TGIF. Now there’s a “four-letter word” that sparks joy across Canada.  Unfortunately, when you own your own small business, Fridays are all too often just another day. After all, weekends usually mean more work. How can you transform your Fridays from humdrum to heavenly? Here are eight ways Fridays can spark joy even if you’re […]

As a small business owner, you know one thing for sure: productivity equals profits. The more you do, the more you earn. But how do you increase productivity when your time is limited? The answer is simple — improve your time management. When you find ways to work efficiently, productivity increases, and profits skyrocket. What […]

Ah, that dreaded aspect of employment – the timesheet. You might be met with some groans of disapproval from your construction team when you announce their implementation – especially if you’ve never used timesheets in the past. But timesheets can be a useful addition to your construction business for several reasons. Timesheets today aren’t the […]

You’re the head of your company, but you’re on equal footing with your employees when it comes to the number of hours you have in each day. No matter who you are, you get only 24 hours. How you and your employees spend and manage time can make the difference in whether you meet your […]

Time management isn’t merely an art – it’s an entire artistic discipline. Being a manager is tough – no argument there! Sometimes, during a normal day, little fires spark up that inevitably change the entire trajectory of your team’s work. Learning how to prioritize your needs, the needs of your team members, and those of […]

Did you know that employees who work remotely can be a great bonus to small business owners? They’re often more productive, partly because they don’t have to deal with the time and money drain of battling a daily commute. Home-based workers reduce your overhead as they don’t need work space in your office. Another huge […]

Whether you run a sole proprietorship or a small business, time is your most valuable commodity. The way you spend your hours has a direct impact on your productivity — and more importantly, your income. Employee time tracking can help you manage time and use each hour more efficiently, so you can build a booming […]

Hiring staff to work in your small business marks an exciting time of growth, and it also comes with extra responsibilities, such as completing paperwork and paying taxes. One of the first things you need to do when you hire is determine how to classify each worker as either self-employed or employee. Properly categorizing workers […]

Discover different ways to recruit people to work at your company in the Yukon, and learn how to overcome common fears that workers have about moving so far northwest. Find out how to keep your workers happy and engaged once they get to your business to reduce turnover.

Learn about the Government of Canada’s proposed Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program, and find out how it promises to help Indigenous Peoples and businesses around the country. Discover benefits for workers, women, and individual companies.

Attract and retain top talent at a reduced cost to your business with a wage subsidy. If you’re prepared to offer training and support to a recent graduate, there are a range of programs that can help fund their salary by topping it up to a more tempting sum.

Learn why quality management training is integral to the success of a food service business. Understand the duties of a manager in this industry and how you can support the growth and maintenance of leadership and skills for your management.

Learn about Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, and discover how you can use it to bring in temporary foreign workers for your farm. Find out about your responsibilities as an employer, and learn what you have to do to apply for the program.

Learn about the laws that require you to grant time and offer job protection benefits for military reservists who get deployed and how you can obtain compensation for some of the costs associated with their deployment from the federal government.

Look at the value of an employee book club. Find out how successful business executives such as Jeff Bezos use book clubs in their organizations. Get ideas for implementing a book club, find out how to make the most of the experience, and start to decide what type of books you want your employees to read.

Request an employment credit report from Transunion or Equifax before permanently hiring employees. This allows you to cross-check information, such as past employment and income records, to verify the info given to you by the applicant was accurate and gives you another way to verify a person’s identity.

Study the rules covering Canada’s statutory holidays, and make sure your small business stays within the law. Rules vary by jurisdiction and by the type of work your employees do, so it’s a good idea to stay abreast of the rules that apply in your industry and province.

Review a list of note-taking apps with updated features that allow full functionality on the road. Choose from apps that let you share graphics, spreadsheets and videos as well as basic note-taking apps that organize your thoughts.

Discover why hiring a translator for your Canadian business makes so much sense, and learn how to find the right translator for your small business. Reach a broader market, improve your company’s image, and keep all of your content consistent by adding a translator to your company’s team.

Overcome the challenges of keeping your business operating 24/7 with these tips for managing workforce schedules. Knowing your night owls from your early birds and keeping the night shift happy and healthy are vital to retaining a motivated team and achieving business success.

Learn to become more efficient with sales deliveries by targeting key decision makers within your client’s company. This means researching your client, getting to know their staff, and strategically placing yourself in front of someone who has the power to close the deal.

Look at some of the advantages of having a corporate culture centered around adaptability. Find ways to build adaptability into your small business’s culture and get tips for being more adaptable. Look at the importance of embracing failure and encouraging autonomy in adaptable business cultures.

Offer your employees a buyout option to avoid downsizing and large-scale layoffs. An employee buyout offer helps you save money on operating costs, and it allows your employees to stay financially stable while looking for other employment opportunities.

Keep lone workers safe with a set of measures designed to help prevent robberies and maintain your employees’ safety and well-being. Training courses can increase risk awareness and help employees identify and avoid dangerous situations, while changes to building design and layouts can improve security.

Discover what to do when you have two equally strong and qualified candidates for a job opening. Find out how to learn about their personality, work history, and the skills that make them an asset to your business and your current team of employees.

