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Last week I attended the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers (NABHOOD). It was a wonderful event held in Miami (never a bad place for a conference). I attended the Deep Sea Fishing and Shark Outing supporting the NABHOOD Scholarship. As a part of team Marriott we were able to catch a Kingfish, Black Fin Tuna, and a Bonito. I don’t want to brag (of course I do) but my fish was huge. OK, it was about 25 lbs, but it looked like 100.

Minority ownership is very near and dear to my heart, and it was great to see the variety of businesses and the diverse backgrounds of the people in attendance. I was moved by the speech given by Hank Thomas, who was one of the original Freedom Writers and a current a hotel owner. His message for all of us was we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

Supporting the hotel business is a new industry for Tolbert Enterprise Your HR Department so it was a perfect environment to learn what these owners, operators, developers and vendors are experiencing with their employees. Having employees in a small business can be challenging and filled with unexpected issues, but with respect and training you can protect you and your business from major problems.

I want to provide you with some information on NABHOOD. The organization’s mission is to:

“Increase the number of African-Americans developing, managing, operating and owning hotels; increase vendor opportunities & executive level jobs for minorities, thereby creating wealth within the African-American community”

You can also get more information from the website at www.nabhood.org.

Finally, NABHOOD did a wonderful job of exposing young African American students with the potential to become hotel operators and owners through the Student Leadership Program. They had about 60 students attend the event from Philadelphia to North Carolina.

I just want to say great job NABHOOD and I look forward to your event next year!

HR is all about service and being a resource!

Be S.M.A.R.T. (next weeks blog)!

El

Summer romances have been around for a very long time. Some people find love in the workplace, and have a wonderful relationship that last a lifetime. Some find a summer love with fond memories and some find pain, problems and maybe even performance issue.

For the Individual we are Your HR Department, and we want to be honest with you. Work and love should be kept separate. I used to counsel interns to “don’t mix money with your honey”. However, I used to also counsel that “you can’t always chose who you fall in love with”. I know we are such irrational creatures, and don’t always follow our better judgment when it comes to matters of the heart.

Here are some pointers to help you navigate this work landmine. We all know how landmines work, one wrong step and boom!

1. Don’t date your boss, someone that works on your team, or a subordinate! This will put you two into a very difficult situation and will impact everyone. I witness a very senior manager lose credibility, trust and finally his livelihood because of a summer love affair. The people around you will feel you are getting preferential treatment, or that you are now an biased decision maker, and if you get promoted, it will be based on that relationship not on your ability. Duck, dodge and weave to avoid the internal relationship!
2. Set ground rules! Just in case your summer fling turns into a bad dating show. Make sure that both parties understand a date is just that a date. Date only outside of the office and try to avoid those awkward moments when you are together at a meeting or lunch table. Keep it clean, no kissy face, huggey love at work.
3. Keep it quiet. As the relationship evolves (if it does) then share information with co-workers and managers. If you send flowers or gifts do so anonymously. Hopefully he/she will know it is from you if not you may have bigger problems. Being seen together all the time gets the dreaded rumor mill turning. Once you are in the mill you may get stuck there and derail your career.
4. Treat each other with respect! If this thing goes south, end it with respect. If you have an argument at home keep it there decide on a 9 to 5 time out. Respect goes a long way in any relationship, but is very critical when dealing with one at work.

All the best in love and HR!

El

At first I was a very reluctant blogger, but after talking with my confidants they explained it gives customers and prospects a chance to see where my head’s at! Besides being on top of my neck, it has always been in my heart to help businesses improve, help people find a job they love and assist organizations with a cause manage their teams to continue to do good work.

HR is a hard business and I take it very seriously, and it is because you are dealing with someone’s livelihood! Without good employees a business owner can’t succeed, a church can’t help save souls, a social organization can’t help feed the needy, and without a paycheck people can’t feed themselves or their families.

I love what I do and have for the last 18 years. We at Tolbert Enterprise look forward to being “Your HR Department”!

We all hope you never need to an investigation for an employee issues; however, if you should have the unfortunate pleasure of doing this there are several obstacles you should consider.

As the owner or leader you usually already have your own thoughts and dare I say biases about the people that work for you. It is hard to stay neutral when you have history with certain people. So when problems arise it is easy to point the finger, dismiss or not consider all sides to an issue. It is a benefit to having an outside group conduct the investigations for you. With Tolbert Enterprise you get an independent party to review and talk to all parties and provide you with a fact based report on the issue which allows you as a leader to make an informed decision which will indeed help you just in case the worst should happen.

As Your HR Department, Tolbert Enterprise will be your sleuth on the case!

With years of experience in Human Resources supporting a variety of industries, we recognize that an HR strategy must to be tailored for every customer. We don’t have an off the shelf product or tool to retail to you. We understand that your organization is unique, and has it’s own style, rules and customs.

As Your HR Department, we will listen to you and help you build your HR strategy specific for your organization. We can help you find the right new employee, train your team, create a new employee orientation, audit your existing practices, design a performance management program, or consult with your leaders on how to handle difficult employees.

We will work with you to ensure compliance, and to help you minimize the risk associated with having a diverse organization.

We can tailor our approach to meet your needs and become Your HR Department!

You may want to find a new job, grow in your current role, or start a new career all together. Our Work Coaches will help you design a plan to help you achieve your career goals.

• We will build a development plan so you can see your entire career path.
• We can create a new resume for you or improve the one you have.
• We will prepare you to interview for your dream job.
• We will help you evaluate a new job offer.

We will help you navigate workplace challenges such as a difficult boss or office politics. We will help you understand and respond to constructive criticism, developmental feedback, or performance improvement plans.

Most companies have an HR team, you as an individual should have one too.

Make Tolbert Enterprise Your HR Department!

My mother (and maybe yours) used to say “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Small business leaders may not have the time and expertise to ensure compliance with the host of state and federal laws and regulations. Compliance issues often arise when it is too late to correct without high cost.

You want to make sure that your practices, policies, procedures, records and forms are up to date.

As Your HR Department, having us perform an HR audit will save you heartache, headache and cash.

If every employee was a stellar employee your job as a leader would be easy! Since that does not always happen how do you make sure that you are acting in a very S.M.A.R.T. manner when dealing with difficult employees. Not just smart as in intelligent but also Specific, Measurable, Action Oriented, Realistic and Timely. As Your HR Department, we will be your resource to help you successfully manage employee issues and work with you to make sure that your decisions are SMART, compliant and fair.

We will work with your or leaders to provide counsel, recommendations and even written documents when employees are not stellar!

Like most small business owners and leaders, when someone leaves your organization, it throws the system into chaos.

As Your HR Department, we can assist you with finding the right person for your organization. We can create a success profile and build job descriptions. Then we will screen and interview candidates, so you can hire the right employee. Our team will focus on hiring a fully qualified candidate that will be the right “fit” for your organization.

Tolbert Enterprise saves you and your team time and resources. Our service allows you and your team time to run the business.

As Your HR Department we will help your find the right employee.