Human Resources

The Urban Dictionary defines a “workation” as anytime you bring work material, laptops, paperwork or keep meetings in an attempt to “keep up” during personal or vacation time. The secondary definition is when you have to take a trip for work and you escape your home and family life for a few days and it feels like a vacation. The Online Slang Dictionary defines it as a paid work trip that can be combined with aspects of taking a vacation.

Never heard of the term before? See how the popularity of a workation can work for you or your employees.

Planning To Work Remotely
There is a big difference between taking your work on vacation to finish up something before a deadline and planning to take your work on vacation. Having to take your work on vacation only ruins your vacation and often you don’t get paid for the time you are working. A workation is exactly what it sounds like. Rather than sitting in your office surrounded by four walls and mountains of distractions, a workation allows you to go to a vacation destination and take your work with you. You can still attend meetings remotely, make video calls and finish projects. You pay for your trip while getting paid to work at a new location. Sometimes a change of view is all you need to improve productivity, mindset and work product.
In another type of workation, some larger companies may send their employees to a vacation destination and offer seminars, trainings, conferences and other events in other cities or countries. Usually these companies see to it that the employees work during office hours, leaving evenings and weekends free for the employee to enjoy and explore the destination. Here the company pays for the trip as well as for the work the employee does while there.
But why would you want to take a workation instead of a regular vacation? And how would this work for you as a small business owner?

Advantages and Disadvantages of Workations
Like every work option, workations have their pros and cons. Let’s take a look at each of those before delving into how your small business can make this work for yourself or your employees.

Pros:

• A workation allows you to step out of your normal work/life routine and enjoy work and leisure at a distant location.
• It gives you flexibility and helps you maintain a good work/life balance, allowing you to spend quality time with family members during your off hours.
• You gain an experience of international communication and experience if you desire.
• Personal enjoyment along with work improves efficiency.
• A workation gives you a change of scenery without using precious vacation days.
• You get to enjoy a fun new place or spend time with far-off loved ones during your lunches, nights and weekends.
• You don’t have to deal with the stress of preparing for, missing and recovering from a week off work.

To see the disadvantages of a workcation and what it can mean for your small business, read the full story HERE in the Fall/Winter 2018 issue of Tools for Success magazine. You can also pick up a print copy of the magazine at a Progress Bank location near you. Click for a complete list of LOCATIONS.

Consumers aren’t the only victims of fraud. As long as there have been businesses, there have been a number of scams that have affected them, from directory and invoice scams to the bigger threat of data breaches today due to technology advancements. Everyone has heard about the large data breaches that recently affected large retailers such as Target, Home Depot and Neiman Marcus. But many small business owners don’t understand how fraud and scams could end up hurting their bottom line and don’t take necessary measures in order to protect themselves. In addition, new businesses may not have the resources they need in order to protect themselves.

Small business owners should be aware of the different types of fraud so they can better protect themselves, their employees and their bottom lines. The threat to your business data and your customer information should put your business on high alert for protecting what is your most valuable resource-your information. Protecting business information itself-corporate secrets, banking information, accounts receivable/payable, customer information-is imperative. The Federal Trade Commission has stated it is a business’s responsibility to provide security for their systems that will protect their consumer information. It’s critical to spend the time and the dollars to hire a forensics IT person to go through your computer system and check it for every possible way a hacker could use to get through it and providing a block and firewall to stop them. Continually review your security measures as hackers revise their methods. Here are some of the most common deceptive business practices.

Phony Invoices
For years, Better Business Bureau has head from businesses who receive fake invoices demanding payments for products or services that they never ordered or received. Sometimes it’s passed along to accounts payable because the amount is low enough that it doesn’t initially raise a red flag. It’s important to have a system in place to match your purchase orders to your invoices and then make sure you are paying the right people. Sometimes, phony invoices are disguised as solicitations. The business will receive an invoice that looks like you are renewing an online directory listing or an ad in the Yellow Pages, even when you don’t have any of those listings. When you look at the “invoice” closer, there is fine print at the bottom which is actually a solicitation for your to participate in one of these activities. Look carefully at bills because a fake invoice can look legitimate and you might accidentally pay for it.

Directory Scams
A problem that has plagued businesses for decades involves deceptive sales for directories. Commonly, the scammer will call the business claiming they want to update the company’s information for an online directory or the business owner will receive an “online directory” renewal notice. Scammers are counting on the fact that business owners are busy and will make these notices appear legitimate, local or industry-targeted. Keep a list of the directories you are published in and evaluate the values of those directories on an annual basis.

Stolen Identity
Here, scammers pretend to be a legitimate company for the purposes of ripping off consumers. When it comes to stolen identity, the company doesn’t necessarily lose money, but their reputation is potentially tarnished as angry customers who were ripped of by the scammers think the real company is responsible. They may set up a fake website and “hijack” your company address.