Attract the best candidates to grow your business and improve your company’s culture by defining employment qualifications the right way. Instead of setting restrictive requirements, figure out what successful companies are doing to attract the talent they have, and mirror their efforts.

Incentivize new and current hourly-wage employees with banked overtime instead of pure overtime pay. Learn what banked overtime is, see how to calculate it, and learn what’s required as a business owner.

Discover a few ways to stay alert in the afternoon. Schedule engaging activities to help your team stay alert. Taking a brisk walk in the afternoon can also make team members more alert. Stocking healthy snacks and teas can provide the energy your team needs to keep going until quitting time.

Learn how to foster independence within your workforce to take advantage of hidden skills. Find out how to identify potential self-motivated employees with an entrepreneurial spirit you can harness to take your small Canadian business to the next level.

Trust your teams to operate without a leader and you can significantly increase their motivation and commitment to your business. Leaderless teams can be more productive and more creative at decision-making, particularly where a senior manager’s presence can prevent full and frank discussions.

Develop a value-added leadership style to see your business thrive. Break down the barriers between leaders and followers, and create a more collaborative working ethos that achieves results through trusting, empowering, and valuing your team members.

Learn about the requirements of the Canadian government for hiring temporary foreign workers, what a labour market opinion is, and how an employer and a temporary foreign worker obtain these documents.

Learn how autocratic management can help your Canadian small business grow. By taking a top-down approach, you can improve productivity and reduce stress by providing workers with clear-cut processes and decision making.

Promote a productive and efficient workplace by taking steps to eliminate confusion. Learn how to streamline your workday, communicate effectively, and use modern tools to keep everyone on the same page so that your small business can thrive at its full potential.

Decide if a democratic/participative management style would work for your small business. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages associated with a participative leadership approach, and discover how to hire people who thrive in democratic work environments.

Check out the definition of radical candour. Review how this concept can help improve communications between managers and staff, and look at how honesty can help when it comes from the bottom to the top. Find out how radical candour can potentially keep planes in the sky and avoid crashes.

Stay one step ahead of the competition by introducing new technologies into your business. By initiating regular training sessions and by using several different methods of education, you can keep your employees knowledgeable on new processes and make them more productive and confident in their job abilities.

Get tips on how to change your management style. Learn how to accurately assess your current management style, look at ways to learn about other management styles, and examine strategies for rolling out your new style incrementally. Review how different businesses need different management styles.

Boost your company’s bottom line and improve the economy by taking steps to close the gender gap at work. Promote equality in your office to enhance morale, reduce employee turnover rates, and cultivate a positive company culture.

Entice and retain your top talent by finding them the perfect executive suite when they relocate to work for your business. Set them up in luxury accommodations that not only meet, but exceed, their basic physiological and safety needs. This lets them give their best from day one and encourages them to stick around.

Learn how incorporating humour into your leadership strategy can help you to be a more effective and approachable boss. Encourage a positive workplace environment to boost productivity and reduce your company’s turnover rate. Develop your professional sense of humour with these tips and ideas.

Recognize employees who work remotely as an important part of the team by keeping them happy and engaged. Building a connected workforce leads to greater productivity and more success.

Protect your small business by using a Statement of Work (SOW) for each client. Learn what important pieces of information to include, what you can do to simplify your SOW, and how the SOW can be used.

Recognize employees who work remotely as an important part of the team by keeping them happy and engaged. Building a connected workforce leads to greater productivity and more success.

Keep your small business running even when several employees take vacation. Find out how to set up a system that’s fair for your employees and doesn’t leave you short staffed.

Learn what an acqui-hire is and how it can benefit entrepreneurs, startups, the acquiring company, and the employees involved. Understand how the acqui-hire strategy can help tech companies in particular.

Learn about the dangers employee relations present to your business. Find out the most effective ways to make the office a romance-free zone and handle any boundary issues.

Find out why tracking your employees’ mistakes is crucial to the success of your business. Implementing a systematic evaluation system ensures review meetings are completed and grades all employees on the same scale.

Recognize employees who work remotely as an important part of the team by keeping them happy and engaged. Building a connected workforce leads to greater productivity and more success.

Make sure your staff gets across the border with ease next time they conduct international travel for your business. Learn about the most common permits for Canadians entering the United States to conduct business or work.

Understand the benefits and costs of using bonuses and raises to supplement your small business’s employee compensation packages, and learn how to balance them to keep morale high and turnover low.

Decide if hiring an office cleaning service is the right step for your small business with these tips and ideas to keep cleaning costs down while still maintaining a beautiful work space.

Grasp the financial ripple effect that occurs when an employee leaves. Understand the expenses you can expect to pay before, during, and after you find their replacement, and learn how to calculate your employee turnover rate.

Improve your company’s brainstorming sessions with these strategies. Learn how to create an environment that encourages creativity and promotes new, exciting ideas that can help your small business grow larger and evolve in a positive way.

Motivate your employees, encourage their continued employment with your organization, make them feel important, and boost morale with periodic bonuses for your part-time staffers.

