How to Spot and Clean up Toxic Corporate Culture

October 31, 2016

toxic

Think about the most disgusting place you’ve ever been. Maybe it was a public bathroom at a highway rest stop; perhaps it was an unclean restaurant with vile food; it may have even been an unorganized department store that was chaotic to walk through. Regardless of the image that’s in your mind right now, a toxic workplace is just that – from dishonest workers to negative attitudes, working in a toxic culture is like being forced to be in the most disgusting of places. The difference? Disgusting places can be cleaned up and reorganized. Can you do the same with an intangible thing like culture?

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How Can Small Businesses Benefit from Using HR Software

October 18, 2016

Software
If you run a small business, it is extremely important to work efficiently. Doing so will enable you to compete effectively with other firms that are much bigger than yours.

There are many ways to work more efficiently, one of which is using the best tools for the job. These days, that means investing in the best software, as well as the right equipment.

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Should You Hire Job Applicants with Criminal Records?

October 11, 2016

criminal-record
The question of hiring applicants with a criminal record is at times a tricky one for employers, especially for small business owners who are not guided by human resources policies that bigger corporations follow. Hiring ex-cons present conflicting approaches. On one hand, there is an implicit bias against them in general. Then again, our charitable nature prods us to give them a second chance at redeeming themselves. Further, federal and state laws protect job applicants with criminal records from discrimination by employers.

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5 Tips to Prevent Serious Accident from Happening in the Workplace

September 22, 2016

workplace-injury
A serious accident in the workplace can affect small business owners in a big way. As an employer you have a legal responsibility to prevent people being harmed or becoming ill the workplace. Serious injuries or accidents in the work place can not only cause disruption to the business and lead to extra expense, it can also damage your reputation. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  So it is in your best interest to take steps to prevent these accidents from happening in your workplace. Here are 5 tips to do just that.

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Did you know? Happy employees are 12% more productive

September 20, 2016

Happy business people laughing against white background
Companies and HR professionals have debunked the general perception that higher salaries equate to increased productivity of employees. They have also accepted that happy workers yield better output. But a study by economics professors from the University of Warwick gives scientific support to these assumptions.

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5 Ways to Save on Workers’ Compensation Insurance

September 7, 2016

Workers Comp
In today’s business climate successful businesses have to take advantage of every way they can to lower expenses.  Commercial insurance is one of the largest fixed costs most businesses incur. In most states workers’ compensation and general liability are required by law for most businesses.  Many business owners look at these policies as a tax.  That they are not going to change much from year to year and there is not much they can do to lower what they pay. This is far from the truth. There are many ways businesses can lower what they pay in premium for commercial insurance. Here are five easy steps that any business can take to lower what they pay for commercial insurance.

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Why Your Business Should Provide Tuition Reimbursement Benefits to Employees

August 11, 2016

Graduation
Employee benefits can be double edged sword. On one hand, it costs businesses lot of money, but on the other hand they can generate loyalty and improve employee performance. The key to succeeding at this is making sure you implement properly and generate good return on investment. Tuition reimbursement is one such benefit that can help businesses of all types attract good employees and retain them eventually helping businesses grow. Granted, it costs significant money to implement tuition reimbursement program with the rising cost of college in the U.S., but if you manage it properly you can get significant tangible and intangible benefits from it.

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What is Different about Managing Millennial Employees

August 11, 2016

Portrait of smiling business colleagues
Millennials passed Generation X in the first quarter of 2015 to become the largest share of the American workforce, according to the Pew Research Center’s analysis. They represent 34% of the total workforce in the U.S. Millennials are defined as those individuals who were born between 1981 and 1997, which makes them between 19 and 34 years of age – a prime employment age. There are approximately 53.5 million millennials in the U.S.

The size of the millennial workforce itself is a force to be reckoned with, but in addition to size, their style of working also poses challenges for the business leaders who are no familiar with this generation. This generation is not like their parents. They value different things in life. They have their own ideas about how business should be conducted and they have their unique working style. All these factors combine to make it seem like today’s business leader will never be able to manage them well.

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How to Use Candlestick Charts to Recognize Market Trends

August 9, 2016

Candlestick Chart
Candlestick charts are staple of stock market pros. They have been used widely since the 19th century when they were developed in Japan. Steve Nison is credited with bringing these charts to the West. Financial investors use from all walks of life use them to trade stocks, futures, commodities, currencies and so on. Read any financial newspaper or visit a financial website and you are likely to see candlestick charts put to use to display daily, weekly or monthly variation in price. Reading and understanding Candlestick charts takes some time, but with the proper training and understanding you can put them to good use to decipher complex patterns and make buy-sell decisions.

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How Can Team Building Activities Help Businesses Grow

July 28, 2016

Team Building
Many of us have either participated in or led team building activities in our professional career at some point. Some of those activities may have been very straightforward and short such as playing a game of “two truths and a lie” or “find your way out.” Others could be very intense and may have spanned over multiple days such as climbing a peak or going on a long hike. No matter what the duration or type of activity, it is well-known that team building can help improve communication and employee morale, leading to a better business environment overall.

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