Management
Employers: Ten Things You Should Never Ask In An Interview
By Amanda at Sage HR Advice
A wide range of interview questions is essential to help find the right employees for your business. However, asking the wrong questions can bring discrimination claims against you, threatening your company’s finances and reputation.
Before you conduct your next interview, stop and check that you’re not planning on asking any of the following danger questions.
1. “Are you planning on starting a family?”
This question may seem fair enough, but it’s loaded with potential discrimination. You could be accused of not employing someone because of the cost and resource issues associated with their maternity or paternity leave.
In fact, avoid any questions about children, childcare or family commitments. If it comes up in conversation that an applicant is expecting a baby, for instance, stress that this will not be taken into account in the selection process.
Posted under: Corporate Concierge As A Customer Service Tool
By Karen O’Brien at Sage
The term “concierge” evolved from the French Comte Des Cierges, The Keeper of the Candles, who tended to visiting nobles in castles of the medieval era. In medieval times, the concierge was an officer of the king who was charged with executing justice, with the help of his bailiffs. In more modern times, a concierge is an employee of an apartment building, hotel or office building who serves guests with duties similar to those of a butler. The position can also be maintained by a security officer over the graveyard shift. While in Spanish regions, a similar position, known as the portero, exists.
In Sage, an idea was brought before the Executive Team. Instead of customers calling in and getting through to the IVR (Interactive Voice Response), they get through to an actual person, who could ensure they get through to the right department first time. Thus, giving the customer a wow factor experience rather than pressing buttons for options that at the end of the day, you are not even sure that these options will get you through to the correct person.
Karen O'Brien of Sage ready to take your call
Interview With Entrepreneur Ron Immink
By Beatrice Whelan, Social Media & Content Specialist at Sage
Ron Immink is a key individual in the Irish business community. He is a business development expert for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is board advisor to a number of start-ups, a fellow of the Institute of Commercial Management and on the panel of experts in entrepreneurship for the OECD and entrepreneur in residence of the Innovation Academy in University College Dublin. What better person to talk to about business and entrepreneurship in Ireland at the moment.
Hi Ron. You have your finger on the pulse of the Irish small business community, what is the general feeling about Ireland’s Economic Recovery among small businesses, do they feel we have turned a corner?
Yes and no. It really depends on whom you talk to. Retail is tough. Local services is though. Companies with modern business models with an international outlook are doing well. The companies with outdated concepts, focused on the local market are not doing that well. It is not only the recession, the company life cycles are getting shorter (average age of a company is 7 years), technology and global competition are making being and staying in business more and more difficult for everyone.
The good news is that the companies that are currently still standing have become lean and mean fighting machines that are capable of competing in any market. And they should.
How To Get Your Hiring Right
As published in the Sunday Business Post on 25th March 2012.
Getting more out of existing staff and hiring the best-possible new recruits becomes even more essential as businesses start to focus on the future.
Ryan Reid, field sales manager, Sage
Sage has built on its strengths within the business community, developing human resources (HR) management and payroll solutions that address the needs of larger companies in the mid-market sector of between 15 and 500 employees. The payroll function is naturally closely related to accounts management, but Sage’s HR software, which it acquired some years ago from a company called Snowdrop, enables tighter and more efficien tmanagement of the most important asset many companies possess – their employees.
‘‘HR and payroll are intrinsically linked,’’ said Sage’s field sales manager Ryan Reid. ‘‘HR software takes somebody from the point of job application through to retirement. Organisations in the mid-market are now looking for one solution to address these functions.’’
Reid said that in today’s challenging business environment, the number of applications for advertised posts is increasing rapidly. Organisations trying to make the best decisions onwho to hire are often swamped in applications which impose burdens of time and management on HR decision makers. ‘‘In these times, organisations can’t afford to make bad hires,’’ he said.
How To Keep Customers Satisfied
As published in the Sunday Business Post on 25th March 2012.
Customers should be for life, and your relationship with them needs to grow and evolve as their needs and the economy changes. That’s the message fromTom Nolan, head of strategic account management for Sage,who believes that during times of economic
hardship it makes sense to hang on to the customers you have at the same time as trying to find new ones. The challenge for Irish midmarket companies under pressure to keep their customers happy is how to make the most of those relationships. The answer
lies in customer relationship management (CRM) and, according to Nolan, it’s not enough to simply have access to customer information in a database, it’s more important to be able to make that information work hard.