Learn what a meritocracy is and how establishing a merit-based culture in your company can help you retain a small business feel while opening the doors to new ideas from everyone in your organization. Understand the practical steps you can take to encourage listening and empowerment at all levels of your company.

Learn how to run an effective staff meeting that keeps attendees engaged. By using these six tips, you can ensure all your meetings make the best use of company time while keeping morale high among employees.

Address the situation immediately if your new hire doesn’t fit into the company culture. Working the the new employee and your current staff to remove barriers and work through the situation can relieve the tension that occurs.

Explore artificial intelligence as a way to ensure you hire the right employees for the job. AI software can assist in the initial applicant screening process. Advanced AI recruiting applications also screen body language during automated interviews to determine applicant suitability for the job.

Hire a CEO when you want to help improve the growth of your small business or you need to change the direction of management in order for you to focus on other areas of the business.

Hire contingent workers to fill in when you have a large workload or the need for specific skills. This option helps you save money by streamlining the process and having a worker who can jump into work immediately.

Keep track of what employees bring to your business by learning how to measure their success. Find out the challenges of evaluating productivity and how to determine the value of any employee.

Learn why it’s crucial that you’re willing to change your business and let it evolve instead of becoming stagnant. Find out how you can demonstrate effective leadership skills when taking your company through a major change.

Learn what elements you should include in your non-disclosure agreement and when you need an NDA. Review as well the loopholes to close to make sure your NDA provides the protection you need.

Offer a tuition reimbursement program to your employees to improve retention and attract new job candidates. You get a return on your investment with financial savings of keeping employees and the knowledge gain that may help improve your business.

Learn about labour laws related to inclement weather. Find out what happens when you send employees home early, close your business for the day, or make other decisions related to the weather.

Explore the financial incentives related to being a nurse in a remote Northern location. Find out what the government offers for nursing in the Far North, and review the pros and cons of working in these areas.

Learn how to change your company’s hiring and employment perks to improve recruitment and convince potential employees to relocate for a remote job opportunity in Canada.

Learn how to handle an employee’s request to change roles. Consider how the job shift may affect your business and whether the employee is ready to transition to the new position.

Discover if allowing your employees to wear business casual office attire is the right approach for your business by analyzing these five benefits associated with a more lenient dress code.

Check out some of Canada’s most important employment laws related to child entertainers. Review why it’s critical to pay attention to these rules if you hire child entertainers.

Learn how to deal with a team that doesn’t work well together by setting expectations, helping employees communicate, and creating a sense of group accountability in the workplace.

Figure out if you should allow your employees to talk about politics at the office. Learn how political discussions can affect your office culture and what to do if a conversation gets out of hand.

Learn how to attract top female business leaders, and discover ways to adjust your business practices to create an environment that’s more appealing and friendly to women.

Reduce the stress and anxiety of employee layoffs by notifying employees well in advance of the situation. Treat employees with respect and be mindful of those left behind to ease the transition.

Learn how to manage employees with Type A personalities by providing new challenges, managing employee relations, establishing effective communication, and offering recognition.

Discover three major benefits that your small business can get from using some type of web-based time tracking software. Time tracking helps you and your team operate with maximum efficiency, and ultimately generate higher revenues.

Appeal to the millennial employees at your small business by offering workplace volunteer opportunities. Volunteerism in the workplace is good for employee morale and ultimately boosts employee retention.

Organize weekly business meetings to keep everyone on the same page, boost morale, and keep your company culture at the heart of everything you do. Ensure the meetings are focused and purposeful to keep your overall productivity high.

Find out about the best free and low-cost training options to help you learn more about business. Learn what is available for entrepreneurs in-person and online to help them succeed.

Inspire your employees to take more steps by creating a step challenge at the office. Incentives and the friendly competition to take more steps than your colleagues can improve employee fitness and boost morale.

Offer learning opportunities that keep your employees engaged and having fun to give them knowledge and experience they can implement. Customization and interactive opportunities help increase excitement about learning opportunities.

Learn how you can find the right people when you need landscaping help at your business. Discover the most effective ways to find candidates and put them through an efficient hiring process.

Take care of your bottom line by mapping out an OKR that focuses the efforts of your employees and guides your company along a streamlined path towards business success.

Provide employee incentives and benefits to keep your team fully engaged. Learn about common causes of disengagement and how to rejuvenate unmotivated workers with these helpful tips.

Handle reference requests from fired employees with care. You want to help the fired employee get a new job, but beware about referring those fired for cause to other employers.

Encourage your employees to be more punctual by implementing an attendance policy that employee incentives and rewards. Learn how to reduce absenteeism using positive reinforcement.

Draft a job description for your small business vacancy that fits your company’s ideal candidates while sharing the pertinent information about the job. An appealing job description attracts more applicants.

Reduce turnover rates, boost morale, and increase productivity by offering your employees perks and benefits such as free lunches. Learn why so many Canadian businesses are choosing to provide free meals for their employees.

Hire a real estate assistant to handle the administrative tasks that drain your time so you can focus on marketing and selling. Knowing what you need and delegating tasks efficiently makes your investment in an assistant worth the time and money.

