Small and medium sized businesses are faced with challenges and employees issues that the fortune 500 companies of the world don't have to deal with. That list alone is a blog post by itself. But rest assured among the things on that list is employees asking to borrow money or to get an advance on their paychecks. If you’ve been there you can clearly remember the extreme discomfort that fell upon you when the employee spoke those words.
It doesn't matter how compelling of a reason the employee has or how much you like them, it's still uncomfortable and awkward. It's even more so if you don't have a policy in place that spells out the company's response. Read that again dear friend, the company's response. The employee is not asking you for money, he or she is asking the company for a loan. How well you can make that distinction will be very helpful as you consider what you’ll do when it happens.
So why do employees ask small business owners for loans in the first place. Well the obvious reason is that they need money. But don't employees who work for large corporations have times when they run short on cash too? Of course they do. So the real question is why do employees feel comfortable asking small business owners for loans? While it may be perplexing for us, it kind of makes sense from an employee perspective.
In the mind of the employee all of these reasons make it “ok” to ask you for a loan. Now the question is what are you going to do?
Of course you can always say yes. That's the easiest response. And if that works with the core values of your business, then that choice is yours to make. However if you don't want your business to turn into always bank or payroll advance company, but you also don't want to come across as caring, what are you left to do? Luckily you have options to show compassion while at the same time maintaining the financial health of your business. The alternatives below work well because they may help employees meet a financial need in a crisis, provide them with skills to better handle money and involves them in the process of helping themselves and others.
START AN EMPLOYEE FUNDED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FUND
To take the pressure off your small business when it comes to being asked for financial assistance from employees your small business could set up an employee funded Employee Emergency Assistance Fund. An employee funded Employee Emergency Assistance Fund is a pretty much an internal charity that provides money to employees who are in need. The fund can be employee sponsored and managed by a committee of employees. Employees can choose to participate through payroll deductions and that money is set aside for use when employees have a qualifying request. Usually requests are limited to employees who have contributed to the fund and for request types that the committee has previously approved. Some typical requests might be:
CONNECT THEM TO COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Not all employees are going to want to contribute the the benevolence fund. It also may not work for every small business. So another option would be to do some research and create a list of local charities that offer crisis financial assistance. These organizations are resources to have on hand in the event that an employee has a financial need. These charities are equipped to provide financial and other assistance to help with the underlying source of the problem. Some charities that may be in your area may include:
HELP EMPLOYEES TO BECOME MORE FINANCIALLY SAVVY
The unexpected could happen to everyone, but sometimes financial “crises” happen due to lack of budgeting and saving. Most people never receive formal financial literacy education and may struggle with making wise decisions when it comes to money. As a small business owner how do you help your employees grow in this area? You can help with this development by partnering with organizations to host financial literacy courses for your employees, or sharing these opportunities with your employees when they are hosted elsewhere.
The United Way offers Real Sense, which is a program that teaches adults about finances. They are always looking for business partners and for businesses that want to offer the program to their employees. They also have other resources both online and printed that would be helpful for employees who need help getting their finances together. United Way Resources: My Smart Money Real Sense
These options are good alternatives to making loans to employees. A combination of all three would work well to preventing crisis situations through education, and meet immediate needs through financial resources. What is your small business’ policy on making loans to employees?
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As we celebrate the contributions that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made to our country's civil rights movement, we can also learn many lessons from him as a leader. As a leader, Martin Luther King, motivated people of all nationalities to contribute their best efforts the their lives and country. He also encouraged them to rise to their highest moral, ethical and performance standards to realize their best selves while helping others.
In his speeches, we can find golden nuggets of wisdom to motivate our employees and find encouragement to keep moving forward in our businesses even when things get hard. While there are so many quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. that we can study and learn from, there are ten that I feel are of significant importance to small business owners and have impacted my leadership personally as a small business owner. Ten MLK Quotes for Small Business Owners......1.The time is always right to do the right thing. 2. If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. 3.We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind. 4. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality. 5. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” 6. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. 7. You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. 8. If you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving. 9. Don't allow anybody to make you feel that you're nobody. 10. Nothing worthwhile is gained without sacrifice.
Do you have a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote that has helped you become a better leader, impacted the way you run your business or that has significant meaning to you? If so, share it with me in the comments below.
If you’re serious about building a thriving business, you have to be even more serious about who you let on your team. And this villegence not only applies to who let on your team, but who you allow to stay on your team. The truth of the matter is that regardless of how well you screen and vet candidates, a few bad apples may still slip in. Or more commonly, employees change and evolve as they work with your business. As that evolution happens you also have to make adjustments to protect your business and the culture of your company.
It only takes one toxic employee to ruin your business and the culture. That means, as small business owners we’ve got to be real aware of what types employees to avoid hiring and which ones we need to manage out of our business. To do this first you have to be ok with the fact that your business is not for everyone. You’ll never be the perfect employer for anyone. And honestly, that’s not your goal. Running and growing a thriving business is while being a fair and good employer is the goal. Second, you have to know what you’re looking for before these employees destroy your business. You can’t stop what you don’t know you should stop. There are at least five types of employees that will destroy your small business if you let them. Here are the five types of employees to look out for and stop before they wreck your business: The “It’s not my job” employee
This employee is the one who has probably memorized their job description for the sole purpose of being able to refuse to do work assigned to them. This employee is not a team player. They are not interested in your business or their jobs. They are there for a check. Your small business simply does not have the time for this employee. You do not have the time to convince someone to be a team player, to take initiative or be cooperative. You just don’t. And once other employees see this employee successfully push back on work then you have a really ugly problem on your hands. Bottom line, employees perform duties as assigned. Employees perform work until the needs of the business have been met. An employee who is not willing to do that is detrimental to a small business. You need employees who are willing to work outside of a limited scope of duties. For those not willing to do that, it’s time to move on.
