Any good business owner knows that your employees are your greatest asset. Taking care of the people who work for you will not only make more people want to work for you but will also make the quality of your employees’ work better.

That said, as the owner of your small business, there are several things that you need to understand and get right in order to make sure you hire the right people and that you take care of those you hire. Here are 5 of them:

1. Having an effective hiring and retention process

Hiring the wrong employee may be one of the most common costly mistakes that a small business can make. Hiring the wrong person for the job not only wastes time and effort, but can cost your business around $14,900 on average.

In order to avoid this costly mistake, ask good questions in your interview process. Apart from making sure that your potential hire is qualified with the skills needed for the job, ask questions that tell you more about his/her personality. Remember that getting along with your employees can be just as important as their skill level.

2. Staying up to date on laws and regulations

Because employee and labor laws are always changing, small business owners need to stay up to date on the latest regulations to avoid penalties and potential lawsuits by their employees.

One of the most common errors made by small businesses (either intentionally or unintentionally) is misclassifying employees as independent contractors. This mistake can cost a small business thousands of dollars in fines.

Thankfully, there are HR experts who stay up to date on all the newest rules and regulations so that you don’t have to. We are proud to work with and recommend The HR Firm who manages our HR here at JR Bookkeeping.

3. Having a clear vision for your company’s culture

As the owner of your small business, it’s up to you to create the culture of your team and lead your employees in the values that you want for your business. Your employees want to know what the expectations are – what attitudes and beliefs are accepted in your business and which ones are discouraged.

Having an up to date and well-written employee handbook can help set these standards right off the bat and make sure that everyone on your team is on the same page.

4. Understanding the cost of benefits

One of the biggest draws of a company to potential employees is the quality of benefits that it offers. Competitive benefits are necessary to attract and retain employees, but they also can be very costly for your business.

What you need to figure out is the right balance of benefits that your business can afford and that will make you attractive to potential and current employees. Knowing your benefits options will give you the information you need to make the best decision for your team.

5. Payroll

If there’s one thing you need to get right in your business, it’s your payroll. Employees typically don’t take it very well (and rightly so) when they don’t get paid on time or their pay is inaccurate. It is up to you to take care of your employees and make sure that you fulfill your financial obligations to them.

As a small business, you have a couple of options when it comes to payroll. First, you can choose to try to keep track of it all by hand. But be aware that this method is the most time-consuming and prone to human error. A second option is to purchase a payroll software system like QuickBooks®. While managing your own payroll software system still takes time and energy, it is definitely a better option than managing payroll by hand.

The best option if your business’s budget allows it is to outsource your payroll needs to experts who can manage payroll for you. Hiring out your payroll needs cuts out the potential for error on your part and saves you time and the headache of running your business and taking care of your employees’ money at the same time.

That’s where we come in.

We have a dedicated payroll expert who can provide your business with personalized service based on your unique needs, so you can always rest assured that payroll is accurate, on-time, and government-compliant.

And here’s the best part: if you sign up, you’ll receive 1 month of payroll services for free!