Investigate missed deadlines like a professional. Learn what to look for, where your problems are most likely to pop up, and how to address them when (or before) they inflict a costly delay.

In the age of social media, customers have a larger platform than ever to make their opinions known about your business. However, dissatisfied customers are more likely to take the time to post an online review. If you stay in business long enough, you’re bound to be faced with bad online business reviews from time […]

Despite Canada’s reputation for progressive politics, many Canadian women feel that gender equality in the workplace has not yet been attained. A 2015 study revealed that while two-thirds of women claim their employers take steps to help them balance their work and home duties, only one-third feel they’re truly given the support to succeed in […]

Like most products and services, accountants aren’t created equal. The title of Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) comes only after the completion of a rigorous set of examinations. In contrast, non-certified accountants require relatively little education to open up shop. Some small business owners may assume they need a CPA to run the books, while others […]

A growing startup brings a lot of extra duties that must be completed. As your business gets bigger, you have more customers to service, more inventory to keep up with, more money to manage, and myriad other minutiae that eats away at your time. Eventually, it gets to the point where you can’t do it […]

If you’re looking to expand your small business and bring on additional staff, adding the right type of person can make a big difference. Hiring an independent contractor instead of a full-time employee can make sense in some situations. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of bringing an independent contractor on board, as well as understanding […]

If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably turned to family members for help at one time or another. Outside of yourself, there may be no one more vested in seeing your business succeed than them. Having family members on the payroll, however, can be a bit of a slippery slope. Bringing a spouse or […]

Your employees leave your business premises in search of snacks and meals. Multiply the number of employees you have by their average salary per hour, the total of which is the amount of money you lose per day due to your staff grazing off-premises. To keep more of your business’s hard-earned money in-house, consider the […]

For any small business, company or nonprofit organization, the hiring of new employees is an important step in enabling the company to profit and expand. The key for any business owner or manager is to ensure the most appropriate and qualified candidates are considered and ultimately hired. Though recommendations, cover letters and resumes are all […]

A happy employee is a productive employee. Workers who feel appreciated go the extra mile for your business, which can yield positive results and increased revenue. While money is a prime motivator, it may not be feasible for you to offer bonuses. Besides bonuses, there are other, more affordable ways to ensure your employees remain […]

Payroll can be one of your biggest business expenses, making it critical to measure how wisely that investment is being allocated. Implement a process to conduct annual employee reviews. These assessments can be valuable in two ways: determining your worker’s productivity and managing their expectations. If your employees are holding up their end of the […]

Outsourcing certain tasks to freelancers, independent contractors or other companies can be a useful way to grow your small business at a minimal cost. Outsourcing can save time as well, since an individual or company focused on completing a single project for your business may complete the work faster than a employees who must also […]

The importance of gauging employee performance cannot be overstated. The process cuts both ways. It allows workers to know where they stand, how they can improve and what they need to do to get there. For employers, the process lets management measure performance and define goals for the future. These assessments, if properly used, also [...]

Small businesses typically have a correspondingly small roster of employees, requiring each hire to be thoughtfully and carefully considered. It is vital that in the interviewing process, you weed out anyone who could be a detraction to your company as the effects of a bad employee are magnified exponentially in a small business setting. There […]

Hiring employees for your small business is one of the most important decisions you have to make as a business owner, especially in the early stages of your business. When you have a small business with only two or three employees, it’s especially important for them to be good employees. Making a mistake in a […]

Even the most experienced new hires need to be shown the ropes. Every company has its own unique methods, strategies, rules, and procedures for training, and even highly skilled employees need to adjust and adapt to new settings. When it comes to small business training, it’s worth putting in the time and effort to do […]

Set goals with your employees to keep them on track and provide yourself an objective way to measure their performance. When your employees have performance goals they can work towards, it makes them more engaged and motivated to succeed. For the best results, you need to strike a balance between allowing your employees freedom regarding […]

Every employee you hire is an investment in your business. If the employee stays with your company for years, you get a great return on investment. Employees who leave soon after starting, though, cost your company money. It’s tough to put a dollar amount to the cost of employee turnover, but keeping employees on staff […]

Resumes may seem outdated in comparison to their video and PowerPoint counterparts, but they still can play a vital role in finding the perfect employees for your business. Their simple formula makes it possible to locate information about a candidate quickly, and resumes make excellent pre-screening tools. Whether you are looking to hire someone immediately […]

A small business can be a fast-paced, intense environment, particularly during the exciting but uncertain startup years. Over time, the thrill of blazing a path can give way to workplace stress and burnout for your employees, which often leads to higher turnover. For a business that invests heavily in staff development, this can be a […]

Dissatisfaction with the boss is one of the most common causes of high turnover rates. Improving poor management practices is one of the most effective ways to boost morale, leading to a more productive staff. After all, happy employees work harder. It’s no secret that finding, hiring, and training new employees is extremely expensive, and […]

Terminating employment is a difficult process for everyone involved, and one way to potentially make this process easier on an employee is by offering severance pay, which is simply a payment an employee receives for losing his job. Before you decide whether to offer severance pay, you need to know what you’re legally required to […]

