hr basics Archives - Abacus Payroll

9 Tips if You’re Currently Struggling to Hire for Your Small Business

September 12, 2022 | posted by Abacus Payroll

Abacus Payroll recently hosted a webinar on HR headaches and the top pain point in 2022 for small businesses has proven to be recruiting and hiring talent. Many of these challenges have been spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, so employers need to evaluate their current hiring practices and see if improvements are needed. While we […]

How to Handle Annual Performance Reviews in Your Small Business

December 1, 2019 | posted by Abacus Payroll

Annual performance reviews provide, in theory, a welcome check-in and debrief period for employees and employers alike. Unfortunately, arbitrary rating criteria and a lack of communication between employers and employees can lead to annual performance reviews becoming nothing more than busy work that’s dreaded by everyone involved. While critiquing an employee’s performance never gets easier […]

How to Motivate and Evaluate Employees

October 8, 2019 | posted by Abacus Payroll

A motivated staff is a productive staff, and without incentives, your best people could leave for more satisfying endeavors. Pay and benefits are important, but they’re only the beginning. Motivate Employees to Excel To retain your best people, do the following: Establish reasonable, objective work standards, and base rewards and promotions on those standards. Communicate […]

4 Benefits of Outsourcing HR

September 24, 2019 | posted by Abacus Payroll

employee working remotely from computer outsourcing work

A human resources department is one of the most crucial—and chronically overworked—sections of any successful business, but the fact of the matter is that not every business is large enough to warrant a full-time HR team. If this is the case for you, it’s still possible to reap the benefits of a fully functional HR […]

5 Questions to Answer in Your Job Posting

February 12, 2019 | posted by Abacus Payroll

Even though job interviews garner a lot of attention, the postings which lead to them are even more important. Think of job postings as your side of the interview process: your ideal posting must hook a candidate from your target demographic, incentivize them to put a fair amount of time into crafting a worthy application, […]

Avoiding Labor Poster Fees

September 26, 2018 | posted by Abacus Payroll

If you own a company of any size, you’re probably familiar with labor posters. Labor posters—those placards with information about employees’ rights—are unsightly but mandatory wall décor for every workplace, and the penalties for not putting them up are stiff. Here’s what you need to know to avoid labor poster-based fees in 2018. Risk and […]

4 Consequences of Ignoring HR Issues

August 2, 2018 | posted by Abacus Payroll

HR problems are simultaneously easy to overlook and devastating when left unchecked. As an employer, it can be all too easy to focus on larger, more obvious problems while your HR department’s concerns fall by the wayside; unfortunately, your company’s HR issues can turn into business-wide catastrophes when not properly addressed. Here are a few […]

The Perfect Fit: HR and Your Business Size

June 5, 2018 | posted by Abacus Payroll

How big does my business have to be before HR is a requirement? Human Resources, or HR, is an integral component in most large businesses—but what about smaller ones? If you’re here, you’re probably already wondering whether or not you should hire an HR professional. While HR isn’t always necessary for small businesses and startups, […]

Must-Do End-of-Year HR Tasks for Small Business Owners

December 13, 2017 | posted by Abacus Payroll

The end of the year is upon us and with it comes a slew of preparations to make the next one a little more doable. Small business owners in particular have a seemingly insurmountable amount of HR tasks to complete; we know you’re busy, so here’s an end-of-the-year checklist to ensure you meet all of […]

Identifying and Preventing Workplace Harassment and Discrimination

December 5, 2017 | posted by Abacus Payroll

Harassment and discrimination have no place in daily life, so the same logic should apply in the workplace. Whether you’re the owner of a business or you’re simply an employee, you need to be aware of your rights, other employees’ rights, what harassment looks like, and how to address it. Know Your Legislature Before you […]