Be Prepared for Employment Matters

Companies need proper systems and processes to thrive. One of the areas that companies are a little hit and miss about is in employment matters. Besides the obvious issue that all companies are searching for new team members to join their teams, many companies may not be prepared for that new team member to join them. If they do have a new team member, but they are a bad fit, what is the process for terminating their employment? What about training that new person? What do you have in place to acclimate the new team member to their job and what the company policies are? How do you incentivize your new team member?

Most companies look at this area of their business as not making them any money, so why should they spend a lot of time on it? The truth is that this is the focal point of the business—their team members. Acclimating new team members to know the vision and goals for the company, as well as what their duties will be in their job will help to onboard that team member more quickly and be able to make more money to support that company. Employees build stronger loyalty and work harder for companies with a good culture where they feel valued. Having a proper way to incentivize your team member will also cause them to make more money for the company. This all starts with how you bring them onboard.

Proper documentation can also save the company money. If you have a clear set of job duties for the position, a clear hire letter or contract of employment, and clear company policies, you are less likely to have a disagreement with a departing team member. This can result in less breach of contract lawsuits, EEOC claims, and less conflict between the team members and others. What is that worth to the company?

The company should have these things in writing, along with template documents to support the employment area. For instance, the company should have:

• Clear job descriptions in writing. Many companies are finding success in preparing a video of the job description which is loaded on the computer of new team member for their particular job. As the team member grows into their job, that description may need to be updated both in writing and in video.
• A copy of the company vision also loaded on the team member’s computer, along with the goals of the company. Having a new employee orientation is also a great idea to share company goals, vision, and culture.
• A copy of the team members goals as part of the overall company goals and why that is important to the company, as well as the team member’s future with the company.

The company needs the following documents, as well:

• Template offer letters, contracts, packages of new hire forms, incentive pay documentation, written company policies, employee handbook, employee review forms, severance agreement, to name a few.
• Training manuals for the team members who supervise and review the performance of other team members, along with current training for these team members. Allow those team members to devise monetary and nonmonetary ways to motivate the team members in the company.
• Training videos or other materials which may be necessary to further train team members on better ways to do their jobs, which will make the team more efficient, and in a manufacturing environment, this encompasses a safe environment as well.
• Crisis management plans including natural disasters and active shooters.

It may seem like this is common sense, but it is often overlooked because businesses are focusing outside their business and forgot about how important it is to strengthen and grow inside their business. In review of the lists above, most everything is geared toward having better, well trained, and happier team members, which will result in a more profitable and forward-thinking company for its owners and investors.

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Denice Gierach

Gierach Law Firm

Denice Gierach is an attorney, CPA, Northwestern University business master's graduate, and has owned several businesses from real estate to manufacturing. She is the lead attorney at Gierach Law Firm in the Chicago area. With more than 30 years of experience, she has been a respected and sought-after resource for businesses looking to grow, sell, solve problems, and succeed long term. Her insights across business areas gives a fuller lens to business issues and solutions, and helps businesses grow and succeed with less time spent on legal issues and other time-consuming problems.

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