The scams don’t stop here! Read about the many scams that can affect your business HERE in the Fall/Winter 2018 issue of Tools for Success magazine. You can also pick up a print copy of the magazine at a Progress Bank location near you. Click for a complete list of LOCATIONS.

David Smitherman has been the President and CEO of Better Business Bureau serving Central and South Alabama since 2006. He leads the state’s largest business ethics organization, providing education and information to businesses and consumers statewide.

Human Resource and hiring experts agree on one thing—employers need to up their game when it comes to recruiting and retaining top talent. In today’s economy, job seekers have many options to choose from and it takes a strategic approach to not only hire them but to retain them. Below are best practices to ensure your small business is proactive about future growth.

1. Build talent communities.
A talent community is a group of skilled employees engaged by relevant content appropriately peppered with the company’s brand that resonates with candidates. Waiting to recruit until the time of need is a foolish proposition. Within the high demand skill areas, such as Information Technology, this strategy fails to produce a high volume of readily available, high quality recruits.

2. Put a career site in place on your website.
Career sites are super easy and relatively inexpensive to put into place. Most Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) allow you to create custom landing pages to highlight careers on your website. Many of these systems syndicate to multiple job boards for free—increasing your exposure to qualified candidates.

3. Referral bonuses.
A referral bonus is used to incentivize employees to identify new talent by referring friends or peers within the industry to join your team. Who knows the qualifications of the job better than those who are currently in it? If a current employee refers a new employee to you that is subsequently hired (because let’s be honest, we all want to work with our friends), then provide them with a referral bonus.

4. Make sure you are spreading a consistent message.
From LinkedIn to Facebook to Instagram, every post you make should be telling the story of your brand. From employees volunteering in the community to team-building outings, everything you post is a subtle recruitment story and is the image of your environment and culture.

The above is an excerpt. To read more tips about how to retain and attract top talent, click HERE to read the full article in the Spring/Summer 2018 issue of Tools for Success magazine. You can also pick up a print copy of the magazine at a Progress Bank location near you. Click for a complete list of LOCATIONS.

Ashley and Bo Ryals are the owners of DecisiveIntel, a concierge recruitment marketing firm that targets cyber security, information technology and engineering firms in the Huntsville, Ala., area. They provide customized talent sourcing, career coaching and compliance consulting.

Are you struggling to achieve big goals while being consumed by petty issues that slow you down? If you’re like many business owners, you feel like you’re carrying a heavy load. You’re taking on entirely too much — and you know it — but you won’t let go. It’s not enough to tell you that you should be delegating more. You’d likely agree. Logically, it makes sense.

But in practice, you’re not following through. Start with these five easy tips for learning to let go:

1. Accept that you are not the ONLY person who can do a task well. As one client said, “I realized I was putting my ego first.”
2. Start small. Rather than handing over a major responsibility, ease into it by creating a less risky assignment for a direct report.
3. Look at the alternative. If you don’t stop trying to “do everything,” you’ll continue to be frustrated and burned out.
4. Develop your staff. The stronger their capability, the better you’ll function as a team.
5. See yourself differently. Leaders don’t do it all. They lead! Revise the image you have of yourself or your role.

Having trouble delegating? Put your excuses on the table. Then note the reasons why you must pass the baton when it comes to some tasks. What could be different in your business if you let go more easily?

Release your grip.

Author: Gayle Lantz is a leadership consultant, author, speaker and founder of WorkMatters, Inc., (www.WorkMatters.com) a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders think and work smarter. Learn more at our Contributors tab.

Keeping your business information confidential is an important part of your overall security. Is your company doing enough in this area? Below are five steps to help you keep your company’s business information confidential and out of the hands of your competitors.

1. Designate Information as Confidential. While this seems kind of obvious, this simple action will help categorize information important to your company’s security.
2. Develop a Policy Statement. A Policy Statement in your employee handbook will make employees aware of the confidential nature of information to which they have access, and how it should be handled.
3. Restrict Access. Sensitive information should be segregated from non-sensitive information.
4. Have Contractual Protections. Three types of contract provisions are common—non-competition agreements, non-solicitation agreements, and non-disclosure agreements. You should consult with your human resource and/or legal professionals to help you determine which agreements fit your particular needs.
5. Protect Electronic Data. Internet, E-mail, databases and other electronic communication methods are common in most workplaces, and for some, have replaced traditional paper communication and files. In order to protect confidential information and trade secrets, many of the same concepts discussed above should apply to electronic media as well.

Author: Charles Wilkinson, SPHR, is CEO of Human Resource Management, Inc., a management consultancy and outsourced administrative services organization. Learn more at our Contributors tab.