- Employees need to get paid,
have their performance managed,
and be taken care of administratively
for hiring, firing, resigning, and retiring.
For hiring, you'll need to manage your recruiting process,
and when you find someone you like
you need to onboard them after you hire them.
Many of your clients will ask
you to conduct background checks and drug screenings
on your people before you send them to work
at the client location.
During the onboarding process,
you'll need to set your people up to get paid
and get their tax information
so you can report and pay taxes on them.
This includes paying the employer's share
of things like social security tax.
If you offer benefits,
you'll need to get your employees set up on those plans.
You might offer health and retirement benefits,
which can be complex to offer and administer.
The good news is there are companies out there
that specialize in offering and managing benefits programs
for small companies and consulting firms
that might not be large enough
to manage those plans themselves.
Consider working with one of those firms.
Once your people are aboard, you need to pay them.
This is where managing cash flow becomes important.
While your clients have no problem paying you late,
if you pay your employees late, you're going to have a problem.
If you don't manage your cash flow carefully
you might come up short on payday and have a big issue.
Set up regular and predictable payroll processes
and budget around them.
Another requirement of having employees
is communicating and enforcing policies.
Whether those policies relate to safety,
harassment, security, or time off,
you'll need to follow the rules
around notification and enforcement.
This is another situation where getting professional help
and counsel is a good idea.
Employment law is complex.
Find experts who can help you manage your processes well
and in a manner that complies with all applicable laws.
You'll spend as much time managing employees
as you do serving clients.
The smarter you are about managing your people
and handling administrative issues for them,
the more time you can spend serving clients
instead of resolving employee issues.