Hagel and Company Human Resources Blog - California, Idaho, Washington State HR News

Using overtime is a quick and easy way to meet demand that exceeds capacity. However, if your company uses overtime frequently, chances are there are other problems within your organization that need to be addressed. Does your company need to purchase new manufacturing equipment? Do you need to improve efficiency? Are your workers getting used to the extra pay and consider it part of their salary?

In order to maximize profits, your company must find ways to operate more efficiently. Reducing overtime costs can help your bottom line. But how can you do it successfully?

Here are five tips to help your organization streamline operations and reduce overtime costs:

Tip #1 – Get the tools and technology you need to be more efficient. Look for new ways to automate processes so employees can do their jobs faster. Consider using technology to automate workflows and improve project management. If employees can be more productive during regular work hours, overtime may not be needed.

Tip #2 – Employ additional staff, temps, or subcontractors. Some businesses naturally have peak periods. In order to meet seasonal demand, you could hire temporary workers or subcontractors to meet short-term needs. If your business is growing, develop a plan to hire additional full-time or part-time staff.

Tip #3 – Hire the best candidate for the job. Employees are most productive when they have the right skills and experience to do the job. Make sure you recruit qualified candidates and share job expectations.

Tip #4 – Train your workers. As your business grows and technology changes, you need to keep your employees informed. Take time to educate your workers on important internal policy changes and quality requirements. You should also provide opportunities to update job skills and certifications.

Tip #5 – Use overtime the right way. Sometimes you have to use overtime to meet an unpredicted spike in demand. Try to limit your company’s use of overtime to times like these. Give managers the tools they need to track overtime so they can understand where and how overtime is used in your company. You can then use that information to make strategic decisions about future hiring needs or process improvements.

Many businesses rely on time and attendance software to help track and manage employee work hours and pay policies. EmpowerTime by Empower Software automates the collection, calculation, and reporting of employee work transactions and is flexible to meet the unique needs of your business.

Empower can track any type of work environment using your labor rules and policies. The powerful calculation engine can support complex pay policies and unlimited work rules. Managers can access data from the desktop so they can sort and view overtime costs by employee—and stay up to date on exceptions that require immediate action.  Companies who successfully reduce overtime costs will further benefit from improved operations and efficiencies.

Most likely, your company has a maternity leave policy of some sort, whether the leave is paid or unpaid. If the business employs more than 10 people, it’s obligated under the Family Medical Leave Act to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, though your company may have its own more generous policy.

In either case, it’s important to talk with pregnant employees about their maternity leave before they take the time off. Consider discussing these issues:

• Will she take time off before the baby is born, or wait until the child’s birth? If she plans to leave ahead of time, make sure that she has wrapped up all of her work by that date, and that a replacement is ready to fill in if necessary. If she’s not planning on leaving until the baby’s birth, ask her supervisor to ensure that all critical work has been completed by several weeks before the due date and a fill-in is available at short notice.
• Will she plan on taking more time off than your company’s maternity leave guidelines offer? If she already knows that she’d like to spend more time at home, you may be able to combine the company’s maternity leave with its disability leave policy to provide her with more partially-paid time off.
• Does she plan to return to work at all? Many women aren’t certain if they’ll return to work until after a baby’s birth—but if your employee already knows that she won’t return or that she will stay at home for an extended time period, you may need to begin recruiting for a permanent candidate to take her place. Begin the process as early as possible; your employee may be able to provide help in choosing the right candidate and training him or her.

No matter what your company policy on maternity leave, you should talk with your employee about what they need and what the company needs before their time off begins.

When your company has a job opening, you want to fill it with the ideal candidate as quickly as you can. But all too often, the search process takes much longer than anyone would like. How can you improve your ability to find employees that make a significant, positive impact on the success of your business?

Online recruiting can give you quick and easy access to thousands of qualified candidates. And today, it is so much more than online job boards and resume banks. There are many social networking sites you can use to build your brand and increase your exposure to top talent. Here are five tips to make your online recruiting efforts shine:

Tip #1 – Use a variety of media channels. It is important to keep your open position listings up to date on your company page as well as online job boards like Monster and CareerBuilder. But if you want to really build your pipeline, make sure you cast a wide net. Leverage social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to post openings for your followers. Who wouldn’t want an employee that already likes your brand? You can also use Twitter hashtags to announce job openings: #hiring.

Tip #2 – Know how to search for specific talents. Sometimes your company needs a candidate with a specialized skill set. How do you find a needle in a haystack? Know how to narrow down your search. For example, LinkedIn has a group for almost every industry or skill you can think of and these are great places to find the right candidates. You can also Meetup with potential candidates that meet your skill and location criteria. For example, if you are looking for mobile developers in Brooklyn, try joining the Brooklyn iOS Developer Meetup which has more than 650 members.

Tip #3 – Be an expert and add value. When you use social networking tools, be sure to update your company’s profile regularly and demonstrate its role as a thought leader in your industry. Start a blog, post videos , and visit online forums and post comments or recommendations. These activities enhance your company’s image, build the brand, and make candidates want to work for you. Try joining an online community like Quora where people share expertise in a subject area that aligns with your business needs. Participate frequently and be recognized as a subject matter expert.

Tip #4 – Embrace technology. In order to attract top talent, you have to show that your company can successfully use new technologies.  Look at your recruiting strategy to see if there are other tools you could be using to build your pipeline. Does it make sense for your company to use mobile apps, location-based services, or QR codes?

Tip #5 – Follow up and follow through. Once you have attracted interested candidates, don’t lose them. Make sure you route qualified applicants to hiring managers for timely consideration. Gather immediate candidate-related feedback and keep candidates and referrals informed about where they stand in the process. Use recruiting tools to help automate the follow up process.

With so many sites and options to consider, recruiters need help managing the day to day administrative tasks involved in the recruiting process. The right online recruiting tools can help streamline the recruiting process and allow more time to focus on finding the best job candidates. Recruiting software simplifies the entire process from start to finish—from automatic posting of open positions to your company website and uploading to online job boards to generating offer letters and email communications. With the right software, you can spend more time building your pipeline of qualified candidates and fill open positions more quickly and efficiently.

See also: Hagel Search