HR Tips

HR tends to be one of the last areas considered by start-ups in my experience, but this can be something of an oversight. Most start-ups by their very nature are founded by entrepreneurial individuals, who quite rightly may invest most of their energies in selling, meeting customer demands and cash […]

Planning for a maternity leave does not have to be a stressful event! With approximately 6 months to plan for a replacement, finding a maternity temp can be a fairly trouble-free experience for both employee and employer. Having the employee involved in the training process can ensure policies and procedures […]

According to Wikipedia, “An “engaged employee” is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization’s interests”.  To cultivate employee engagement try the following: [listcheck] Foster open communication.  In the absence of information, people fill […]

An effective appraisal system should allow for realistic, but challenging objectives. There should also be interim reviews to ensure objectives have not changed and to give an opportunity to identify training and development. [listcheck] Be prepared for the performance review : Apprise employees of performance appraisals in advance Allow the […]

An effective job description provides the foundation for making successful and informed hiring decisions as well as providing the outline for success to prospective employees.  It does this by forcing hiring managers to dive into those pertinent details that are required of future hires as well as the big picture […]

Long weekends mean more time at the cottage, on the ski hill or reading a book, but no matter how you choose to spend your time, there is no doubt that everyone enjoys statutory holidays. If you are a human resources or payroll person, your view of statutory holidays can […]

Vacation and Sick Days Interviews are often arranged during midweek within the normal 9-5 hours, sometimes at short notice. Requests for leave at short notice or “illness” where people return to work with no obvious adverse effects can be deemed suspicious particularly where the day involved is a Tuesday, Wednesday […]

The cost of replacing employees is expensive.  Beyond placing a job ad, it includes time for selecting a new employee, training a new employee and lost productivity while the position is open and until the new employee gets up to speed. An exit interview can uncover what an organization needs […]

This is a follow-up post to: A Guide to New Employee Orientation A mentor is someone who partners with a new employee during his or her first three months of employment. They offer advice and guidance to help foster and promote the professional development of a new employee. The mentor knows […]