New York SBDC Research Network

Companies trying to decide whether it’s worthwhile to create a friendly workplace could do well to consider this: Companies that employees report to be a good place to work have significantly outperformed the S&P 500 over the past six years. The data comes from Glassdoor Inc., an online job and company information website, which solicits employees to post anonymous reviews of their employers. The employee ratings are aggregated and analyzed to produce an annual list of the best places to work, published since 2008. More from AIER

By Barbara Weltman From time to time, an employee going through a rough financial patch may turn to an employer for help. As member of your small business family—which is how many owners view their staff—you want to be helpful. But lending money to an employee should only be done after considering all the issues. Practical concerns There’s no right or wrong answer when someone asks you for a loan. Your decision to help out often depends on the particular facts and circumstances. But before you make a loan to someone on your payroll, here are some of the questions you might want to ask: *Do you have serious concerns about being repaid? If you aren't repaid, will the loss materially impact you or your business? What happens if you need to terminate the worker before the loan is repaid (e.g., your business contracts; the employee’s performance becomes unacceptable)? *Will you be setting a dangerous precedent and become an easy mark for other employees? (Don’t think that word

Why has LinkedIn become such an instrumental networking tool for businesses and potential employees? Employers are using social networks to find potential employees because that’s where they spend the majority of their time. With the outstanding number of people interacting on social media websites every day, employers are searching for potential employees in the all the right places. LinkedIn has become is a professional networking site that helps individuals connect and stay in contact with employers and coworkers no matter if they move or make changes in their career. It was launched on May 5, 2003 and has more than 200 million users in over 200 countries. LinkedIn is now being used as an effective source to assess potential employee’s professionalism, personality, level of intelligence, or, in many cases, lack thereof. A huge advantage of LinkedIn is that employers can view the professionals with which the candidate currently connects. Most recently, business connections seem t

US Business Leadership Network companies recognize that the “gold standard” of disability-inclusive hiring starts with building the talent pipeline through effective partnerships. While internships have long been recognized as an essential strategy in this regard, since Disability Mentoring Day was launched as a White House Initiative back in 1999, mentoring youth with disabilities has also gained prominence. Today, Disability Mentoring Day is hosted annually by the American Association of People with Disabilities and celebrated on the third Wednesday of each October. During the 2011 USBLN Annual Conference, the discussion topic for the Industry Sectors Roundtable was, “How does your company develop the current and future applicant pipeline including young adults with disabilities?” Participating Fortune 1000 companies shared that their DMD involvement resulted in the recognition that mentoring youth with disabilities is a business strategy to increase sourcing of qualified future jo

...someone stood up and asked a very interesting question about employees having too much freedom. His basic question (slightly paraphrased) was: “there are a lot of employees that are already screwing around at work and doing nothing when they should be working, why do we want to give them even more freedom?” The question got a lot of laughter from the audience, just imagine it being asked in a heavy English accent with a wee bit of profanity behind it. The answer from SmallBusinessNewz .

From MoneyWatch : The popularity of workplace wellness programs suggests that more employers than ever believe that healthy employees are more productive. Ivan Misner, founder of networking organization BNI.com, which has over 150,000 members worldwide, believed it and challenged his staffers to a 90-day diet makeover -- what he called "The Misner Plan Challenge." Followers ate fresh, organic produce, small amounts of seafood, and food rich in healthy fats like olives and avocados, while avoiding processed, packaged foods and saturated fats. Here's what he's finding with his healthy experiment.

From the ASBDC blog : Pick Up The Boss Work "One of the most common thing that employees do when they become the boss is they still do employee tasks.That kind of work is supposed to be done by employees and you are supposed to do boss work! When we run a business, it is our job to build systems and manage people to run these systems. If you find yourself doing the work, keep asking yourself, how can I replace myself for this task?" - Louis Lautman | Founder, Supreme Outsourcing

From Small Business Newz : Ninety-seven dollars for that? Heck, I can find the information for free on the interwebs. Yep. The number changes, but the “I can do it myself” virus just keeps sticking. (Yes, I’m guilty too.) Admit it. You’ve probably said that yourself in the last week or so. We’re all guilty of it. Doing things ourselves was one of the reasons we became our own boss — so we could do it our way. Right? But continuing to do things yourself instead of hiring staff or outsourcing the work won’t help you grow your business. And on top of that, if you are doing all the work, you have hired the most expensive person in your company. That doesn’t help the bottom line, does it?

From the GALLUP Business Journal : Since the financial meltdown of 2008 and the recession that followed, the American workforce has struggled to adapt to an uncertain economic climate. Sluggish growth, persistently high unemployment, and sharp spending cuts by businesses and consumers alike have taken a toll. The Three Types of EmployeesThough the state of the U.S. economy has changed substantially, the state of its workplace has not. According to Gallup's State of the American Workplace: 2010-2012 report , employee engagement levels remain stagnant among U.S. workers. By the end of 2012, as the U.S. inched toward a modest economic recovery, only 30% of American workers were engaged, or involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their workplace. Though this figure matches the all-time high since Gallup began tracking the U.S. working population's engagement levels in 2000, U.S. business leaders shouldn't be patting themselves on the back. An alarming 70% of Am

From the Harvard Business Review : Moody, erratic, eccentric, and arrogant? Perhaps — but you can't just get rid of them. In fact, unless you learn to get the best out of your creative employees, you will sooner or later end up filing for bankruptcy. Conversely, if you just hire and promote people who are friendly and easy to manage, your firm will be mediocre at best. Suppressed creativity is a malign organizational tumour. Although every organization claims to care about innovation, very few are willing to do what it takes to keep their creative people happy, or at least, productive. So what are the keys to engaging and retaining creative employees? [Not that I'd agree with #5, unless Wall Street brokers were paid likewise.]

