November 2011 Newsletter

Make Your Customers Love You

In today’s economy, companies are keenly focused on keeping current customers while bringing on additional to increase revenue.  Maintaining a balanced client base can be difficult due to various factors including changes to the company’s services, products, rates, etc. and this means we have to ensure our clients’ needs are met on every level.  Here are a few ways companies can keep their happy and devoted customers:

  1. Experienced Staff: Make sure the employees working at your company are current in their areas of expertise.  Provide training classes on a regular basis, if necessary, to ensure that your staff has the skills necessary to interact with customers on a daily basis. Any contact your team has with a customer reflects the look and feel of the company and this can either make or break the reputation you have worked hard to maintain.  
  2. Open Communication: Companies should always be available to their clients via phone, e-mail, Web site or personal visit.  Send out newsletters to stay connected and if you haven’t heard from a particular customer in a while, reach out to check in.  Take any suggestions you receive seriously and commend them if it actually improves the end product. Over time, the goal is to build relationships with customers so they feel connected and taken care of in all aspects of their business. Not only does this pay off in the long run but it can also bring additional business to your company through client referrals. 
  3. Customer Service:  One of the most important aspects of a company is customer service.  Clients rely on responsive, accurate and friendly service. Answer the phone with a smile, make sure to get ALL the details and clarify their request, find out if they have a deadline to receive the information, and conclude the call by asking if there is anything else you can do. If necessary, send follow up in a timely manner.  Keep the customers satisfied with the service they are receiving and they are more likely to stay.  Not to mention, may be more forgiving if problems arise.
  4. Know the Business: Do you know what type of business all of your customers are in?  Do you take an active stance to get to know what they do on a daily basis?  Appreciate the diversities of your customers, sympathize with failures, and celebrate their successes. Taking a proactive approach will set your company apart from others and make a lasting impression.  After all, most do extensive research before coming on board with your company. 
  5. Show Appreciation: Customers are the bloodline for any company and directly impact revenue. At every opportunity, thank your customers and let them know they are important.  This small gesture goes a long way and places value where it is due – on the CUSTOMER.  

Changing How We Handle Mental Health Issues in the Workplace

Mental health is rarely discussed in the workplace, yet many of us will have some form of a mental health issue during our careers.  Employees are often reluctant to disclose that they are suffering from a mental health problem because they fear that they will be viewed as weak, of low character, or of little resolve to correct their own issues.

Employees often will not seek treatment because they feel their employer will perceive them as unable to handle their job responsibilities.  The employee may further conclude that their job evaluations will be poor and that their jobs could be in jeopardy.  Refusal to seek treatment can lead to lower job productivity and may damage the individual’s career and health.  In fact, many of the studies in the field of mental health conclude that the indirect costs, such as lost productivity and absenteeism, actually will exceed how much the company spends on health insurance contributions and pharmacy expenses. 

According to Mental Health America (formerly the National Mental Health Association), the following employee behaviors may be signs of a mental health problem:

  • Working slowly
  • Missing deadlines
  • Calling in sick frequently
  • Increasing absenteeism
  • Expressing irritability and anger
  • Having difficulty concentrating and making decisions
  • Overworking
  • Forgetting directives, procedures and requests.

Researchers analyzing results from the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey, a nationally representative study of Americans ages 15 to 54, reported that 18% of those who were employed said they experienced symptoms of a mental health disorder in the previous month. Fortunately, only about 6% of the U.S. population suffers from a serious mental health problem according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). 

According to NAMI, “mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning.  Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.” NAMI considers serious mental illnesses to include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and borderline personality disorder.

We can conclude from these studies that both the employees and the companies that employ them would benefit from the investment in the mental health of their workers.
Companies need to tackle the stigma that comes with the view of mental illness.  They can start by creating an atmosphere where employees seek treatments of mental illnesses, just as they do for physical illnesses.

Effective Meeting Strategies

With the technology available today, is it that important to hold face-to-face meetings? The answer to that is an unequivocal “yes”. Consider the time spent composing a detailed e-mail, or the aggravation of playing phone tag only to have your call returned just after you have left your desk. If conducted properly, meetings can make your company function more efficiently and boost morale.

Since most e-mails summarize information rather than discuss issues in depth, you may actually be creating murky points and losing the interest of the participants. Holding a meeting instead of sending some emails will foster the interaction, creativity and attention needed to bring certain items to closure.

Weekly meetings are the perfect time to bring your employees up to date on past activities as well as prepare them for future projects.  “In the know” employees are more likely to participate in the discussion and budget the time they’ll need to work on an upcoming project. Even in crunch time, well-planned, effective meetings can save valuable time and reduce errors as questions are answered directly and instructions are delivered clearly.

Following are a few guidelines to help to keep meetings productive and on task.

