Employees

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If Your Employees Are Your Greatest Resource…

November 20, 2008 in Management and Operations | No comments

…then spend time with them.

Your employees need you to lead them, train them, and inspire them.  Infiltrate their work processes and mindsets with reasons behind why they are doing what they are doing.  Don’t ever let your employees get away with “just coming to work.”  If they ever succumb to this mindset, then it’s the owners fault.

It takes time to spend time with your employees.  But five employees can represent you to the world and touch your clients five times faster than you can.  But they can do it wrong, too.  Lead them, train them, and inspire them so that when they represent you to the world they get it right.

The bigger your organization becomes and the more employees you have, the more inward-focused your time must become.  Turn your time to your employees and your organization’s health.  Lead them.  Train them.  Inspire them.  

Watch your organization grow.  Watch their joy increase.  Watch your profits soar.

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Tuesday Tax Time

August 18, 2008 in Tuesday Tax Time | No comments

Beware…

The IRS don’t play no games when it comes to the classification of your workers into the ”subcontractor” or “employee” camp.  Did you know that YOU don’t get to totally chose how to pay your people?  They are either subcontractors or employees, as determined BY THE IRS.

Common trick: employers would rather not have employees because they have to withhold taxes for them and pay in taxes (an expense to the business) for their employees.  So, they call them “subcontractors” and don’t worry about taxes.  It saves them time and money.  Pretty smart, huh?  Not really.  An employer may have to pay big time if they have been misclassifying employees as subcontractors…  as in penalties and interest dating back the time they began the missclassification.

Here are a few methods the IRS is using to crack down on employers who misclassify their workers:

1.  The states are going to start sharing information with the IRS that they’ve gleaned from their state payroll audits.  To be sure, more IRS audits will follow.  And the states are often more aggressive than the federal government (IRS) in the collection of taxes owed to them.

2.  Additional “matching software” is being employed by the IRS to determine who is tagged for the next audit.  For example, when a company is not issuing W-2s, but is issuing 1099s to subcontractors of $25k or more, then that company will potentially become a target of an audit.  Keep in mind: the IRS always assumes that companies have employees, thus should be issuing some W-2s.

3.  Taxpayers who don’t want to be classified as subcontractors can file Form 8919 now to tattle to the IRS concerning their employers’ failure to withhold and pay taxes on them.  This handy dandy form can greatly assist subcontractors who don’t want to pay self employment taxes at the end of the year.

The risks in playing the “payroll game” are VERY high.  As an employer, you may have saved time and money, but I’ve seen houses foreclosed on and bank accounts wiped out by the IRS due to the failure to pay payroll taxes timely.  Don’t play this game…

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that (i) any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code; (ii) any such tax advice is written in connection with the promotion or marketing of the matters addressed; and (iii) if you are not the original addressee of this communication, you should seek advice based on your particular circumstances from an independent advisor.

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Selling Yourself… to your Employer

June 17, 2008 in Business, Other Thoughts | No comments

Some time ago, I posted about how an employer can sell themselves to their employees.  Well, that works the other way around.  I’ve consulted with employees on selling themselves to their employers.

Too often, employees are simply ”working for the man” unaware that their employer may be:

  1. Considering a replacement for their position,
  2. Looking for someone to sell their business to,
  3. Ready to implement new strategies in their business, and they need that special person to carry out these new ideas, or
  4. Assessing the job duties of each employee in anticipation of an upcoming job review

Whatever the case, it does a person good to sell themselves to their employer in a way that doesn’t come across as kissing up.  Make your intentions to your employer known so as to avoid the “brown nosing” effect that could result from this activity.

pic from bobbyearle.blogspot.comHere is an example my dad shared with me when I first started working:

My dad had just started his career at Meyers Arnold in Greenville, SC and was working in the accounts payable department.  The Accounting Manager had just left his position and my dad knew he could perform the job.  They began looking outside to fill the position.  My dad went to the manager and literally asked for the Accounting Manager position.  However, he did not require a pay increase, and asked for the job on a contingent basis.

Of course, my dad did an awesome job and when it came time for his job review, my dad asked for a raise to go along with his big bad new title.  They obliged and were thankful to have my dad on staff.

I’ve used that story to inspire me to do the same thing, receiving a bonus and over an 18% pay increase in one year.  It was great.  But I knew there was value behind my request.

In selling yourself to your boss, make sure there is value that will leave your employer unable to say no to your requests or desires.  Make sure you have already added value to your position.  Selling yourself should never come with promises to do well.  They come with examples of excellent work already performed.  Even better, selling yourself to your employer (in whatever capacity) is always more welcomed when you have padded your bosses pockets.

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer  

 

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Selling Yourself… to your employees

November 25, 2007 in Management and Operations | 5 comments

setting-the-vision.jpg  You don’t think you have to sell yourself to your employees… just because you’re the boss?

You can try that approach, but effectiveness and followers are awarded to those who sell themselves to their employees.  This can also be thought of as “passing on the vision.”  Visionary people are awarded followers… followers that assist you in achieving your goals.  And they become faithful followers because they know you believe in your vision.  Then they eventually catch on to the vision as well.  But its not just to use them to get what you want – its about giving them the vision they want to latch on to anyway.  Why not go ahead and give them your vision?

But don’t try to sell a cheap or “adhoc” version of the vision – one created on the spot.  It’s got to be your REAL vision.  My firm is changing, and that means we’ll be adding new staff at the turn of the year.  I owe it to my staff to let them know why they work there, why we are the best and what we offer our clients.  To do this, we’ll have a “visionary” meeting the first day we are all together in the new year.  I have big dreams for our firm, and I want my dreams to be their dreams too.  The best way to get them on board is to sell myself to them.  Then they can believe in the person who has the dream!

And once are employees are on the street, and someone asks them what its like to work at our firm, they’ll begin selling the vision.  And selling the vision ultimately produces clients who believe in the vision as well.  And clients then refer new clients… and so on… and so on…  all because we were committed to passing on the vision of our firm.

Let this upcoming year be the year you start selling yourself to your employees… for their joy at work, and the furtherance of your business!

Thanks, Jason M. Blumer

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