Accountability for employee input is often related to time, and one of the simplest ways to implement this is to install an employee time clock. Recording requirements under work choices is actually what started this idea for a lot of SB employers, but regardless of how much you rely on the system for recording, job costing or payroll... there is a great trade off in the message sent to employees.

It says to them:

When you turn up and how long you break for and work for is important to us!

Seeing minute by minute results in their pay packet is stimulating, but to avoid motivating without monetary benefits, some employers store up overtime minutes and trade rewards... time off, or 'lunchroom bonuses'!

All of this would be impractical without highly accurately and easily recording employee attendance time. There are many simple digital and/or fingerprint time clocks which will have an instant impact on both your employee attitude to their effort and on your business efficiency.

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Look at profit-sharing or employee incentive planning as a means to retain key staff - unfortunately in a recession large cost items like recruitment have a heavy impact as does losing key staff from your business. We have had a lot of success with clients in introducing our unique Peak Performance Trust with a key focus of attracting, retaining and motivating key staff - see www.buildit.net.au . There is nothing better than having key employees within the business beginning to think and act like business owners in the same way that you do.””

The funds which are shared as profit are often reinvested - internally financing the business and also giving staff and key people a stake in the performance and success of the business.

Imagine if your employees were able to think and act and innovate like business owners not employees

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MYOB

Do you have any insights around the focus of training for small businesses ?

Big companies spend heaps on team building. What is your experience on the value of this type of activity in small teams ?

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HubHost I think a combination of all of them. As a trainer I can not stress the benefits that staff will gain from a couple of hours on-site training. As well as time savings, they feel valued, and proud. hen I visit some will tell me it is their first learning experience in 10 years. As the boss you can't possibly teach them everything!! Even if you know it all do you have the time to spare? Bring in a training specialist!

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Which of the following do you think is most successful ?
- Give staff greater autonomy and decision making authority
- One to one meetings where you listen and then talk
- Training programs, either on the job or offsite
- Good old fashioned recognition, a pat on the back
- other ??

Hub Host

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I agree that small business is probably the only benificiary to the workchoices scheme.I also understand that large business is also suffering due to lowering employee confidence often rendering themselves to impulsive decision making.However surely there has to be some comprimise to increase confidence and create long futures with employees yet that offers the ability for small business to quit an employee if they are by no means shaping up to their commitments.I feel that often my staff feel that i should be grateful that they turn up at all, and they know full well that should they be fired they have a "cruisy" 2 week minimum payout ++++.I find that the mentality towards their jobs and their futures is somewhat disturbing, and feel that changes to the existing schemes are needing so/as to work for the mutual benefit of small and large business enabling the implementation of motivational strategies.

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If Australia's small businesses are forced to keep employees when they cant afford them then the business will fail. If the productivity of employees is measured then small businesses are to succeed. Gone are the days of running the small business owner into the ground. Besides shouldn't a worker be happy that the business succeed so they do have a job. If the business fails then everyone is out of a job, including the owner. Workchoices allows small business to dismiss people when they are hurting if there is no money to be made. This also allows for the employee to look for a job a somewhere else sooner so they can still get one before it is too late. Maybe the best motivator for employees these days is workchoices.

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Has Workchoices adversarily affected the employer-employee relationship by giving more power to the employer and making it harder for employees to make a living, or is there more to the employment relationship than just this simple economic exchange?

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Very few employees are motivated by money unless you're not paying them a basic amount. Once they earn sufficient money for their basic needs, they then work for security, teamwork and recognition. Learn to communicate with your employees and find out what really motivates them, you cannot motivate them, they can only motivate themselves, your job is the lead and create the environment. google "maslow hierachy", the theory has been around for a long time and is still relevant today.

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If a person were to say to me that they want to work for a company of particular size so they had protection against unfair dismissal, they are already saying they see there being a problem.

So glad folk are so willing to shot them selves in the foot when interviewing for a job.

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As a recruitment agency for employers (albiet small), we are finding that the key to successful relationships stem from employing the right person at the start. We are very careful to match our employers needs and requirements against prospective employee's before we refer onto the employer.

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Workchoices has been a disaster for us. I have struggled to find employees. I have had several say that they want to work for larger companies (over 100 people) so that they can have some protection from unfair dismissal. It's hard enough to find good people as it is these days without name making it even harder for small businesses.

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Workchoices allows me to offer flexibility which many employees are willing to trade off for wages.

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