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Use the recession to improve your business
It’s going to get better. No really it is going to get better – eventually.
Who knows when the recession will bottom out, improve or be over? Every expert has their own opinion on the time lines, but without doubt sometime or another the Global Financial Crisis will be done and dusted and we can return to life as normal.
In the meantime there is still work to be done.
Over the last few years we have all been so busy being busy that some staffing matters may have been put aside while the “real work” was done.
So maybe now is a good time to get those things done before it really does get better again. At some stage those staffing matters still left undone are going to come along and bite you when you really don’t need it.
Here are a few things to consider:
- Employment agreements; are they up to date and relevant with today’s legislation?
Do they recognise changes to Annual leave entitlements, Kiwi saver, probationary periods, disciplinary process etc?
Are you aware that an expired or out of date employment agreement has you in breach of the Employment Relations Act and will put you immediately on the back foot in any Employment dispute hearing? - Health and Safety processes; are they up to date and relevant?
Are all your staff suitably inducted and aware of potential hazards?
Do your staff have current site safe tickets and are their licences or operating certificates current?
Are your accident register and hazard identification reporting systems up to date?
Would your business today stand up to the test of taking “all practicable steps”? - Staff Training; have you up-skilled your staff to match their job requirements?
Are your staff just getting by with their computer skills or time management requirements?
Do they feel they are growing their knowledge base enough and being extended?
Is there an opportunity for your employee’s to gain some qualifications regarding the job they are doing?
Could you be getting more from your employees if they were better educated?
If your business is quiet it is well worth committing the time and effort into getting these things right. In the perfect world we all do these things all of the time, but in reality some stuff gets missed.
Tradestaff’s health and safety audit team have commented several times recently that many clients they visit have really been hanging in there, on systems hopelessly outdated.
There is no better time than now to resolve some of the issues above so that when things do get better they are not a noose hanging over your business.
About 5 years ago Tradestaff invested a lot of time into the relationship with ACC and today as a result enjoys WSMP tertiary accreditation with ACC. That status firstly allows Tradestaff some levy advantages, but more importantly the audit processes put in place by ACC are so robust that they demand that Tradestaff’s health and safety process are top notch.
So along with the reduced levies, there is a dramatically better process, a significant reduction in lost time due to injuries and the WSMP ACC status has proven to be an extremely valuable sales tool.
The time spent getting the status 5 years ago has been repaid many times over in the very busy period during the last 3 or 4 years.
It may well be that your resources or situation don’t allow you to pursue this type of opportunity, but any advantage or improvements taken now can and will provide a significant gain when things get better.
This entry was posted on June, 2009 and is filed under Articles.
