Realize Efficiencies as an Employer

You have a lot to do as a boss. Even if you are “chunking your time” as Anthony Robbins preaches, you know things are not getting done or getting done as well as you would like.

When it comes to your field of expertise, you know it. Congratulations!

But what about those areas outside of your expertise, for example:

· human resources laws,
· screening applicants to hire the best,
· handling terminations in the fairest manner
· navigating through health care
· motivating yourself and your staff through tough times

This is where outsourcing can assist you in achieving efficiencies and allow you to focus on your strengths.

Recently, I was assisting a physician with a specialist practice and nine employees. I looked at his employee processes. After auditing a series of processes, we realized that one of his team had a very high number of absences. This person was full time and seemed to call off on mostly Thursdays and Fridays. There were not any documented health concerns. The reasons given for the absences did not reveal any trend: there were many assorted reasons. A written counseling, detailing the dates of each absence since the beginning of the year, was prepared and delivered by the physician, in a confidential setting, in my presence.

The emphasis was on how her absences affected patient care, office scheduling, her coworker’s morale, higher payroll expenses, etc.; a work improvement plan was created with the team member's input. Mandated weekly monitoring sessions and the understanding that another absence would result in termination were aspects of it. The team member improved immediately and maintained this improvement for eight weeks.

At the end of that time, she resigned to accept another position. The departure was pleasant, and the physician will be able to give her a good reference in the future, if needed. The situation was salvaged and all involved felt satisfied.

Your company has HR needs. If your company doesn't currently have a full time HR staffer or formal department - or if you're looking to lift the burden from your current department – or you are not sure what you should even be doing in this arena, consider contacting an HR expert to help you.

On an as-needed or retainer basis, your expert could keep you on the straight and narrow path with hiring, firing, training, benefits, discipline, communications, interpersonal relationship building, and more. What about the cost, you ask? The cost is much less than the cost of hiring the wrong employee or keeping the worst employee. Just ask a labor attorney to tell you some stories. Ignorance of the law will not protect you. Neither will Florida’s “employment at will” mantra.