  • Provide an agenda and stick to it
  • Put a time limit on your meetings and end at the designated time
  • Gear the amount of time for the meeting to what needs to be accomplished
  • Have someone take meeting minutes so that participants can focus on the topics
  • Have everyone prepare a section of the meeting so no one person is stuck doing everything
  • Note action items and follow up steps

 

The easy part is deciding on the topics and planning the meeting. The more difficult part is keeping the employees interested in what you have to say. Don’t be afraid to break away from the traditional format. Have fun, be creative, and solicit audience participation. Mixing up the meeting format will help to keep participants on their toes as well as hold their interest.

Discipline And Termination Policies

All managers, however reluctantly, must deal with employee discipline and termination. As with evaluations, discipline must be consistent for all employees. Inconsistent discipline is difficult to explain and problematic as employees can argue that they received harsher discipline because of a protected characteristic such as race or gender.
In addition to maintaining consistent disciplinary practices, you should keep a written record of the discipline. Even if the employee merely receives a verbal warning, there should be some notation in their personnel file.

Written records document how you advised employees that their conduct was unacceptable and, in some cases, gave them another chance. It’s difficult to later argue that you didn’t promote an employee because of his pervasive tardiness when there’s no record that you ever disciplined him for being tardy.

Termination – The Ultimate Discipline
The same rules apply to the ultimate discipline — termination. For example, if you suspend Employee A for misconduct but fire Employee B for engaging in the same misconduct, you will quickly find yourself in a difficult position. In a lawsuit, Employee B can argue that his dismissal must have been for some impermissible reason rather than for his alleged misconduct. While you can attempt to offer an explanation for the inconsistent treatment, it may end up hurting your company in the long run.

The Bottom Line
Consider every employment decision you make from all angles and make the determination whether it could be misconstrued to support an employee’s claim. If you find yourself having to provide a complicated explanation for your decision, chances are you need to step back and reevaluate whether it could withstand scrutiny in a lawsuit.
Please be aware of and educated on various practices to ensure when you are in a situation to discipline or terminate an employee you are fully prepared to defend your course of action.

OSHA Update

OSHA Issues Annual Inspection Plan To Protect Workers In High-Hazard Workplaces

OSHA issued its annual inspection plan under the Site-Specific Targeting 2011* (SST-11) program to help the agency direct enforcement resources to high-hazard workplaces where the highest rates of injuries and illnesses occur. The SST program is OSHA’s main programmed inspection plan for non-construction workplaces that have 20 or more workers. High-hazard workplaces identified in the SST program reported above-average work-related injury and illness rates, based on data collected from a 2010 OSHA Data Initiative survey of 80,000 larger establishments in selected high-hazard industries. Establishments are randomly selected for inspection from a primary list of 3,700 manufacturing, non-manufacturing, and nursing and personal care facilities.

"By focusing our inspection resources on employers in high hazard industries who endanger their employees, we can prevent injuries and illnesses and save lives," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels. "Through the SST program we examine all major aspects of these operations to determine the effectiveness of their safety and health efforts."

Two changes have been made to this year’s SST program. In 2010, only those establishments in the selected industries with 40 or more employees were subject to inspections under the SST plan; this year, that number has been reduced to 20 or more. An evaluation study measuring the program’s impact on future compliance with OSHA standards has also been introduced for the 2011 program.

Payroll Corner

Banks will be closed on Friday November 11th for observance of Veterans Day. Four Point HR will be open however payrolls with a Friday check date will be affected. Further information will be sent to those clients processing payroll for the November 11th check date.

Four Point HR will be closed on Thursday November 24th and Friday November 25th for the Thanksgiving holiday. Clients with payroll affected by the holiday closure, will receive further information prior to the holiday week.

Now Available—TASC Card With MyCash

The TASC Card now features an industry-first combination. With MyCash, reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses are deposited right in the TASC Card’s MyCash account (unless you’ve elected direct deposit). No more waiting for reimbursement checks to arrive via the mail

TASC (Total Administrative Services Corporation), which provides employers with innovative, tax-advantaged employee benefits programs, has released the latest employee benefits debit card. Used by over 2,300 Cardholders to date, the new TASC Card provides participants with access to funds, greater flexibility and convenience when using those funds. More than 250,000 Plan Participants will begin to take advantage of this innovative new card over the next few weeks.

The TASC Card actually manages two separate accounts.
(1) As TASC pioneered several years ago, the TASC Card’s MyBenefits account is connected to various employee benefits account(s), such as Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) or Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). Plan Participants use the benefits accounts to make purchases that are deemed eligible by their specific benefits account(s).

(2) With MyCash, the TASC Card is now connected to a cash account as well. When using the funds in the MyCash account, purchases are not limited regarding their type. The TASC Card will automatically access MyCash to complete the purchase, if MyCash funds are available in employee benefit account.

The TASC Card automatically determines the eligibility/ineligibility of each item being purchased, and knows whether to use, MyBenefits, MyCash, or a combination of both. For more information, existing customer can call Customer Care at 1-800-422-4661 or login into your TASC account.