‘‘There are companies out there that think they don’t need separate CRMsystems, they keep their customer data in their enterprise resource planning [ERP] systems but that’s manifestly not enough,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s vital that mid-market companies invest in CRM to grow their business.You need to have focused systems within your organisation that allow you to implement your best practice processes against your customer base to deliver the right level of customer service. CRM at its most basic is a tool that allows companies to maintain an ongoing relationship with their customers throughout all parts of the business,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s about maintaining a 360-degree view of your customer and understanding all the dealings you have with them.’’
Work Smarter Not Harder
By Tony Leonard, Corporate Field Account Manager at Sage
Work smarter not harder, kill two birds with one stone. It’s all good advice and you hear comments like it all the time when people talk about life and business but how often do people actually do something about it.
I have worked in different sales environments for over 14 years and I’ve been around longer than I will reveal here so I have heard all the excuses.
People have ways of doing things and ‘that’s just how it’s done’ is one of the most common reasons people don’t move forward and embrace change despite all the benefits. They don’t always say it but it’s exactly what they are thinking.
Taking the Leap of Hiring Staff
By Victoria Graham, Digital Marketing Specialist at Sage
Wondering if it’s time to hire? You may be at the point in your business where you feel you have no choice but to hire staff. For instance, you may find that long hours have become the norm, you are unable to keep up with your workload or that the business is no longer able to grow. Hiring employees is not only vital to give you a helping hand but also in allowing your business to develop.
Hiring employees in order to grow your business is a big step and preparation is key to success in this area. If you are not already, then you should be thinking about, how you will organise the administration around payment of staff and what payroll software to use. You also need to consider the legislation that may be relevant to you as an employer. This may all seem a little daunting but taking on employees for the first time doesn’t have to be painful.
As you will be aware staff pay needs to be considered carefully. Your new employees will generally be entitled to at least the national minimum wage which currently stands at €8.65 per hour. There are however, exceptions to this rule for example; employees who are in their first year of employment since turning the age of 18 are entitled to €6.92 per hour while employees who are in their second year of employment since turning 18 are entitled to €7.79 per hour, those who are under 18 years of age are entitled to €6.06 per hour. Other exceptions include; employees who are close relatives of the employer and employees undergoing structured training such as an apprenticeship (other than hairdressing apprenticeships). With this in mind it is also worth researching the current rate offered by similar businesses for the type of role you are recruiting for.
On top of employee pay you must also factor in other costs, both to you and the employee such as; PAYE, Universal Social Charge (USC) and PRSI. When paying your staff you will be responsible for deducting the correct contributions and tax and then submitting this to the Revenue. This will mean keeping up to date on legislative changes for example; changes in Universal Social Charge (USC).
We recommend Sage One Payroll to any small business taking the leap to hiring staff for the first time. Sage One Payroll is an affordable payroll solution that will take the hassle out of payroll and help you to stay on top of legislative changes. This cloud based payroll software automatically calculates payments and deductions like PAYE and USC. This means that you will always pay your employees the right amounts. What’s more, as legislation changes Sage One Payroll will automatically update. Sage One Payroll will allow you to record details such as; staff sick days, maternity/paternity leave and access all of your employee information in one online payroll system.
Every payroll year end you will be required to submit your payroll returns online to the Revenue. Sage One payroll allows you to do this by recording all of the relevant information in the format required for submission.
It is important that you are aware of HR legislation when hiring new employees for the first time. If you do not ensure that you have the right employment contracts, risk assessments and guidelines in place, then you risk leaving yourself exposed to unwanted disputes. Employment Tribunals are expensive, time consuming and bad for your business all round. If you are unsure of any of the legislation then you can get advice from the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) website or the Citizens Information website.
Sage provides Human Resource (HR) and Health & Safety (H&S) Advice. Access to online resources along with telephone and email support can be purchased through the Sage Store online. As well as translating the law into plain English, Sage will notify you of forthcoming legislative changes and give you all the tools you need to remain compliant.
Have you any questions around the area of taking on employees or perhaps you have already taken the leap and have some tips to share with our readers?
Putting your business online
More and more, people are putting their businesses online and not in a physical store, to lower costs, but many entrepreneurs seeking to start a business aren’t aware at the outset of just what is required to accept payments online. Unfortunately, there is a lot more to accepting payments online than just setting up your website and watching the money roll in (we wish!)
"And all I did was set up my website!!"
