• President Trump will change somethings that affect organizations, employees and the workplace but what and when is not clear yet.
  • What is unchanged:
    • The best people seldom knock on your door and ask, “Are you interested in hiring someone like me?” (While it happened once this year for a client, this is an uncommon blessing.)
    • The cost of and competition doing business or raising capital continues to increase.
    • February 1 through April 30 most US businesses must publicly post the prior year’s injury log (that said, most businesses under 11 employees and a number of NAICS codes are exempt).
    • To date, the Affordable Care Act is unchanged. (There is so far, no actual impact of the President’s day one executive order to “’waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation’ of provisions that imposed fiscal burdens on states, companies or individuals.” (Reuters)
  • Meanwhile, what is new in 2017:
    • You must start using the new I-9 form (careful, it doesn’t open in every PDF viewer).
    • Organizations across the planet continue to change their goal setting and performance evaluation systems.
      • In the words of expert Marc Effron: goals should be “Fewer. Bigger. Better.”
      • Effron also wrote, “The power of performance management (PM) comes from brilliant goal setting, not flawless reviews, so until companies put effort and accountability into that area the quest for truly effective PM will not be realized.”
      • Most efforts in this area, at best, just discuss the past (worthwhile but incomplete) and, in one large research study we learned, 40% of employees’ performance goes DOWN for a period of time after the review process is complete and 50% of the staff only walk away annoyed from the whole endeavor.
      • The Michigan HR Group can help you think through and/or improve staff performance – on a go-forward basis.
    • Most government contractors have another, new minimum wage ($10.20) and must provide paid, family sick leave (up to 56 hours with annual carryover for the unused portion).
    • More changes affecting 401(k) and other retirement plan rule fiduciaries are coming.
    • By January 2018, 16 states will have paid leave laws in place. The Trump administration has expressed interest in some form of federally-mandated, paid, family sick leave.
  • Ideas to consider:
  • Do you have an actionable business plan? A vision for your business with clear, regularly discussed accountabilities?  (Michigan HR does not provide such organization-wide solutions but can discuss options and then translate those directions and decisions into talent tactics.)
  • Speaking of talent tactics: have you considered what roles, skills and people might need to be added this year? We recommend not waiting till cash is in-hand to start looking for the right person. Begin the search and conversations in advance.
  • What compliance and risk issues can you address this year?
  • Your #1 risk is unanticipated turnover, people leaving with a surprise departure. What are doing to improve retention, engagement, learning, productivity, etc.?
  • Did you know a correctly written Employee Handbook can reduce the statute of limitations on most employment complaints to six months, down from seven years?  (This applies to several Midwestern states.)
  • Are your personnel files in order? I-9s, federal AND state I-9s, termination documentation and (most important for many organizations) an intellectual property protection contract (only capable lawyers ought to write these).
  • Unfortunately, in states like Michigan, your employment posters now need to be updated every year.
  • What else is on your mind?  Contact us by phone or email; even better, let’s meet for coffee and chat.

-Scott Trossen  |  info@mi-hr.com  |  734-904-5611