Financial Bits and Bytes

One of the largest challenges companies face when choosing an employee benefits package — other than the astronomical cost– is deciding how much of that cost the company should bear. The Kaiser Family Foundation Health Benefits Survey 2018 shows employees pay 17% towards employee-only coverage versus 28% for family medical coverage. The cost for the company is $5,711 for employee-only coverage versus $14,069 for family coverage. When creating your company’s strategy, give careful thought to these questions: How important are benefits in your company? Your benefits package must be aligned with your company’s culture and values. If you are a

There are 2.9 million full time virtual workers in the U.S., a 61 percent increase since 2005. Plus, 44 percent of U.S. companies plan to increase their virtual workforce. As virtual teams grow, the issue of how to manage, communicate, broker issues, collaborate and integrate team members becomes increasingly difficult. Without a cohesive team, the result may be duplicated effort, or incomplete tasks. Recruit the right people – Not everyone can work independently in a virtual environment. If not, they will be frustrated, and you will be disappointed. Recognize conflict when it appears – There can be conflict in any

I was watching a movie the other day, and a company executive walked into the office, a large room with row upon row of desks, filled with women typing on typewriters. It was sometime in the 50’s. My, how things have changed. The advances in mobile technology have changed the way we live, but the changes in the way companies get things done is just as significant. The typical new age company no longer has assigned desks for employees, and cubicles are a thing of the past. The office is an open environment. People have flexible hours, and since working

For nearly a century, performance management was shaped to “manage” performance. Often the subject of performance reviews brought dread to managers and employees alike. It is, in fact, the process whereby managers are asked to review an individual’s contribution against stated goals and objectives. Often, this undertaking is delayed in business and has been used historically to rank individuals within a department or begin the process of documenting performance improvement or failure, rather than performance achievement. In fact, if managers were leaders, they would know that they should not manage people. Instead, they should manage the process. People work within

Aside from whatever emotional feelings you might have about those two words, your decision likely reflects the way you run your business. The issue isn’t just about the emotion, it’s about how you lead, think, problem solve and ultimately, how you run your company. And to be honest, neither choice is wrong. But how you answer that question impacts how you deal with the problems and issues everyone faces at your company. Let’s look at this from some different directions. TIMEFRAME – Is the result immediate, or is it far reaching? SIGNIFICANCE – Is it practical, or is it thoughtful?