
Be careful about sending alcohol, meat or nuts. Many people do not drink. Some are vegetarians. Some have food allergies, such as to peanuts.
Personalize the gift, if possible, recommends
BellZinc.ca, a Canadian business advice Web site.
If you cannot select a gift of special interest to individual recipients, try to present the gift in person. If that's also not possible, enclose a sincere, handwritten note.
While lavish gifts were common in the 1980s,
BellZinc.ca reports, "There has been a shift to low-key offerings more thoughtfully selected."
Submit your
questions to one of our experts.
—Hedley Lawson, Jr.
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Employment At Will: Law Versus Reality
Most employers have learned the importance of including "
employment at will" language in all employment documentation. But what does "employment at will" mean? 
Simply stated, "employment at will" means that either party (employer or employee) has the same right to end the work relationship at any time, with or without notice, and with or without cause.
Regardless of state statutes permitting "employment at will," the "at will" doctrine has been significantly eroded in many states. While the ability to terminate for no cause technically remains the statutory law, it is unlawful to terminate based on factors such as race, color, creed, sexual orientation or "violation of public policy." And herein is the problem.
If an employer terminates an employee "at will" without evidence of misconduct, how will the employer defend against a claim of discrimination, or violation of public policy? Remember, it only takes an attorney less than an hour and a nominal filing fee to file a lawsuit in most jurisdictions. So what can you as an employer do?
Here are some suggestions that will help you implement and reinforce your policy and practice of "employment at will:"
1. Documentation. Document all performance-related actions, either favorable or unfavorable. For those that are unfavorable performance issues, use counseling and corrective action processes (progressive discipline) prior to termination.
2. Consider establishing a Dispute Resolution Procedure. You can discuss this with your employment attorney to establish a policy to provide employees a forum with uninvolved managers to review all the facts before taking action.
3. Centralize disciplinary decisions. Call an HR professional or employment attorney before taking action to confirm that your position is correct and will be defensible.
4. Separation and Release Agreement. Most separations can and should be negotiated. An employer should consider giving a bit more than policy in exchange for a release of claims. Not only does a release agreement allow the employee to leave with dignity, the concept plays well with the remaining team and, perhaps most importantly, it confirms that the situation is really over.
5. Train managers. Provide ongoing and continuous training to your managers on positive employee relations and basic HR processes and law.
6. Arbitration. As with establishing a Dispute Resolution Procedure, discuss with your employment counsel the prospect of using arbitration agreements as the exclusive means of employment dispute resolution.
7. Improve your hiring practices. It can be said that employers hire their employment problems. There are numerous progressive employment selection processes that can be used to improve your recruitment, testing and selection processes that will result in reduced turnover, better 'job and company fit' as well as reducing the chances of employment litigation.
Rarely is there a "winner" in employment related litigation. Consider a complete review periodically of your employment practices, policies and processes so that you don’t hire your employment problems and your progressive approach to HR avoids to the maximum extent possible any employment litigation.
The information contained herein is for general, informational purposes, and should not be construed as specific legal advice or a complete analysis of this subject. Readers should consult with their legal, financial, or other professional advisors concerning a more complete review of this matter and specific regulatory and administrative requirements.
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Top 10 Interview "No No's"
If you are not prepared, you can easily destroy an interview by asking the wrong questions.
Here are a few tips to help you stay out of trouble and keep candidates interested in working for your company.
1. Avoid Humor.
Jokes, anecdotes and witticisms are the most readily misunderstood means of communication. To avoid sending the wrong message, stay focused and forthright. Also, attempts at humor on sensitive subjects (gender, age, national origin, etc.) are inappropriate and should be avoided.
2. No Opening Monologue.
It is often tempting to have a monologue at the beginning of your interview. Focus on simple introductions and move directly to your list of questions, allowing the candidate to provide you with essential information. If appropriate, feel free to share more information at the end of the interview.
3. Avoid Closed Ended Questions.
Avoid questions that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no". Even if you think "yes" or "no" is your desired response, rework the question to allow for a more thorough and thoughtful response. Unexpected, beneficial information is often revealed when your questions allow the interviewee to elaborate with his/her response.
4. Rephrase General Questions.
It is common for interviewers to use standard questions that can be used for any job. However, if you ask a generic question, you will likely receive a generic answer. To improve your line of inquiry, try to target your questions to the specific position.
5. Avoid Leading Questions.
Be careful to not give your candidate the preferred answers by the way you ask your questions. When you prepare your list of questions, be precise in knowing the exact wording of every question.
6. Always Avoid Age.
The only times you can ask about age are when it is a requirement of a job duty, or you need to determine if a work permit is required. Avoid inquiries into what year someone graduated from school; it can be interpreted as an attempt to determine age.