This memorandum explains the Tax Department’s existing policy concerning employer withholding on the wages paid to certain nonresident employees whose primary work location is outside of New York State and who are expected to work 14 days or fewer in New York State during the calendar year. Law and background Section 601(e) of the Tax Law imposes a personal income tax on the New York source income of a nonresident individual. The New York source income of a nonresident individual includes wages and other compensation for services performed in New York State. Section 671 of the Tax Law provides that every employer maintaining an office or transacting business in New York State and paying any wages subject to New York State personal income tax must deduct and withhold tax from those wages during each calendar year. The amount withheld must be substantially equivalent to the tax reasonably estimated to be due from the inclusion of the wages in the employees’ New York adjusted gross

CBS News MoneyWatch The management fad of the millennium is employee "engagement." Gallup has done a remarkable job of marketing it as the one metric for improving everything from employee retention to business performance. But does it work? Not necessarily. Sure, every executive and business leader wants employees to care about their jobs and the success of their company. That's a no-brainer. But accurately measuring employee engagement, developing the right strategies to improve it, implementing them, and not screwing up anything else in the process is far easier said than done. More importantly, at least one credible expert and a human capital analytics consultancy firm say the cause-and-effect relationship between employee engagement and business results isn't compelling, primarily because their drivers are not necessarily the same.

Do you know how much privacy your employees are entitled to? For example, if you feel employees are abusing their work privileges, is it legal to intercept emails or phone conversations to find out what they’re up to and confirm your suspicions? Can you ask potential job candidates for their Facebook profile log-on information? Here are some general guidelines that can help.

Presented by the Internal Revenue Service February 15, 2012, 2 p.m. EASTERN, 1 p.m. CENTRAL, Noon MOUNTAIN, 11 a.m. PACIFIC This FREE webinar is for: • Tax practitioners • Small business owners & industry organizations • Payroll professionals • Tax exempt and Government entities Learn about: Employee and Independent Contractor issues and the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program including: • Defining workers as employees and independent contractors • What to consider in determining a worker’s status • Looking at important Forms SS-8 and 8919 • How to treat corporate officers • Determining if you qualify for federal employment tax relief under Section 530 • Details about the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program Note: CPE credit is not being offered for this webinar Register & Attend: Click on the link to register for the session Information: • Visit www.IRS.gov and search Webinars for information about other events. • This event will be ar

Ever feel that your employees don’t respect you? You may think: “So what!” But that would be a mistake. The trouble is that when an employee starts to lose respect, your authority and control can quickly be undermined. Even if you are not aware of a problem employee, the effect can be toxic. Productivity levels drop, accountability diminishes, and the problem behavior can spread to others. But there are things you can do to develop, maintain, and even recover the respect of your employees without resorting to disciplinary measures. Read more .

From The Dreamspeaker : Although the June 2011 report published by the McKinsey Global Institute states that the recession has caused a decline of seven million U.S. jobs since December of 2007 as well as a drop of 23% in the rate of new business formulation we face a shortage of qualified workers. Quoting the McKinsey report, “In our survey 64% of companies reported having positions for which they often cannot find qualified applicants, with management, scientist and computer engineers topping the list.” More than ever, the skills of job seekers don’t fit the demands of job openings.

The use of independent contractors are a flexible option for employing workers and a legitimate way to avoid some payroll tax obligations. But government authorities are on the lookout for employers who misclassify their workers, when they are really employees. Read about the the most recent government efforts to correct this type of activity, whether it was done accidentally or on purpose. However, a new government (IRS) program allows employers to reclassify their employees on a voluntary basis, drastically reducing any back taxes or penalties owed on the status change. But only if you go to them first. For more details on what steps you can take to manage this issue, see the story on correcting worker misclassification . IRS Makes Voluntary Reclassification of Workers Less Taxing

"Americans work almost 200 more hours every year than we did in 1970 — that's about an extra month," Psychology Today explains. And while putting in long hours isn't necessarily problematic, "it's only when the daily grind eclipses other areas of your life that it's time to stop and rethink your schedule." More HERE .

Yesterday, CNN Money ran a story called " Auditors Crack Down on 'Independent Contractors' ," echoing a similar story that appeared in the New York Times back in February. We've written before on how the IRS differentiates when a person is an employee, or when he or she is considered to be a contractor. Check out the link in that post to an IRS document that spells out the difference between the two. Companies who utilize independent contractors are not obliged to pay unemployment insurance, or worker's comp, or Social Security taxes, or Medicare taxes . . . As these articles mention, at a time where the majority of state unemployment insurance coffers are empty, great interest in auditing companies with significant utilization of contractors has revived. Seven billion dollars is seven billion dollars, which is what the IRS is hoping to generate by conducting these reviews throughout the country. If your business is in the habit of using contractors, mak

Your new hire may have a Facebook account (you searched for them before the interview, right? No crazy frat party photos?), but do they know how to use social media for business purposes? It can be tricky to transition from the personal to the professional on the web, and new employees, no matter what their comfort level, could probably use some social media training. In “ How to Train New Employees in Social Media ,” Ben Parr of Mashable suggests writing a social media policy, testing employees knowledge of social media tools, making a list of required reading, and then handing over the reins without policing their activity. Ready to write your company's social media policy? Read 10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy first.