While a low unemployment rate offers many positives to the Canadian economy, it can present a challenge to growing businesses with pressing staffing needs. A shallow labour pool often means that essential job openings go unfilled and current employees become overworked, having to take on the duties of multiple workers. If your small business faces […]

From marketing your brand to selling it as a product itself, there are a host of reasons you might want to publish a book. Writing is a special skill, though, and not everyone has it. Fortunately, the Writers’ Union of Canada maintains a list of ghostwriters who write books for a fee. Ghostwriters are what […]

If performing daily duties to run your small business becomes too time consuming for you to tackle alone, consider promoting an employee to handle some of the more important responsibilities. Deciding to promote from within offers several advantages, such as cheaper costs, easier transitions, and improved recruitment. Whether you promote an employee based on competitive […]

Finding professional, disciplined, results-oriented employees can be a difficult task for any small business, especially when a wrong hire can exhaust resources and upset thin operating margins. Minimize your hiring risks by tapping into a highly skilled talent pool of candidates that have been rigorously trained and work well under pressure: veterans of the Canadian […]

Whether it is an employee who doesn’t get along with a co-worker or a staff member who feels like he’s being taken advantage of by management, problems are bound to come up in any company. That’s why it’s important to understand how to handle employee complaints when they occur. Four of the most common types […]

Maintaining an enthusiastic and productive workforce is essential to the growth of your company. Here are some tips to help your employees look forward to each working day, stay engaged, and keep on task. Agree on Expectations, and Create Achievable Goals Employees are most engaged when they understand what you expect from them and know […]

You rely on your customers to pay their invoices on time to keep your business cash flow going, so customers who don’t pay are particularly frustrating. As an independent contractor, you don’t have time to track down clients who fail to pay on time, and you can’t survive long if you have no money coming […]

Beacons boost your ability to communicate with shoppers who are physically in your brick-and-mortar store. These devices can transmit to shoppers’ smartphones and tablets once they enter or approach your shop, using Bluetooth low-energy wireless signals to track their locations in the store and send messages to them. The beacons broadcast a URL that encourages […]

The Apple Watch does lots more than just tell time. When you learn to use all its available features, this wearable technology, which offers most of the functionality of your smartphone in a tiny package on your wrist, can improve your small business’s productivity. What Is the Apple Watch? The Apple Watch is part of […]

As technology rapidly progresses, one thing is certain: automation, which includes areas such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, is going to change the way businesses operate and reduce the need to have more employees. The future of human resource management is no different. Why Will Human Resource Management Be Affected? Many people incorrectly […]

You and your employees don’t need to do it all when you’re in the restaurant industry. By outsourcing tasks, you can save money while letting your team focus on bigger priorities, such as preparing meals and providing a first-class experience to customers. Here are some tasks a restaurant owner can safely outsource. Delivery Food delivery […]

Offering your employees benefits is a wonderful way to attract top-quality workers. But managing those benefits is a big-time commitment due to each program’s complexities. You can choose to handle benefit administration in-house or outsource it to a third-party benefits administration company. Ultimately, your choice depends on what method best fits with your operational goals […]

For a small business owner, senior workers can seem like a risk. You might worry they won’t master key technology, for example, or won’t fit in with your youthful team. If you can get past these concerns, you might find that older workers can actually solve a variety of common small-business problems ranging from inexperience […]

When your business has employees, you should establish a time-off policy to clearly explain how vacation time works. Every business is required by law to provide vacation time, and it’s much easier to manage time-off requests when you have a policy in place breaking down all the finer details. Here are some simple steps to […]

If you’re ready to add staff to your Canadian small business, consider hiring military veterans. These well-qualified men and women bring a wealth of assets to the business world, and you’re likely to be pleased with your recruiting results. The Benefits of Hiring Military Veterans Veterans typically possess unique qualities that make them ideal job […]

Anyone can make a resume look great, but how do you know if a candidate is a truly competent choice for your small business? Incorporating a testing component into the interviewing process helps you weed out the people who spend more time faking their skills than actually improving them. Assess the skills and traits that […]

Gauging your team members’ performance is a big part of managing employees, but it can be hard for a small business to do this fairly. When employee evaluations are largely a matter of one-on-one reviews and personal meetings, it’s not always possible to purge subjective opinions from the process. This can introduce problems for your […]

It’s never easy to lay off employees, but it can be inevitable if you need to cut back on spending. For some businesses, this means laying off field staff and keeping only core office employees who are vital to everyday operations. If you’re thinking about laying off your field staff, here’s what you should do […]

Developing your staff is as important as developing your business, especially if they’re in the 18-to-35 age group. Millennials and Generation Z are more driven by career development than pay levels and become bored if they aren’t given the opportunity to grow. Employees of all ages respond to new challenges and learning opportunities. To retain […]

Construction is a seasonal industry in which an influx of hiring occurs just before the busy seasons of spring and summer. Occasionally a big job throughout the year warrants an additional hiring spurt, and your company should be prepared to know how to hire the best seasonal workers for the task at hand. Understand Construction […]

Prevent your company from developing a toxic sales environment. Learn how to keep your salespeople positive and eager to work as a team.