7. Never Ask About Race, Color, National Origin, and Gender.
It is rarely appropriate or legal to ask questions in regards to race, color, national origin or gender. If you believe that you have an exception to this rule, consult with an attorney for advice before the interview to ensure that you are correct.
8. Do Not Ask About Religious or Sexual Orientation.
Although candidates may volunteer religious or sexual orientated information in an interview, be careful not to discriminate. Ask questions that are relevant to work experience or qualifications. Also avoid questions about religious holiday celebrations.
9. Do Not Discriminate for Health or Disabilities.
If you have more than 15 employees, you are required by law to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The U.S. Department of Justice provides a thorough question and answers document about this Act. (See
Americans with Disabilities Act Questions and Answers for additional information.)
10. Avoid inquires about Marital Status, Children, Personal Life, Pregnancy and Arrest Record.
You may not ask questions about these topics. While it may be tempting to ask such a question for a position requiring travel, you can only explain the travel requirements and confirm that the requirements are acceptable. If you believe you have an exception to this rule, consult with an attorney for advice before the interview to ensure that you are correct.
There are some rare exceptions to the above rules. To keep yourself and your company safe, or should you believe you have an exception to the above rules, do yourself a favor and contact your attorney and avoid the risk.
People Management Issues to Become Tougher
Human resource management, in both emerging and developed markets, will become increasingly challenging in the next five to 10 years, according to Global Human Resources—The 20 Worst Mistakes that Companies Make, a report published by
the Economist Intelligence Unit. The report highlights the need to increase the time and effort dedicated to human resources in order to win in an increasingly competitive market.
It cites the shortage of talent as one key area which will become more difficult. As organizations worldwide struggle to meet the demands of customers, cut costs and execute M&A initiatives, and compete with both Western competitors, as well as fast growing Chinese, Indian and Asian companies; real competitive advantage will stem from human resources.
The report identifies key issues which it argues tend to be the same everywhere:
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Recruitment
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Retention
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Declining quality of candidates, or not enough candidates for a growing number of posts
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The role of expatriates
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Salary increases
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Compensation package benefits
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Leadership development
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Succession
Finding staff, keeping them and rewarding them appropriately are identified as three major problems in human resource management. "If you can get the best 1-2-3 (or 10) staff members running your country, market, regional division or product line, then this will generate the crucial competitive advantage," according to the report.
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Final Regulations on 401(k) Defaults Mostly Exclude Stable-Value Funds 
The government's final regulations on what types of investments qualify as default options for 401(k) plans provide only a limited role for stable-value funds, according to an announcement from the
Labor Department in October.
Despite the insurance industry’s fight to get stable-value investments included on the list of qualified default investment alternatives, the final regulations only allow the use of "capital preservation products," like stable-value funds, as the default investment for the first 120-days an employee participates in the plan. The Labor Department described that option as a way for plan sponsors to "simplify administration" in case workers decide not to participate in the plan, as they have the right to do when automatically enrolled.
The three investments that are considered qualified default investments for the long run are the same three that the department listed in the first version of the regulations it released last fall: balanced funds, lifecycle funds and managed accounts.
The Labor Department’s announcement noted that any of the qualified defaults could be offered as variable annuity contracts.
The regulations, which were subsequently published in
The Federal Register Oct. 24, stem from the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which encouraged employers to automatically enroll workers in 401(k) plans, a tactic that has been found to greatly increase participation. As part of that effort, Congress directed the Labor Department to issue regulations on which investments employers could use for workers who do not pick their own investments.
Before the pension law, many of the companies that automatically enrolled workers in 401(k) plans used stable-value or money market funds as the default investment. The final regulations provide some legal protection for employers that used stable-value investments as a default by grandfathering such investments if they were made before the effective date of the rule.
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Office Space
Employees Want Help Losing Weight
Nearly half of employees cite weight management as their Number 1 health concern, according to an unscientific poll by
LifeCare, Inc. of Shelton, Conn. General health worries are a distant second, with only 18 percent citing them as a key concern, followed by heart health (11 percent), diabetes (4 percent), blood pressure (3 percent) and quitting smoking (1 percent). About 15 percent, however, specified anxiety about a range of other issues that include mental health, healthy aging and cancer, with each representing less than 1 percent.
In another LifeCare poll, only about 1 percent of workers said they would be unlikely to take advantage of special health and wellness initiatives offered by their company. About 83 percent "definitely" would participate, while another 16 percent of employees say they might use the services. |
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| Easy-reference to web resources about human resource policies and rules |
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Employment at Will
Americans with Disabilities Act Questions and Answers
The Economist Intelligence Unit
Labor Department
The Federal Register
LifeCare, Inc.
Harris Interactive
BellZinc.ca | |
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