We recently connected with Gary Wheeler and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Gary thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

Maybe Small, Operate Big

This story is not about one organization but about a few that I have worked with over the years. This is about how we get a small business to think like and implement big business processes.

Career Development

Most small business owners do not have a formal career development process in place. Whether you have five employees or 205 employees, you should have a formal career development process in place. The basic components of the process is to assess the skills of your current employees, determine what skills and experiences they will need to be proficient in their current position and what type of training, cross training and skill development needs to take place for them to take on additional responsibility. In a few organizations, I was able to help the organization implement a process which that is consistent in developing people and helps to retain talent.

Employee Relations

Employee relations training is essential for the success of a business. More often than not, you have a group of employees who do not like management and vice versa. Employees spend a lot of time gossiping amongst each other and complaining to a manager that is not their own.

In this day in time, there needs to be a ongoing program to train managers and train employees. Many employees entering the workplace today for the first time, are use to communicating electronically. Both management and employees need to learn how to play together in the sandbox. There is nothing fancy about communication. It is about teaching employees and management to be open and honest with each other and communicate professionally. I have implemented a program that I feel is excellent for developing employee relations. The key is for upper management or the owner to model the behavior.

Compensation Bands

Many small organizations think implementing compensation bands is a big ordeal. For a major corporation, it is a big ordeal. For smaller organizations, it is a simple process that requires someone who knows what they are doing. Compensation bands, if communicated properly can help retain employees. The idea is to ensure the organization is paying at market level and to communicate to employees what the market range is for their industry.

Working with a company that had operations in the U.S. and India, we were able to implement a compensation program that was transparent. First we made sure, the jobs in India and the U.S. had similar job descriptions. Next we did a market analysis for the position in both countries. We created bands for the position. If an individual was on a short term assignment, they kept their current salary. If they were transferred to the other country, they were paid the same salary as the local nationals. The key is, the new the range and where they were in the range and what it would take to move to the next level, which was tied to the career development process.

Performance Evaluations

I asked a business owner once, why they did not have performance evaluations. He responded by saying, if we do evaluations, people are going to expect a raise. I responded by saying an evaluation lets employees know where they stand. We hire people to meet expectations. If we do not review our expectations, they will never meet them or exceed them. This impacts productivity, employee engagement and internal promotions.

Where we have seen a significant difference is when we use key performance indicators (KPI’s) versus subjective evaluations.

Onboarding

The final area that most small business overlook is the onboarding process. Often we associate onboarding with the administrative paperwork completed at the time of hire. I teach that it starts in the recruiting process.

It is fairly standard for candidates to see the job description. How about reviewing the performance evaluation in the interview process? If you have standards you would like to uphold, candidates should understand the performance expectations while interviewing for the job.

Another key are left out in the onboarding process is a formal review of the ogranization’s history, culture, core values, vision and mission. These should be reviewed the first day on the job along with the key policies in the employee handbook.

I have seen these five areas make a significant impact on the productivity and growth of a small businesses and recommend every organization, regardless of size implement these programs.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have a bachelors degree in Human Resource Management and an MBA from University of Maryland Global Campus. My hands-on education came from 24-years at United Parcel Service, working in operations, Industrial Engineering and Human Resources.

Prior to UPS, I spent eight years in food service as a manager and multi unit manager for Shoney’s Big Boy and Pizza Hut.

And for the past 18-years, I have worked as a fractional HR and an HR consultant for small businesses.

I serve as a part-time HR Director for several small organizations that pay a flat fee under $.1,000 per year and for a few others who have a monthly retainer fee ranging from $1,500 to $5,000 per month. And of course, I pick projects here and there to help organizations who may need temporary help.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

While pursuing an MBA, I felt I was meeting my full potential in corporate America. I made the decision to go into business for myself. If one was not enough, I purchased two franchises and two other businesses at the same time. What was I thinking?

I enjoyed all four of the ventures I was in. The problem was, it was too much for me to do all four well as a start up.

I sunk a lot of money into a business coaching franchise. The model really did not fit what I wanted to do.

I purchases a tutoring franchise, they was about to break even at the end of 12-months, A few personal challenges got in the way.

The ATM machines were a pretty decent hit. The problem was, I used the profits from the ATM’s and I should have just saved it.

The wifi networks was great at the moment, but shortly after, everyone was offering free wifi.

I started doing diversity training with Verizon, Unilever, and few others. I finally realized, what I should be doing is HR. I spent 18-years doing it. I carved out a niche – business with five to 250 employees.

I enjoy providing HR support to business owners.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for me has been employee referrals. I have exhibited at conferences and shows. I have sent mailers, flyers, letters and even attention getters to business owners and CEO’s.

I have occasionally gotten a bite or two from these efforts.

My most effective way to get business is to take care of the clients I have and they will refer me.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thevirtualhrdirector/edit/forms/guided-edit-position/17262265/?legoTrackingId=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&profileFormEntryPoint=GUIDANCE_CARD&trackingId=b%2FVWzkipQvWPVlU4rEk5Fw%3D%3D
• Other: Gary Wheeler [email protected]

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