Whether you’re going all online, or planning for a “Bricks and clicks” business, here are some of the things that will be essential to you buying and selling online.
Bank accounts:
As well as a business bank account, you’ll need a Merchant bank account (which is a different thing, we promise). A merchant account is the account where customers’ card details will be sent securely, to have their payment to your website authorised.
The merchant account will validate the card details your customers are giving you, to make sure that the funds they are transferring to you are actually in the account. Once the funds have been cleared, the money will be sent to your business bank account by your merchant bank.
There are lots of different types of merchant bank account, and the one that’s right for you will depend on how you want to accept payment. For example, you may also wish to take payments over the phone or via the post (if anyone is still purchasing things via post that is), or you may wish to have a repeat billing system setup
Equally, there are many places you can get merchant bank accounts. Most of the major banks will offer “merchant services” to you, though you may find it cheaper to simply use your payment provider (more on that later), who can often negotiate better transaction rates with the banks, since they process so many transactions. Prices from provider to provider will vary though, and as usual, it’s the best idea to look around for where you can get the best service and value for your business.
Payment gateway/Payment service provider:
A payment gateway is essentially a secure link between your website’s checkout area, and your merchant bank account. A payment gateway will let your customers know that it’s easy and safe to use their debit or credit cards on your website, and they won’t have their details stolen etc.
When it comes to choosing your payment gateway, there are some important things to consider:
- Will the gateway work with your shopping cart: The shopping cart/shopping basket element of your site will need to be compatible with your payment service provider, and some services will integrate more easily than others with particular shoping cart systems. Your web developer will be able to tell you the specifics if you’re unsure.
- Support level: If you’re working online, then people could be buying your products 24/7, especially with so many being paid at the stroke of midnight, and going on an immediate splurge. And of course, if you do much selling abroad, this will be an even bigger issue. So with 24/7 selling hours, the ideal is naturally to have 24/7 support.
- Extra charges: Certain services may be charged separately. If you are accepting multiple currencies for example, or if you wish to have a 3D secure system built into your gateway, there is sometimes an extra charge.
- Sales figures Analysis: Certain services will let you pull some of the sales information, run reports, and even have the figures placed automatically into your accounting system, saving time on data entry. And of course, as with everything, else, make sure you check out the
- Small print: it’s important to know if you’re being tied into a long term contract, and what if any penalties there might be for trying to move somewhere else.
For more information on setting up online, stay tuned to this blog, or simply go directly to the source at www.sagepay.com/ireland
Or, if you’re really keen to get involved why not check out the internet retailing summit on September 29th? http://www.internetretailing.ie/
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Why your company’s bank reconciliation and your personal spending are not worlds apart.
It’s Monday morning at 11am and you have just logged onto online banking to view your personal bank account. At first glance the balance looks healthy, at second glance a little too healthy. At this point you realise that several transactions made over the weekend have yet to hit your account and you are indeed looking at your Friday afternoon balance. Mentally scanning back over the weekend you attempt to recall and add up anything that has yet to make a dent in your funds. Welcome to the world of ‘debit card maths’.
You have the option of waiting a day or two to view a refreshed balance or to figure out yourself what the balance should be. Your first guesstimate will probably factor in the obvious transactions that are fresh in mind. The second will remember those “other” weekend expenses. Those savvy enough to keep receipts in a logical way can easily go through them and work it out from there. It is only after a session of debit card maths that a true account balance can be assumed.
Why then do the words ‘Bank Reconciliation’ strike fear into the hearts of so many of us?
"Oh no, not bank reconciliation!!"
Personally I blame hours spent as a teenager in business studies class where this module consisted mainly of trying to match items on two A4 sheets of paper to each other. The truth is completing a bank reconciliation is really not worlds apart from working out debit card maths in the aftermath of a busy weekend. You have your company’s view of what has gone in and out of your bank account during the time period in question detailed in your accounting software. Your bank statement details the bank’s view of the company bank account for the same time period.
In simple terms your bank reconciliation allows you to take stock of anything that has appeared on your bank statement, such as interest or fees, that you need to record in your accounting software. It then allows you to ascertain what you have already detailed in your accounting software that has not yet appeared in the bank. These remaining transactions can remain un-reconciled so that they can be checked against your next bank statement or investigated to see what has caused them to be missing from it.
If you’re still lost (or if you’d rather just pass the work on), you can get a little help from sage’s accounts software, or follow us on facebook or twitter for more helpful advice
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