2019 is waiting to enter our lives and it is time to budget and strategise the annual planning for human resources. Having an Employer of Record Services in Germany can be a big help and many businesses go for these services in order to create a stress-free HR strategy to guide us through whatever might come?
Here is a list of 4 Steps to Creating Your 2019 HR Business Plan with your Employer of record in Germany : 1. Audit Your 2018 Activity The best to have a better tomorrow is to take lessons from your past. Learn from your mistakes and gain from your achievements in 2018 and strategize keeping in mind what worked best for you. Audit the allocation of resources in 2018 and sit with your EOR to identify what set of arrangement was proved out to be the best for the organisation. Also, make a list of five or ten things that went wrong, and consider why. A deliberate consideration of your doings in 2018 would tell you how accurate was your 2018 planning? Where did you overspend and where all you would have spent more. This will help you to learn from your mistakes and recreate your successes. 2. Talk To Employees I really wish that the leaders of my organisation knew everything but sadly that can never be the case. Your 2018 audit will tell you a lot about what happened the previous year, but talking directly to your employees would give the answer to the question why which is just as critical to know. Take some time to do qualitative spot check-ins with your employees at every level of your organization. 3. Talk To Leaders About Goals For 2019 You may think that you are ready to discuss the entire strategy with your EOR alone but it is a good idea to sit with your leaders to talk about their plans and goals. Understanding their vision would lay the groundwork for long-term changes. Plans can be in pipeline to launch a new product at the global level or launch in a new global location in 2020. All these aspirations should be kept in mind before planning for 2019 even though the target for it to happen is in 2020. The reason behind this is very simple. For anything to happen in 2020, the work would progress in 2019 and so it is very important to be far-sighted and keep bigger goals in mind before you discuss anything with your EOR. 4. Conduct A Gap Analysis Once you know your current understanding as well as the long-term vision for the company, it is now time to conduct a gap analysis to see where you need to make changes to support the organization. Here you can look for opportunities. For example, What can be outsourced? What can you automate? What can you bring in-house? Which countries are eating up most of your resources and how can you address that? What are the top risks and challenges? etc.
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The end of the year can be a stressful time. From holiday celebrations to wrapping up the books, you are likely being tired of all the work and needed a break yourself. However, in order to be Payroll Compliant in Germany, you can’t take a break from the year-end tasks. So while your employees are out there celebrating holidays, you are stuck in doing all the work. Well! The Santa Claus has heard your plead and sent you an angel. Payroll Company in Germany can be your saviour of all the redundant tasks all year round but they are a real help especially at this time of the year when you really want to enjoy the success of your business with your family and take the much-needed break.
Here are some ways outsourcing payroll can help with the year-end tasks: Finance and Tax Documentation As the year is ending, it is now time to start thinking about getting your finances and tax documentation in order ahead of tax day. In order to keep the documentation in place, there is a lot of work that needs to be around filling forms. Having help at this time would not only help you roll out all the necessary forms to your employees but also getting them filled by your employees. Customer Service The worst thing that can happen in a business is when you are in dire need of help and there is no one around to give you that help. The mention of customer service makes people uneasy as it is a common myth that getting help is a challenging task and it ends up wasting your time. As the year is ending, you would be needing more hands and quick help to get all the work done on time. Small business owners are busy doing a lot of tasks at the same time, and when it comes to serious issues related to payroll and taxes, they know, they need exact answers and fast. Having an expert help all day round at this time of the year is the most satisfying and would also help you complete everything on time without having an tension on your end. Flexible Payroll Options When payroll is mentioned, flexible isn’t the first word you think of right? You are aware of the payroll schedule you need to follow and that’s it, right? But have you ever thought of having flexible payroll options in order to compensate for the time when life gets in the way: the day you have a family emergency and forget to process the payroll or the time you accidentally entered employees pay incorrectly and need to cancel. Having an expert by your side gives you the much-needed breathing space and provides you options for these “when life happens” moments. They take care of everything and all you have to do is live in the moment and not worry about the payroll at all. A number of court cases have confirmed that after Setting up a Company in Germany, the business owners can help protect themselves against legal employee disputes by creating a published employee handbook.
