In 1998, Edelman PR had about 1,300 employees, voluntary turnover was roughly 40 percent and its 'sweat shop' reputation plagued them. Exit interviews indicated that the single biggest cause of turnover was lack of mentoring, coaching and training.

Employers who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010 and before Jan. 1, 2011) may qualify for a 6.2-percent payroll tax incentive, in effect exempting them from their share of Social Security taxes on wages paid to these workers after March 18, 2010. This reduced tax withholding will have no effect on the employee’s future Social Security benefits, and employers would still need to withhold the employee’s 6.2-percent share of Social Security taxes, as well as income taxes. The employer and employee’s shares of Medicare taxes would also still apply to these wages. Click here for information regarding "qualified employees".

By: Gordon J. Bernhardt, CPA, PFS, CFP®, AIF®

Along with the year long contentious debate over the recently signed Health Care Reform bill, there have also been many misconceptions and falsehoods spread that the Health Care bill is bad for small business. Truth be told, as with most legislation, there is both some good and some not so good. The good is that this bill will do much to counter the skyrocketing costs of health Insurance while cutting a projected 138 billion dollars from the federal deficit between 2010 and 2019 and an additional 1.2 trillion over the second decade which could, in turn, reduce taxes and interest rates. Additionally, Starting with 2010 taxes, small businesses with fewer than 25 employees that pay at least 50% of the health care premiums for their employees qualify for a tax credit up to 35% of your premiums (50% after 2014 if you purchase insurance through an exchange). How much of a credit you'll get depends on the number of employees you have and their average wage. NOTE, This tax deduction is not available to sole proprietors, so you may want a different corporate legal form. The not so good is that there are no caps on health insurance premiums. This may cause insurance companies to hike rates significantly before they have competition in 2014. If a company has more than 50 employees, They will have to provide coverage, or pay a fine beginning in 2014.

With ubiquitous intranet connectivity, advanced telecommunication and networking technology, employer initiatives for work-life balance, shrinking travel budgets, and disaster preparedness planning, many professionals are logging in, signing on, pinging, tweeting, or connecting to networks from home offices, hotel rooms, telecommuting locations or handhelds.

I read a great article in the March 2010 Harvard Business Review. According to their research, twice as many Indian leaders as U.S. leaders think that human capital drives business success. Among the Indian firms they studied, 81% of the heads of HR reported that employee training and development was essential to building competitive organizational capabilities, whereas according to a survey by the American Society for Training and Development, only 4% of U.S. Chief Learning Officers head that view of their own operations. Their research demonstrates that they place an intentional focus on employee motivation by: