~~As we are coming closer to 30 June 2014, the focus is naturally on budgets and other money matters. However, savvy managers are also taking advantage of the financial year-end to review, re-assess and act on a few other important workplace matters.  Timely interventions in these matters will save money and efforts in both short and long terms. In some cases, the savings could be significant.

#1. Reviewing and re-assessing all crucial roles
The organisational structure needs regular reviews to ensure that all roles, especially the ones crucial for attaining the business goals (to be honest, for any lean organisation every role is crucial) are filled by right employees with right skills, attributes, motivation, commitment and passion to perform at a gold standard in their respective roles.  And, they are reporting in to the right supervisor in the right division.  So, savvy managers choose June as the perfect time for that vital review to plan for the next year. An honest and candid structural re-assessment brings the focus back on the weak link/s of an otherwise strong chain. What about your own business?
• Are you satisfied that every person in your team is the best fit for their role?
• Is every team member performing at a gold standard?

#2. Conducting a skills inventory
We all know that performance at a gold standard needs the employee to be fully skilled in their role. Skills include technical, operational and managerial, if they have staff supervision responsibilities as well. These managers choose June to give some critical thoughts to their business strategy – what are they planning to achieve in the next 12 – 18 months. That will automatically raise the question, whether their staff members have the skills to achieve the business goals. If they don’t have the skills, the manager needs to determine whether:
• the company should invest in developing the necessary skills for existing staff
• Or would it be more pragmatic to acquire the skills from outside?

#3. Involving new supervisors in performance review discussions
Wnhile we are on the subject of skills upgrade, how about giving a hands-on experience to supervisors who have recently been promoted to their new roles? Most companies conduct a yearly or half-yearly performance review around this time – even if it is fairly informal. This would be a perfect opportunity to take them with you to conduct performance reviews. They can observe a senior manager giving constructive feedback to staff and slowly start building their own styles.

#4. Taking note of the new Minimum Wage that will apply from July 2014
If you have an Enterprise Agreement in place covering most employees, this doesn’t affect you. However, if you depend on an industry award, it is prudent to ensure that ALL your staff are on or above the new minimum rates applicable from the first pay period in July. Quite often, businesses make assumptions that their staff are receiving above award salaries – whereas this assumptions are made on the salary level of senior staff. There are possibilities that some junior staff get paid at award rates. If that be the case, those salaries need to be reviewed and adjusted accordingly.

#5. Cleaning Employee Personal Data Files
Information in our personal lives change frequently and it is necessary to maintain up-to-date personal data for every employee. This includes but is not limited to home address and contact numbers, name of the next of kin as well as emergency contact details. This way, in case of any emergency situation occurs that involves an employee, you will not be frustrated at that crucial moment by outdated personal information.

#6. Reviewing Leave information of all staff
If you are not doing it regularly, end of June is also a good time to review the leave situation of all your employees. This includes leave accrual and takings, as well as patterns of taking leave.  A detailed leave report will put focus on whether there are excessive accumulation of annual or long service leave by any employee – or, worse – whether excessive accumulation of leave is a general trend in the Company. On the other side of the coin are excessive leave takings. If an employee is taking too many days off, you may want to address this issue immediately.