An employee handbook or a policy manual is considered as one of the most essential communication tools between your company and your employees. By having an employee handbook and related HR Personnel policies created, every employee can receive the same information on the rules of the workplace. Handing such manual to each employee is important as they then know what to expect and what is expected of them. A properly written, up-to-date HR handbook is a must for all mid-size and small businesses. Effectively Communicate Your Workplace Policies Regardless of the number of employees that have worked at your company, having an employee handbook or personnel manual clearly explains your workplace policies and thus is critical for your business. Effective communication is important as there are strong chances of misunderstandings when benefit plans are not explained properly or company policies are not provided in a consistent manner. Such misunderstandings can take a serious tone when they become a legal dispute. Such issues can involve things like workplace harassment, discrimination, overtime and attendance policies. Effectively Communicating your handbook may seem unnecessary because of all the extra work you need to do but it will have an additional advantage. It will make sure that you do not miss out on anything and no point is skipped. Communicating your Workplace Policies puts you in safelight. Businesses sometimes feel that having a manual adds to the cost of employee in Germany, but in reality, it saves you a lot of cost by saving you from all the uncalled for legal trouble and thus creating a sense of security for you. Essential Components Of An Employee Handbook Now that you know, HR Manual is important, it is time to start creating one in which you need to know what all to add. An employee handbook includes information on general work policies, orientation & training, employee classification, workplace harassment, attendance, personal conduct, compensation & benefits, termination of employment and internet/email policies etc. It is also a good practice to get the manual signed by the employee while handing the same to them. It is also recommended that you have them sign an acknowledgement form stating that they have received a copy of the employee handbook. Several policies, topics and sections you may want to include in your employee handbook are:
These are the general points that you can include in the manual. The actual guidelines, policies, and topics you decide to include may vary from company to company. It would depend on how many employees you have and also the benefits you offer them. After hiring the employee, your company handbook needs to be the first formal communication you give to them. You can then create the whole orientation for them as you like. Ok, I am going to hire a Payroll Service Provider in Germany. Now what?
Rhonda Abrams, a famous USA columnist once famously put it, “If you have one employee it’s time to get a payroll service”. The benefits of outsourcing payroll in Germany are too many. Imagine yourself free of all the payroll worries. You do not have to bounce the books around to employees to tackle, or waste time or energy figuring out finances, or worry that you might forget to file a quarterly report when you could actually divert all this effort to something much more important to you that is your business. Outsourcing such a crucial function to someone can be difficult and not everyone is so quick to delegate these duties elsewhere. With an endless list of benefits that a third party firm provides, there are number of misconceptions that may make businesses wary about outsourcing payroll in the first place. 1) Payroll Is Too Expensive One of the foremost myths is the matter of budget. For smaller companies, maintaining everything in-house may seem more convenient and cost-effective, but payroll is not only about bookkeeping. There are a lot of other responsibilities such as printing, signing, and distributing checks, issuing W-2 forms, withholding employee taxes, paying payroll taxes etc. Even if you are fluent in these duties, you will actually admit that these are time consuming tasks. Now take a moment and calculate the amount of time you spend working on payroll. And now think about all the work you could have done in that time, right from crucial projects to expansion to hiring new employees. 2) The Numbers Will Be Full Of Mistakes, Which Could Lead To Penalties One of the biggest nightmares of any small business owner is that the numbers they had spent months on get mangled and now there are penalties that need to be paid. This is a myth as with proper research of the background of the service provider, you can find the one firm that will be able to take care of your payroll needs just the way you want them to be. Talk to other small business owners for recommendations. The more local and accessible the provider is, the better when it comes to the finances of your business. 3) Outsourcing Is Not Secure Enough Or Safe One of the hardest myths of all, this becomes difficult to beat particularly in the age of data breaches, but we strongly believe that it is other way around. The amount of security outsourcing offers the clients is unmatchable. In order to be doubly sure of the fact that the service provider you are going with is stringent in their data protection norms, you can ask them what their process is and what security practices they follow. Find out how the provider plans to centralize and protect your data and what all kinds of servers and backup systems are available especially for sensitive data. Small businesses are the lifeblood and soul of a country. And no small business can achieve success without support from a tribe of employees, colleagues, investors, and third-party providers. This means getting outside help to take care of the areas that are not your strength thus ensuring that you shine in the things that matter the most at the same time making sure that nothing in your company is going out of place. Many small businesses after their company formation in Germany consider outsourcing part or all of their HR function to a PEO Company in Germany.
So Is this really a good idea or is it something everyone is doing for the sake of it? All the concerns running through your mind before hiring a PEO are understandable. Putting Your PEO Fears To Rest Before making any business decision, it is good to consider all the things that can go wrong. After all, assessing pros and cons is part of building a strong business case. Here’s what you need to know to put your PEO fears to rest. Will I Lose Control Of My Business? Absolutely not. Being one of the common concerns, this is only a myth. The truth is that the PEO is your partner, not your boss. As an employer of record, they would assume the responsibility of handling payroll, benefits, administrative functions and taxes, but the control of hiring and firing the employees, worksite culture and safety, and business decisions still remain in your hand. Is This A Good Investment? Certainly. PEOs are a great fit for small to medium size businesses. A piece of advice here is to try to learn as much about the PEO as possible and ask for an itemized, unbundled quote so that you can see all parts of the fee before coming to a decision. Will The PEO Pay My Taxes On Time? That is what they are hired to do but this is exactly where you need to do your homework before picking a service provider. Established, reputable PEOs can be relied on to take care of your taxes like clockwork. But still there is no harm to do a little digging before finalizing one out of many. You can check for online reviews or ask for references from those who are already their clients. What If They Go Out Of Business And Leave Me Hanging? To address this concern, there is only one thing you can do, research thoroughly before choosing a provider. So let’s come back to our original question: Is hiring a PEO a good idea for your small business? The answer is an overall yes as long as you go into the market prepared and do your homework before handing this crucial task to some company. Until the time you are sure of the company through reviews and other channels, all you need to make sure is understand the terms of the agreement so you’re not stuck with something that isn’t working for you. |
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