Learn how to screen prospective employees using social media. Social media can help you eliminate unprofessional candidates and find exceptional ones.

Learn how you can most effectively handle communicating with a multicultural audience in your work as a small business owner.

Understand what groupthink is and why it’s devastating to team strategy sessions, and learn what steps you can take to avoid it.

Understand the key elements of a strong human resource information system (HRIS), and learn how a good HRIS can benefit your small business.

Look closely at the type of customers your accounting business serves before you adopt a casual dress code.

Promote health and well-being in your employees with a health-focused workplace and incentives for making healthy choices.

Create and distribute printed or electronic employee handbooks to create expectations for you and your labor force.

Plan for smooth transitions when employees submit resignation notices so your company continues with minimal interruptions.

Understand the differences between a horizontal and vertical management style, and discover which style is a better fit for your company.

Improve employee performance and correct issues immediately with these tips on disciplining employees.

Read about the Record of Employment, and figure out when you need to issue this form to employees who are leaving the company or taking a leave of absence.

Conduct effective interviews for an executive director position of an arts nonprofit with these questions.

Want to put your chef on a salary? That may be possible. Check out Canadian labour laws related to managers, salaries, overtime pay, and holiday rates.

Find out when it’s necessary, and when it’s not, to have a company-wide consensus in your business decision-making.

Keep your small business up and running through the loss of a loved one or a close partner, and learn strategies for helping employees manage the rough times.

Boost company morale and create a unified vision by hosting a corporate retreat for your staff. Employees return refreshed and primed for change.

Learn some of the best team building activities to boost your team’s morale. You can organize quick and easy team building to get your team on the same page.

Motivate and retain your best employees by hiring internal candidates, and use succession planning to identify and nurture people ready to step up.

Find out some creative ways you can use to cut costs for your small business without laying off employees.

Learn how a holacracy works and what makes it such an effective way to get the most out of your employees.

Find out what you can do to build a great teamwork culture in your small business, and why it is important to have one.

Adopting a dress code for your employees demands reflection on what type of business you run, and what type of clients you serve.

Understand the differences when you fire fast and fire slow, and learn the impact this decision can have on your other employees.

Conduct exit interviews to gain feedback from departing employees that helps you keep your best workers in the future.

Employee recognition awards and gifts can have tax consequences. Check out these tips to help you avoid taxation on gifts and awards.

Get tips on how to dress your door-to-door sales crew for success. Read about the importance of uniform colors and styles.

Perfect the onboarding process for new employees of your small business, for smooth transitions into working.

Discover the benefits of a freelancer code of ethics, what should be included, and how best to implement it.

Learn how to leverage the gig market. You can hire skilled independent contractors and freelancers to help you build your business.

Understand why promoting from within as opposed to hiring from outside boost team spirit and fosters a better office environment.

Learn why successful employee orientation is important for your small business. Explore these four tips to help launch an effective orientation program.

Develop your employees to their full potential by identifying their learning styles and tailoring your training to how they learn best.

Review the differences between independent contractors and employees, and figure out how to set up payments for these workers in your accounting software.

Learn how to make a successful employee transition when you bring a new employee in to replace one who has left or been promoted.

Learn why your small business has an advantage when hiring employees. Consider marketing these four benefits when you recruit new staff.

Learn the rules that apply to hiring temporary workers and especially those that relate to foreign employees.

Have you considered using employee bonuses in your small business? issuing your staff with incentives may bring these four benefits.

Learn how to identify your small business’s core competencies. Discover four benefits of outsourcing other business operations.

Learn what a profit sharing plan is and discover some of its benefits, and review ways you can set up a profit sharing plan for your employees.

Learn how you can use the Hawthorne effect to manage your employees and increase overall productivity.

Learn when it is time to fire a remote worker, and how to do it professionally and in accordance with Canadian law.

Review this list of illegal interview questions. Read tips on alternative questions to ask, and learn why certain questions are off-limits.

Want to engage employees through the use of financial metrics? Use these guidelines to motivate and drive performance.

Add social media to your business’s recruitment arsenal for attracting the best employees. Social platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter can help you find passive candidates, those who might be open to the idea of switching jobs but who aren’t actively looking. LinkedIn, which has a platform constructed entirely around networking for job and […]

Canada embraces diversity, and it backs up that stance with legislation. Citizens are protected from discrimination in matters of employment and the provision of accommodation and public services. Federal laws fall under the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Employment Equity Act. Human rights are also defended at the provincial level by agencies, such as […]

Production employees do everything related to manufacturing products. For example, workers who assemble, finish, inspect, pack, and ship manufactured products are production employees. Some support staffers in manufacturing companies, such as maintenance, janitorial, and security workers, are considered production employees, even though they don’t handle the products directly. Staffers who work in the field with […]

Small businesses can take advantage of the economic benefits resulting from telecommuting programs and flexible time scheduling (also known as flextime) for their employees. The use of these work scheduling alternatives can bring your company improved employee performance and reduced costs. Flexible Work Scheduling Benefits Businesses A 2012 study published by the University of Toronto’s […]

