Small Business Owners – Time Management & Employee Accountability

Time management is one of those terms that often makes people cringe. No one wants to be held accountable for how they spent their waking hours. However, when you don’t practice time management you often can’t account for what you did throughout the day. As a business owner how do judge a busy day from a not so busy day? Do you rely just on the revenue brought in each day? As a small business owner there a few ways you pay your employees and the way you supervise or manage their time is different for each one.

1. Per item - Some employees are paid per item created. As the employer, supervisor or business owner you will want to set realistic goals for how many items can be created each day or hour. You will need to know this to ensure quality production of the items and also in order to budget your money for paying wages.

2. Per job – Many independent contractors earn their wage based upon the job. Housekeepers and lawn service professionals will charge a flat rate instead of a hourly rate to complete their tasks. This is usually to their advantage. As the employer you will want to supervise this contractor to ensure he or she is completing the job to your satisfaction and not rushing through it to get to the next job. You may want to have a very specific checklist to review before and after completion of the job with the contractor. As the small business owner or employer you will want to also ensure you understand the terms of the contract or service being provided. Do not get bullied or forced into paying for services you did not request. An example of this is a window washer that was contracted for twice a month but started showing up once a week and expected to be paid after completing the unrequested service. Business owners must know what is in the contract and adhere to it.

3. Hourly – hourly employees are paid for typically fulltime which is 40 hours per week in the United States or part-time which is typically under 30 hours for employees in the United States. This employee is probably the one that the business owner needs to supervise the most. This employee if not supervised closely may take longer to complete his or her tasks in an attempt to get paid overtime.

4. Salary – the salary employee needs to be cognizant of managing his or her own time. This employee often ends up working 50-60 hours per week in order to manage his or her workload. If he or she does not manage his or her time the salary paid will equate to a very low hourly wage.

5. Intern – some interns may work for free and others depending upon your state laws may require that you pay them a small stipend. Regardless of whether they are working for free or a stipend you will want to manage his or her time as if you were paying him or her an hourly wage. This will ensure that you maximize the interns’ skills and use the time wisely. An intern can be a valuable asset to your small business. Do not squander his or her skills.

As you can see it time management is a necessary step in running your small business in order to maximize your profits.