Category Archives: Office / HR / Employment

By Rose Miller
When the news of an FDA approved Covid-19 vaccine was going to become available, I joined many with feelings of joy and hope. I envision a future where we can all live, work and play together again.
Personally, I am tracking vaccine availability closely and I will be seizing the day when I can get a shot. Sign me up. I will be carping a whole lot of diem when this is over.
In the workplace, the expectation was that my staff and the workplaces we support would be equally excited about getting vaccinated. Unfortunately, we are hearing that’s not always the case.
In fact, Dr. McKenna of Albany Medical Center believes that production of the vaccine will greatly improve, and supply will meet or exceed demand in the near future. One of his major concerns was the public’s resistance to getting vaccinated. He and public health officials know for these vaccines to truly turn the tide of the pandemic, there will need to be near universal willingness among Americans to get the shot.

By Renee Walrath
Diversity hiring is a practice being implemented and embraced by more and more companies. Diverse workplaces have an array of advantages including higher employee engagement, increased profitability, and higher levels of employee retainment. Workplaces saying that they value diversity is no longer enough, as actions speak louder than words.
By definition, diversity hiring is hiring based on merit with special care taken to ensure procedures are free from biases related to a candidate’s age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other personal characteristics that are unrelated to their job performance.
However, so many other things fall under the umbrella of diversity hiring. Anything that makes one individual different from the next counts as diversity. This can be the way they think, the tools they utilize, the languages they speak, or simply anything that makes the workplace more unique!
For companies who have not always practiced diversity hiring, it can be difficult to implement, but far from impossible! These tips will help any company take the first step towards hiring more diverse candidates.

By Susan E. Campbell
Small business owners have the flexibility to choose whichever type of retirement plan they desire to accumulate a future nest egg on a tax-deferred basis. But that doesn’t mean the decision is easy, or that the company may need to change to a different plan in years ahead.
“Each of the four basic types of defined contribution plans has advantages and drawbacks,” said Laurie A. Stillwell, CPA, in Saratoga Springs.
“My job is to talk through what the business owners’ goals are and direct them to the plan that checks those boxes,” she said.
“Companies are not stuck in a plan once they have it,” said Richard J. Fuller, CPA in Glens Falls. “But if there is to be a switch, it has to be done right.”

By Rose Miller
Each year, my team and I have a planning meeting to discuss the New Year’s challenges and HR trends. The focus this year is new technology and tools. My dad, an old world Italian carpenter, always said a person is only as good as his tools.
More employers are seeing the value of having an HR strategic business partner in their toolbox. In 2020, HR trends include:
Learning and training as a top priority
Hiring managers know a key retention tool is a comprehensive training program. Well-designed programs reduce turnover. Employee training programs generally cost about $1,250 per employee per year. Although this cost adds up, it is minuscule in comparison to the costs of recruiting, hiring and training replacements.

By JAMES MARCO
When we first meet a potential client, and find out that they are having “HR concerns,” we find that those concerns fall into one of three major categories along a continuum.
The first is the small company who has had someone, often in the accounting department, trying to do HR and payroll in addition to their regular job. This person finds out a few tidbits about all the laws and compliance in the HR world, and feels more than a little overwhelmed.
This is really the first step in the development of an HR function: ensuring compliance. Small companies often cannot justify the cost of full time HR expertise, and often rely on HR firms for this guidance. Help with compliance—handbooks, job descriptions, and policy development—are usually the primary needs of small, growing companies.