Hiring a foreign employee can be daunting the first time, but with the right advice, you can easily navigate the process. There are several common pitfalls you need to be aware of along the way. 1. Not Scheduling Enough Time Hiring foreign workers can take longer than hiring Canadian workers, and it is important to […]

When you hire employees, you incur multiple costs in addition to wages. It is critical to understand these costs and to keep in them in mind when calculating budgets or hiring new employees. Here is an overview of some of the main expenses. Source Deductions and Vacations As an employer, you must make Canada Pension […]

The best way for employees to produce better work is to be notified of areas of improvement. This improvement process begins with your assessment and delivery of feedback. Although delivering negative feedback can be especially difficult, if performed correctly, it can result in strong future operations. Keep these rules in mind when giving employee feedback […]

Running criminal background checks on prospective hires protects your company from bringing someone on board who might pose a security risk to your organization. It is important to strike a balance between protecting your company and protecting the candidate in question. The Canadian Human Rights Code makes it illegal to use criminal background checks on […]

A system of regular employee performance reviews benefits both your company and your employees. Your business runs more efficiently when your employees have clear goals and receive regular feedback on their progress toward those objectives. Likewise, your employees enjoy greater job satisfaction when the lines of communication with their superiors remain open. Manage successful employee […]

If you want to make lasting, positive impressions on those with whom you interact professionally, you should train yourself to recognize your audience, your own intent, and your external environment. Your non-verbal cues can sometimes be more important than the words you speak. Used correctly, the right body language can make you appear confident, informed, […]

Consider the customer service responsibilities of your minimum-wage employees and how your company could benefit from increasing their pay.

Find out when, as an employer, you need to prepare a T4 slip for your employees, and understand the meaning of remuneration.

Discover what constitutes termination, the specifics of termination notification, and when you can provide termination pay instead of notification.

Attract the right candidates with an effective job ad. Find out what to include in your job ad to make it attractive.

Review steps you should take to ensure the wages you pay to your employees are competitive so you can retain and recruit quality employees.

For many university students and newly graduated young adults, participating in unpaid internships provides necessary practical experience and opens the door to future positions, either within the same company or within a specific industry. The employment and labour laws in Canada vary significantly from one province to the next, so the legality of an unpaid […]

Your new small business is booming, and it is getting harder and harder to manage your workload alone. Are you ready to make the leap from owner/operator to employer? Here is what you need to do before you hire your first team member. *Review local labour laws. Get familiar with minimum age and wage regulations […]

As a freelancer, you may occasionally need help completing a project for a client. In these cases, you may want to turn to a subcontractor. Essentially, a subcontractor is a contractor who is working for another contractor. If you’re thinking about hiring a subcontractor, you should understand the process as well as the legalities. Managing […]

As the number of remote workers continues to increase, small businesses face concerns about reduced productivity among their remote workers. According to a 2013 BMO Financial Group poll of Canadian business owners, Canadian employers were behind other nations in their adoption of telecommuting, with an average of 23% of employers offering telecommuting (47% of large […]

When calculating the cost of a new hire, it’s important to note wages are merely the base cost of hiring an employee. As an employer, you also have to make Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions, employment insurance premiums, and other expenses. Some analysts estimate you should account for 1.2 to 1.4 times your employee’s salary when calculating […]

Guru connects professional freelancers to employers who need quality talent. If you run a design, writing, translation, legal, accounting, architecture or other service-oriented company, you may be able to find new clients using Guru. To set up a profile, follow these steps: Go to Guru.com. Click Join Now at the top right of the page. […]

If you are a small business owner who is thinking about having a developer create an app for your business, it is important to thoroughly prepare to save yourself time and money. There is a large amount of mobile programming talent available, but a developer can only perform as well as your preparation. Here are […]

Are you a Canadian employer in search of an app to track employee hours? If so, many apps can help you track employee hours and pay your workers accordingly. One of these apps, QuickBooks Online, can sync with many other time-tracking apps for easy integration with your current systems. Luckily, QuickBooks makes it simple to […]

A business is nothing without its people. Since your employees represent your business, if they’re not happy, it’s likely that your customers won’t be happy, either. Keeping your employees happy is imperative to your business, as they can take your business further and save you money. Improved Productivity Financial compensation alone isn’t enough to make […]

Hiring the perfect employee for a specific job largely depends on your ability to ask the right questions during the interview process. It is important to learn how to choose the right types of questions, the benefits of each type, and how to adjust the questions as the interviews progress. Types of Questions to Choose […]

Social media can be a very useful tool for your small business. In addition to serving as an effective, low-cost marketing channel, you can also use it to engage your employees online and foster a spirit of community effort in the workplace. Twitter, which is among the most widely used social media platforms, is probably […]

If you bill clients by the hour, you need to ensure you don’t put in time without recording it. Time-tracking apps can help organize and track your billable hours. Depending on the app you select, there are a range of features available at a range of price points. Fanurio Fanurio lets you track hours manually […]

