Office Management

Figuring out how to effectively — and legally — manage your team's personnel records is often a daunting task. But, developing a records retention schedule will ensure that you keep the records you need for operational, legal, fiscal or historical reasons, and then destroy them when they're no longer useful.

Pick up smart, budget-saving ideas for event planning from the Frugal Planner’s Tip of the Week newsletter on www.meetings-conventions.com. Examples of recent tips:

Q. One of our exempt employees has requested a partial day off to attend a religious service and contends that she should be paid for this time off as a “religious accommodation.” Is she correct?

Q. We have an employee who frequently asks to review his personnel file. How often are we required to allow an employee to review his personnel file? How often do we have to make sure it is up-to-date?

Base pay for administrative professionals across the United States is expected to remain consistent with 2010 levels, according to the OfficeTeam Salary Guide 2011. The average increase in starting salaries for all positions is 1.1%, with slightly larger gains forecast in customer service and health care. 

If Angie Fuller hadn’t discovered the Standard Operating Procedure manual her predecessor left, she wouldn’t have known how to do her job. Once she’d settled into her new position, she began updating the SOP manual to accurately reflect her evolving role. Follow Fuller’s tips to create an SOP manual for your role.

With 18 minutes, 20 sticks of spaghetti, a yard of tape, a yard of string and one marshmallow, Tom Wujec believes he can tell you how innovative any team is. Here’s how:

You have a job now, but times being as they are, you may one day find yourself without it. The time to prepare for—and hopefully prevent—that scenario is while you’re still employed. Here are four things to do now that will benefit you if you ever lose your job.

Question: "I am a Realtor's assistant, hired to do minor admin duties and prospecting on commission.  Two months ago, my boss was put on bed rest and gave birth. Since then, I have been doing nearly all a Realtor does (with no pay increase): client contact, open houses, paperwork, taking pictures, handling weekend calls--often I have to google to find the answers! I use my own computer, car and cell phone. My boss even asks me to drive her and her children after hours! What’s worse: she told me to lie to clients to cover up for her condition. I cannot afford to quit until I find another job. How do I handle her personal demands without burning a bridge?" - Christina

If an underlying tension exists between you and a co-worker, now’s the time to address it. While it may be easier to ignore it, such tensions can mushroom. Use these techniques to reverse the momentum of mounting conflict: