Tough economic times in Colorado prompt SBA to create Hot Line to assist business with growth and ways to stay in business.

The Colorado district of the US Small Business Administration as created a new hot line number for small business to call in these tough economic times. The number is a resource for small Colorado business to call for help on running and operating their business. Staff members will help business with marketing plans, business loans, and help with sourcing new business loans.  The number to call is:   303-844-2607 ext. 401.

Over the past few months StaffScapes has seen the tough times effect some of our clients. Many are not hiring during this normal busy holiday season, some are laying employee off from their payroll as a way to reduce cost. Others are looking at trimming benefits provided and watching the expected increase coming in 2009.

See Also

• SBA
  Co SPA home page

Five tips for both the employer and employee. Part one employer

No one that I know of is comfortable with the thought of preparing for a staff reduction.  Both employers and employees are often placed into uncharted waters.  Everyone has questions and finding or knowing the answers often seems as easy as walking through quicksand.  I have a unique perspective as I have personally been on the receiving end of the “thank you for your dedication and oh sorry, you don’t get the five year service award company water bottle” and the “economic times are forcing us to reduce staff, now what do we do?” sides of the current and difficult times we are facing today.  So, to help navigate, here are a few suggestions:

For the Employer

1. Evaluate. The economic downturn has affected your bottom line.  You have cut expenses, cancelled the company picnic and removed bonus programs.  But all of these measure have not prevented the worst thing imaginable—the need to eliminate jobs to keep the company in business.  How do you select the people to lay off?  What do you need to do to conduct the layoff?  How do you tell the employee?  What do you tell the remaining staff?  These are all good and important questions to ask.  The first step is to evaluate or conduct an assessment of business needs and determine what areas have a potential surplus in resources and which areas are at a critical operational base.  Are you aligned with your Mission, Vision and Values?  Determine the KSA’s (Knowledge, Skills & Abilities) and KBP’s (Key Business Practices) needed in your business moving forward. Reductions based on the “last in first out rule” may help mitigate legal claims but they may not help you protect your investment in intellectual capital and help you keep the business running.  Look at all functional areas of your operations and determine your core needs.  Remember that term S.W.O.T. you learned in college but didn’t see the value of during the group exercise?  It actually does have a purpose and will help you understand your business, its operations and your strategies for future success.
2. Plan.  The best businesses don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.  Once you have determined your core competencies and have outlined the areas of reductions, have a strategy in place for how you are going to move forward and still get the work done with fewer resources.  In this critical time, you can not afford to let your attention to details and customer focus lapse.  Determine which staff members will be responsible for tasks once completed by former employees and communicate these needs and responsibilities clearly. 
3. Document.  There are legal requirements when conducting a lay off.  Decisions based on objectivity and not emotion or a knee jerk reaction will help.  Review your decisions against the EEO requirements and consider protected classes (i.e., minorities, individuals age 40 and older, the disabled, or veterans) and make sure that your layoff decisions will not favor any one class over the other.
4. Empathize.  This is a tough time for both the employer and the employee.  It is tempting to be direct and non-caring to avoid legal action.  But how you handle a lay-off will determine how your remaining employees react, their morale and their decisions to stay with your organization. If the entire process is professionally administered, information is provided to the affected employee to help them understand the next steps they need to pursue  and the former employee is made aware that this is due to a business need and that they are valued and appreciated for their prior contributions, the process will be smoother for everyone involved    

5.     Motivate.  The desks are cleared, the personal photos are gone and your remaining staff have just lost their friends and fear they will be next.  Now is the time to communicate clearly to your staff what has happened and why and where you are heading.  Let them know that you understand their fear and that you value their continued contributions.  This isn’t going to make the situation go away or prevent future disruption, but it is one step to recovery that can make the difference between a satisfied workforce and one that is ready to jump ship

By:  Eugena Bellamy, StaffScapes

Five tips for both the employer and employee. Part two Employee

No one that I know of is comfortable with the thought of preparing for a staff reduction.  Both employers and employees are often placed into unchartered waters.  Everyone has questions and finding or knowing the answers often seems as easy as walking through quicksand.  I have a unique perspective as I have personally been on the receiving end of the “thank you for your dedication and oh sorry, you don’t get the five year service award company water bottle” and the “economic times are forcing us to reduce staff, now what do we do?” sides of the current and difficult times we are facing today.  So, to help navigate, here are a few suggestions:

For the Employee

1. Acknowledge that everyone is subject to being chosen as one of the “non-essential” personnel no matter how talented you are or how long you have worked for your employer.  Don’t fall victim to believing you won’t be affected.  Even if you survive the reduction, you and your colleagues will still experience fear, stress and increased work loads due to the forced actions.
2. Prepare in advance.  Do an audit on your personal life and create a budget if you don’t already have one.  Review your expenses and determine what you might be able to cut back on and put that money away now. Remember when Mom said to “save for a rainy day?”  I hate it when I realize Mom was right!  But honestly, putting away 3-6 months of expenses makes the difference between stressing out and freaking out!  No matter what your income, saving even a little will help.  And if you are not affected by the economic downturn, you will have a nice little savings that you wouldn’t have otherwise achieved.
3. Evaluate your options.  If you do become one of the growing statistics and are laid off, take a deep breath.  Next, take a little time to think about what you like to do, what you want to do and what you need to meet your lifestyle goals.  I guarantee that you will experience a flood of emotions and they will occur at various times through the process—even when you don’t expect them.  But, stay the course and adversity will eventually become opportunity and in time you will look back at the journey and realize that it may just be the best time of your life!
4. Have a plan.  Put together a job search map to help you get from point A to point B.   Network with friends, family and contacts.  At first you might not want to tell people what has happened because of embarrassment.  Speaking from personal experience, being a part of a lay-off is nothing to feel embarrassed about.  It happens to the best of us and it is unfortunately a common thing right now.  Some of the most talented people I know have been released of their duties.  Utilize unemployment services such as training seminars and job postings. Post your resume on job boards and target companies that you want to contribute your talents to.  Spend dedicated time daily to your search and customize each application to what the employer is seeking.  In essence, show them how you will help fill their need and provide concrete examples from past performance.
5. Enjoy & have fun.  What?  How can you enjoy and have fun when everything is falling apart?  I understand this reaction and understand it very well.  It isn’t easy to experience the after affects of the storm.  Things like fearing or experiencing  bankruptcy or foreclosure, wondering how you are going to keep the lights on or if you can afford to feed your children are all a part of dealing with job loss.  However, to deal with these stressors, you have to find a way to balance the negative with the positive.  Use some of the extra time you now have to do the things you have wanted to do but didn’t have time to do.  Now is the time to get in touch with who you are or who you want to be.  Complete that soul searching and find your vocation and not just a job.  Get back in shape and enjoy the natural beauty around you while working out.  Visit your local library and let your favorite author take you away to a time and place that is stress free.  Learn that new hobby or consider taking classes to update your skills or change your career entirely.  Complete those home projects that have been on your “to do” list for years.  View this time as a gift.  It’s hard to think of loosing your job as a gift, but sometimes, what we don’t ask for ends up being exactly what we need!

If navigating your way through challenging Human Resources issues has you perplexed or you want to free up time to focus on you business, call StaffScapes for your FREE Human Resources audit and see how we can help you.  800-551-7607.

By:  Eugena Bellamy, StaffScapes