Accrual accounting and cash basis accounting are two methods for recording income and expenses, differing mainly in the timing of when those items are recorded. With the cash method, revenues are recorded when they are received and expenses are recorded when they are paid. The accrual method, on the other hand, records revenues when they […]

Cloud computing makes it easier for small businesses to establish telecommuting programs, allowing employees to work from home. When your employees work remotely, your business can reduce the cost of office space and decrease energy consumption. Telecommuting staff can help you avoid lapses in productivity resulting from employees’ inability to travel to the office for […]

If you pay someone for hourly work, it’s crucial to implement a time tracking system. Using a time tracking app like TSheets ensures accuracy during pay periods and eliminates the need for manual tracking. Read more to learn about the benefits of time tracking and explore how to create a system that works for your employees. […]

The hiring process demands that you know a little more about a candidate than what you uncover through the interview process. Checking references is a great way to ensure you have the right person for the job. Personal References Ask how long the reference has known in the applicant. Pose open-ended questions to avoid yes […]

Starting a new small business often involves hiring new employees. Recruiting the right individuals can provide innovative solutions, attract new customers and alert you to new opportunities. Think outside the box when hiring staff to find the most talented people for your business. Ask Current Employees Ask your current employees if they know of any […]

It is very important to let new employees at a small business know a few key things about the company and their roles. Clear communication in the beginning prevents future quarrels down the road and keeps both sides happy. If done effectively, neither the employees nor the employer will be hit with surprises in the […]

Promoting teamwork and collaboration among employees at your small business is vital, and you can use Facebook to accomplish this goal. Social media is a staple in modern society and naturally encourages the sharing of thoughts and ideas. The impact this free tool can have for your small business is exponential; not only can you […]

There may be some adjustments before a new supervisor is fully accepted by the workforce, but choosing someone with the right skill set can make the adjustment seamless. A supervisor who is fair, knowledgeable and approachable quickly earns respect and gains the esteem of team members. A confident supervisor with good people skills keeps the […]

A Record of Employment (ROE) is a form that employers complete for employees for the Employment Insurance (EI) Program. Even if the employee does not intend to apply to EI benefits, the ROE must still be completed and submitted to Service Canada. The ROE should be completed whenever the employee experiences an interruption of earnings, […]

Behind every successful business, high performance team, and high employee morale record, there is a successful manager. The happiness of employees (and ultimately their performance) is often highly dependent on the relationship they have with their direct manager/supervisor. In the book “First Break All the Rules: What The Worlds’ Greatest Managers Do Differently”, by Marcus […]

To grow a business, it’s important to have the right team in place. It is even more important to create the environment that enables your team to succeed. A company’s internal ecosystem includes its hiring practices, company culture, processes, tools and leadership. It takes a lot of planning and grunt work to create the right in­house setting for […]

Large or small, international or domestic, the biggest asset any company has is its people. When companies don’t have educated and talented people to design products, run the equipment, keep the books, sell the products and make viable plans for the future, even the richest companies are destined for failure. That’s what makes recruiting so […]

So, you think you have the next million-dollar idea. You’ve thought about it for days. You’ve fleshed it out and think this one has real potential. You’re so passionate about the project that it’s starting to consume your thoughts. The process is electrifying and the startup world has taken ahold of you. BUT, something’s missing. […]

Well-defined job descriptions can provide a simple and effective safeguard to solve employee related problems before they arise. We have yet to meet a small business owner who doesn’t want to avoid lawyers and courtrooms over employee issues. Yet every time a decision is made about an employee, the possibility of legal scrutiny exists. One […]

One of the most important, if not the most important, decisions that can be made when becoming an entrepreneur is whether or not you should take the plunge yourself or find a co-founder (or two, or three). While there no doubt your own skills are awesome, before launching a startup, some serious personal reflection is […]

In this video, we talked with Ben Baldwin, Co-Founder of ClearFit, a Toronto-based startup that helps companies find job applicants and predict who will succeed as the best fit for the role. He speaks about today’s key hiring trends and what companies and candidates need to consider when recruiting and interviewing. For example, technology can […]

In this video we talked with Emilie Cushman, CEO and C-Founder of Kira Talent. Kira Talent is a video interview screening software that allows recruiting manager to record and send video questions, and applicants to reply back through video. She talked about how important the job interview process is for both employers and candidates. It is a gateway […]

As lawyers, we encourage our clients to have written agreements in order to avoid misunderstandings and disagreements regarding what the parties intend. This is especially important when small businesses are building their teams and hiring new staff. A well-written employment contract will help avoid misunderstandings and disagreements regarding what is expected of both the employer […]

In the business world, just like in sports, everyone has certain skill-sets that are suited for certain role on the team. In large businesses, those who are creative tend to gravitate to roles like marketing, product design and so on. Financially savvy people tend to work in accounting, detail driven people possibly legal or engineering. […]

Many new and aspiring entrepreneurs dream of their enterprises growing to the point when they can hire employees. In doing so, these entrepreneurs are no longer working in the business; rather, they graduate to working on growing the business while managing others who are producing the actual goods or services. In fact, because there are [...]