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Help Employees Save with myRA®

October 21, 2015

It’s National Save for Retirement Week – Help Employees Save with myRA®

October 18 – 23 is National Save for Retirement Week and it’s a perfect time to help employees establish their retirement goals and take the first step toward meeting them. If you have employees who don’t have access to a retirement savings plan – including part-time, temporary, and contracted workers – you can help them start saving with myRA (my Retirement Account). 

What is myRA?

myRA is a new retirement savings account developed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to make saving for retirement easy for the millions of people who don’t have access to a retirement savings plan at work or lack other options to save. It costs nothing to open a myRA account and there are no fees. Employees can choose to save an amount that fits their budget1, and the account carries no risk of losing money. In addition, savers can transfer or roll over their savings to a private-sector Roth IRA at any time.  (more…)

Mastering the Art of Management

October 13, 2015

mastering-the-art-of-mgmt-google-blog-postMany small business owners are masters of their industry, but when it comes to managing a company, a new and different set of skills is necessary. According to the US Census, 38% of small businesses have 5 or more employees. That’s more than two million businesses that rely on strong leadership and employee relationships to keep their companies running smoothly. This month, in honor of National Boss’s Day, we’re taking a look at what it takes to be a great leader for your small business.

Make the right hires.
Laszlo Bock, the SVP of People Operations at Google and the author of Work Rules, has said the key to a company’s success is to “hire amazing people, give them more freedom than you’re comfortable with, provide targeted real-­time coaching, and forgive failure as long as people learn.” When hiring, look for people who not only have the necessary skills but also share the same vision and values as you.

Invest time in your employees.
In our Boss’s Day Q&A last year, we talked to a manager-employee pair at Google who admitted that the biggest challenge in building a good working relationship is making time for each other. One suggestion is to schedule a weekly or bi-weekly check-in, which can be used to talk about projects but also to catch up and get to know each other as people.  (more…)

Four ways to make employees your greatest asset

September 8, 2014
By Cindy Bates –

Your employees have the potential to be the greatest asset to your business. Developing loyal, skilled employees with a passion for the business doesn’t happen on its own and requires a concerted effort. Here are four ways you can start investing in what could be your business’ greatest asset:

1. Create champions. Identify areas of the business that employees are passionate about, like marketing or customer service, and let employees “champion” that part of the business. Have them take responsibility for developing ways to improve their respective areas, and empower champions by providing opportunities to work together across teams. Make sure champions set quantifiable goals – that way you can track success.

2. Get flexible.If the nature of your business allows it, consider allowing employees to work remotely. Research shows that when workers have more flexibility, they’re happier, better able to perform and more likely to stay at a job for longer periods. Job satisfaction is also improved by eliminating the anxiety caused by traffic and daily commutes. This could be a regular occurrence, such as “Work from Home Fridays,” or something that’s permitted on an as-needed basis. Leverage a tool like Office 365 so employees can maintain productivity and collaboration from anywhere.  (more…)

Industrial Iron Man: Ekso Aims To Power Superhuman Workers

October 28, 2013

Max Scheder-Bieschin, CFO of Ekso Bionics, just comes right out and says it: “We want to create Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit.”

Looking around his company’s warehouse in an industrial section of Richmond, California -– the same warehouse that 75 years ago produced many of the tanks and Jeeps used in the Pacific theater — it’s hard not to take him seriously.

The bionic suits, which look closer to those worn by Matt Damon in the upcoming movie Elysium, are overrunning the place. Over here, one hangs from an industrial-strength gurney while a technician welds circuitry into its knee joint. Over there, another marches in place without a human inside, indefinitely automated for stress tests (an eerie fixture for the last person in the office at night, staff admit.) At the far end of the room, suits painted with military fatigues sit half-assembled. And that’s to say nothing of what goes on in The Tent, a 20-by-20-foot pup assembled in the corner to conceal Ekso’s most confidential projects from anyone — employees included — not on a need-to-know.  (more…)

Could We Do This in a Team Meeting?

August 6, 2013

I spend a lot of time in my seminars imploring leaders and managers to spend more time with their employees: “You need to spend time every day with your direct-reports providing guidance, direction, support, and coaching!”

Often, managers will raise their hands and ask, “Could we do this in a team meeting?”

Team meetings are great. They are critical to any leader/manager’s repertoire. But team meetings are really only useful for four purposes:

  • Creating a feeling of belonging and togetherness. (This reason should be used sparingly. Maybe once a quarter).
  • Sharing a bunch of information to a bunch of people in the same way at the same time.
  • If there is an open question/problem with multiple constituents so the various constituents may discuss together; hear what each other says; respond spontaneously to each other; and move together toward a common solution.
  • Because team meetings so often make it clear that certain one-on-one huddles are necessary and must immediately follow the team meeting!

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