A business owner has to juggle a lot of different priorities, it seems. You have to keep the market happy, you have to make enough money to keep growing, and you have to ensure your team works well. But the truth is that it’s all connected. Let the market down, you stop making money. Let the team down, and it all starts falling apart. Here are ways you have to stop that from happening and what the consequences will be if you don’t.
Demanding too much
When you feel the pressure, it’s sometimes not intentional that your employees feel that pressure, too. The difference is that you’re being pressured by your need to succeed, whereas they are pressured by all the authority and control over the purse-strings that come with you being the boss. Employees under pressure are more likely to take more overtime than they should and fewer career breaks. While that might sound like they’re being more productive, they are more likely to burn out. When that happens, you could lose them entirely, or your company morale will suffer, and overall productivity will suffer a steep decline.
Letting payroll slip
Payroll can slip from time to time. Sometimes, it’s due to an error in the process, sometimes, it’s due to poor cash flow. You can’t afford to let either happen. When you do, your employees are well within their rights to take legal action by hiring a lawyer for wage theft, which will result in you paying a lot more than you should have. Always ensure that paying your employees is financial priority number one. If your slip-ups are caused by error, then look into automating your payroll system with HR software so that you’re less likely to make a mistake by human error.
Failing to secure their workplace
If you want to talk about big legal costs that are entirely avoidable, then accidents and injuries have to take the number one spot. It costs a lot less to implement the right safety stands than it does to pay for the healthcare costs following an injury, not to mention the costs of a potential negligence suit. Considering hiring a safety audit team or performing your own safety audit to ensure you’re not missing any lurking risks.
Tolerating the worst behaviour
You might not intentionally tolerate harassment or discrimination in the workplace. But as the employer, you might be less likely to take notice because people are on their best behavior around you and you are more focused on keeping the company successful. But when harassment or discrimination suits take place because of what happened in your workplace, you are the one paying the costs. You can’t prevent bad people from showing their true colors. But you can prevent harassment from becoming part of company culture by making sure you have a firm, comprehensive HR policy. You also need a process by which employees can make their complaints in a safe environment so that you can take the appropriate disciplinary actions where necessary.
The companies that exploit or neglect their employees for gain are always the ones that inevitably suffer a huge downfall. Not only is it ethical, but it’s profitable to treat your employees with respect, fairness, and concern.
Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.