No matter how exciting that new job is, without the proper welcome on the new hire’s first day, it may resemble the first day of freshman year of high school – awkward! Those age old questions resurface and new hires begin to think: Where will I sit? Where will my workstation or office be? Will I fit in? Will my co-workers like me? We all have experienced those uncomfortable feelings at some point in our lives and I think I can speak for us all when I say, let that be history!

Providing employees with a sense of involvement in decision making and an ability to drive results for final outcomes has been proven to increase employee satisfaction. The concept of "employee empowerment" is often defined simply as allowing employees at all levels of the organization to have a part in making business decisions. For instance, share information and give employees the opportunity to make decisions that solve problems, improve service and performance. Empowerment is based on the idea that giving employees skills, resources, authority, opportunity, motivation, as well as holding them responsible and accountable, will contribute to their competence and satisfaction, ultimately leading to achievement of organizational goals.

You've probably heard the phrase, "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.” If you're uncertain on if your next hire should be a 1099 Independent Contractor or a W-2 Employee, read the Federal 20 Factor Test and Common Law in Virginia below.

If one were to work an average of 8 hours a day, 5 days per week, from the age of 18 to the age of 65, one would spend over 90,000 hours of their lifetime in the workplace. For Kathy Albarado, President and CEO of Helios HR, that’s 90,000 hours of potential. While many employees across America find themselves begrudgingly sitting down at their desks each morning and eager to leave when the clock strikes five o’clock, Kathy has dedicated her life and energy to the transformative power of corporate culture. “My personal passion has always been to make an impact through the creation of a corporate culture in which an employee’s life is not checked at the door, but is rather enriched and enjoyed within the walls of their workplace,” she explains. “When you can create a place that people love to be a part of, that enthusiasm spills over into the community.”

Is your business growing or expecting growth? Are more and more of your employees working remotely and across the country? How can a small or mid-sized organization manage these challenges along with new compliance obligations that accompany these changes without adding HR staff?

Almost 40% of the US military is made up of National Guardsmen and Reservists. These 850,000+ service members are also your employees. While their calls to duty are in the national interest, it can be disruptive to productivity, challenging to organizational cohesion, and stressful for everyone involved. But, we HR professionals can mitigate — even gain — from these experiences using techniques already available to us.