The "Care about everything that's going in my world but I don't give a #&%! about the needs of your business," employee
We’ve all had this employee. Every week they have a crisis that prevents them from coming to work or affects their work. Someone is sick. The car won’t start. School is closed. It’s raining. It really doesn’t matter. If something in the world happens they can’t come to work and you’re supposed to understand. You’re supposed to let them off work. You’re supposed to give them hugs and teddy bears. And if you don’t, you’re the worst boss ever. But, if the needs of your business requires them to work five minutes over their scheduled shift, they are walking off the job or complaining to high heaven. This employee has to go. Of course, care about your employees. Be compassionate and flexible. However, you are certainly entitled to expect that flexibility and understanding to be returned.
The "Yeah, but they did this....." Employee
This employee just can’t take ownership of mistakes they’ve made to save their lives. When confronted with any type of performance or behavior issue, instead of owning what they did, and taking the consequences of their actions they take that as an opportunity to have a conversation about what Bill is or isn’t doing. This is all in an effort to take the heat and spotlight off their problems by comparing their performance with someone else. While they may be spilling valuable information, because we do need to know that Bill is taking a two hour lunch or watching XXX sites on the job, we’re not talking about Bill right now. Are we? Nope, we’re trying to coach and or discipline this employee. Listen, maturity matters in employees when you’re running a small business. Those on your team need to have the maturity and integrity enough to say they messed up, fix it and take whatever consequences comes with it. That’s part of being a working adult.
The "I didn't know", employee
Do they really not know or is it that they just don’t want to do it? Or even worse, do they simply not care? That’s your job as a small business owner to find out. If you can honestly say that the your employee has been properly trained, coached and offered the need resources for the employee to perform their jobs properly, then the problem is not skill. I’ll put that another way. They know how to do it. They are making a choice not too. That’s a huge problem for your small business. A small business needs employees who will correctly do their jobs, put the training provided to them into action and use resources (Those policies and procedures I’ve been encouraging you to write….) to do what it is that you hired them to do. When you have employees on your team who won’t take initiative to learn their jobs, you have huge liability on your hands.
Read It: WHY YOU NEED JOB PROCEDURE MANUALS + HOW TO CREATE THEM (YOUR FREE TUTORIAL)The “If this were my business, I would…” employee
Well sir or ma’am it’s not. It’s not their business. It’s your business. You have employees to carry out the policies, procedures, services and products of your business. This employee is dangerous because instead of doing their jobs, they are spending their energy undermining your business. This type of negativity will run rampant in your business if not stopped. Don’t take business advice from someone who has never run a business and probably never will. If they are interested in entrepreneurship, then give them plenty of time to launch the business of their dreams.
Do you have any of these on your team already? If you do, I’m sure you don’t have to think too hard about it. Their names pop up immediately. I’m not saying run out of your office and fire them. Not at all. What I am saying is be aware of the damage that these types of employees can do to your small business and begin to work with them on changing their behavior. The responsibility to improve is up to them. The ownership of managing that the behavior is up to you.
Do the words, “Employee Recognition” make you start to see dollar signs? Is it followed by thoughts of whether the investment in recognizing employees is worth the time and money? If so, you’re not alone. Employee recognition is one of those human resources things that we know we should do, but often don’t. I’m not judging. Sometimes the demands of just getting through the day and servicing your clients makes it hard to think about doing stuff like employee recognition. If it’s not time, then there is the money factor. This is expensive right? Well it depends on how you choose to incorporate employee recognition into your business. But a simple, fast and inexpensive way to recognize employees in your small business is by using your words.
Have doubts that a few words of appreciation will make a difference or as big of a difference as big dollar options? Well,according to a Career Builder survey, 40% of employee say they would not go over and beyond in their work performance if their employers did not recognize their contributions. So it’s time to speak up.
In this blog post I’m sharing some employee recognition phrases. Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start or what to say, so these will get you started. Just remember to make these your own and use them in a way that makes sense for you and your employees.
1. You did an amazing job on that.
2. You always have the best ideas. 3. We would not have gotten that done without you. 4. I appreciate you volunteering to work more hours. 5. It’s been so busy the past few days and you’ve been such a huge help to me. 6.You have a great work ethic. 7. Your can do attitude really motivates everyone who works with you. 8. You’re an employee I can count on to do the right thing. 9. Thank you for always stepping up. 11. You’re an awesome part of our team. 12. You really take pride in your work and that means a lot. 13. Is there something that you’re not good at? I don’t think that there is. 14. I can always trust you to do a good job. 15. If I want something done right, I know to ask you to do it.
16. Thank you for coming to work everyday on time.
17. You’re such a positive person and that really gives everyone a boost. 18. Thank you for taking initiative. 19. You’re the company Google search. I appreciate you learning about our business/industry and teaching your co-workers. 20. You’re such a good example of leadership for your team. Thank you for that. 21. If I could clone you I would! 22. Your attention to detail is impressive. 23. How do you get everything that you do around around here done? You’re a life-saver. 24.You always go over and beyond. 25.Obstacles never get in your way. You find a way to get things done. 26. You have such patience with new employees. I appreciate you teaching them the right way to do things. 27. Keep up the good work! 28. You always find a way to give me bragging rights! Just amazing. 29. How in the world did you do that? So impressive.
Now that you have the list, how will use these employee recognition phrases? If you try any of these out, let me know how they brightened up your employees day or improved moral!
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