Eli’s Advice

It’s a tough decision that may have a bigger impact on your business than you think. Hear insights from our H.R. experts on what to consider, and gain the confidence to make the best decision.

You may have done interviews before, but the stakes are greater when you’re hiring for your own business. Get tips from experienced small business owners on which critical questions to ask and how to evaluate candidates during interviews.

One way to attract and retain good workers is to offer rewards and benefits. Review best practices from a successful small-business employee-recruiting expert that will bring out the best in your employees and fit within your budget.

You probably started your business so you could be your own boss—not someone else’s—but you have a responsibility to your employees once you hire. Find out from our expert H.R. executives how best to engage, motivate and help your workers grow.

Not every person you hire ends up being a perfect fit. Learn from our HR experts how to know when it’s time for a worker to go, and what rules you need to follow.

But don’t get too excited yet.  Simply stating that the former employee should not receive benefits is not good enough.  The unemployment administration will ask for documentation.  Actually, they’ll want to see progressive documentation.  For instance, if John Doe is terminated for poor attendance, you will need to show that Mr. Doe was notified of his poor and unacceptable attendance record, (preferably in written form), and that he was ultimately terminated due to poor attendance.  Simply terminating him on the first offense will not be enough to show that he was well aware that his actions were leading to his termination.  However, if you can show that he was warned then ultimately terminated despite the warning, you may establish that John Doe lost his employment through his own doing and is therefore completely at fault for his loss of employment.]

As small and medium businesses evolve, the value of partnering with a HR consulting firm becomes even greater. With proven expertise in recruiting (including interviewing, background screening and salary negotiation) to rely on, a company’s management can instead focus on strategic planning, confident that a consultant is tracking down the best potential hires. By implementing HR best practices, including formal job descriptions, employee handbooks and benefits administration, H.R. firms help to foster a working environment that entices experienced workers to stay, while attracting the most qualified new recruits.

Sometimes, even when we try our best, we find ourselves lagging behind the standards set both by the company we work for and by ourselves. These are the times when we have to take stock of our activities, do the analysis, and come up with answers as to why we’re not performing up to the mark. Only then is it easy to find ways to increase productivity. Here are a few pointers on how you can make sure you perform to your maximum potential every day at your job:

Get organized:

Planning and carrying out those plans to perfection are very important aspects of productivity. If you do not have a schedule lined up for the day, you’re only going to be flitting from task to task like a butterfly from flower to flower, not getting anything worthwhile done in the process. Use a PDA or an online calendar to prioritize your tasks in order of importance and stick to your routine as much as possible. If something unexpected comes up, you must be able to attend to it, and come back and finish the task you were interrupted from.

Refuse some requests:

If you try to please everyone at work, you’ll only end up pleasing nobody by doing slipshod work in whatever activity you undertake. When colleagues ask for help, it’s ok to say no at times when you’re bogged down with enough work of your own. Be polite in your refusal and take the time to explain that while you would love to help out, circumstances do not permit you to do so.

Delegate a little:

If you find yourself overwhelmed with smaller, repetitive tasks that anyone with a lesser skill set could achieve, delegate them. Use your skills where they really count, in the tasks that only you and no one else can do as well. If routine matters like filing, sending and checking mail and answering phone calls are left to someone else, you’ll find that you have more than enough undisturbed time to spend on important assignments.

Cut down on communication:

The biggest wasters of time at the office are phone calls, checking emails and surfing the net. Make it a point to check your email and go on the Web only when it’s absolutely necessary. If you need to, hire someone to screen your calls and take only those that are important.

You had access to unlimited funding resources to cover your weekly burden?

Even the most growth-oriented companies are hampered if they lack adequate financial support. For small to mid-sized businesses, obtaining additional working capital is difficult, if not impossible, because banks focus on the strength of financial statements, rather than the strength of collateral. Yet it is the very strength of that collateral that ELI payroll funding uses to help your business grow. With ELI payroll funding as your financial partner, you can increase your cash flow, improve your purchasing power and enhance productivity.

You never had to secure another workers’ compensation policy?

One of the biggest challenges of workers’ compensation is the ability to maintain competitive rates. ELI workers’ compensation is based on the principle that it’s better to work together than alone.

What could you do without large down payments, installment payments and workers’ compensation audits? How about the time, energy and money you spend on administrating workers’ compensation claims? Would you be able to use that time and energy looking for new business?

You were able to let your new client know that you are providing employee benefits?

Over the years we have put together an employee benefit plan that provides major medical, mini- medical, dental, STD, and life insurance. We have thousands of happy employees using this coverage every day. If you are looking for a way to distinguish yourself from the rest of the companies, this is a definitely a win for you at a very inexpensive cost.

You were paid each year for the employees that you hired?

With many of our solutions, we act as the legal employer. This allows us to receive federal credits for hiring certain individuals. We return this credit to you at 50% of the value of the credit. Each year our clients look forward to this benefit.

You had a back office that truly understands what it’s like to have employees?

We provide professional HR support, payroll, taxes, W2s, background checks, DMV, unemployment administration, workers’ compensation administration, E-verify, debit card and direct deposit and even drug testing. Each and every week we are here working with you