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Articles to LIFT Your Life and Business

Friends With Benefits: Navigating Employer-Employee Friendships—Part 2

In the first part of this series, we offered three strategies to help you successfully navigate employer-employee friendships. Here, we continue with the final four.  Developing close bonds with your employees is all but inevitable. Indeed, being friendly with your team members can make the job more rewarding and enjoyable for everyone. But there’s a […]

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Friends With Benefits: Navigating Employer-Employee Friendships—Part 1

Because we spend so much of our lives working, it’s practically guaranteed that you’re going to develop close bonds with your employees. And this is a good thing. Having a friendly relationship with your team members based on mutual respect, care, and concern can make the job more enjoyable for everyone—and even boost performance and […]

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8 Items to Include in Your Employee Handbook

If your company has (or plans to have) employees, you should definitely create an employee handbook. Handbooks ensure that employees are not only aware of your rules, but also the federal and state laws governing their employment. You can use the handbook to introduce your employees to your company and its culture, explaining what’s expected […]

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8 Key Provisions to Include in an Employee Severance Agreement

At some point, it’s virtually inevitable that some of your staff will leave your employment. Whether they leave of their own volition or they’re terminated, it’s simply the nature of running a business that not all employees will be around forever. In some cases, it can be a good idea to offer departing employees a […]

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What Small Business Owners Should Know About Embezzlement

If you own a small company where you personally know and interact with everyone who works for you, it can be hard to fathom that one of those people would ever steal from you. But the fact is, embezzlement happens all the time, even at small, family-owned businesses. Indeed, according to a 2017 study on […]

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Business Booster or Big Brother—the Ins and Outs of Employee Monitoring Systems

Today’s high-tech digital landscape is both a boon and a bane to business owners. The proliferation of apps, mobile devices, and software has improved business productivity like nothing before. At the same time, however, this technology has also spawned countless digital distractions that can turn those productivity gains into losses, especially if they steal the […]

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What Business Owners Should Know About Pre-Employment Credit Checks

In addition to checking professional references, conducting interviews, and running criminal background checks, many business owners also conduct credit checks on potential new hires to assess their suitability for the job. Such screening is obviously important for hiring high-level positions or those directly involved with handling money and/or making fiduciary decisions. But starting a couple […]

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The GDPR—What It Is, Who It Impacts, and How to Comply

Like everyone else, you’ve probably been getting a ton of emails and online notices announcing that companies are updating their privacy policies and/or website tracking tools. Although businesses do this from time to time as part of routine updates, practically all of the latest notices are aimed at complying with a new European Union (EU) […]

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5 Steps for Defusing Workplace Drama and Managing Staff Conflict

One of the most challenging aspects of running a business is effectively managing staff conflict. Dealing with people and personalities is vastly different than most of your other duties, where the goal is comparatively straightforward and simply requires talent and time to achieve. Though good management can go a long way toward preventing many disputes, […]

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5 Types of Insurance Every Business Should Have in Place

Before you open your business, it’s imperative to have proper insurance coverage. A single lawsuit or catastrophic event can wipe out a company before it even has a chance to get off the ground. That said, there are many types of insurance out there, and some policies can be extraordinarily expensive, so it’s critical to […]

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4 Intellectual Property Myths Business Owners Should Be Aware Of

Many small business owners fail to realize just how valuable their intellectual property is. But the fact is, intellectual property (IP) makes up between 40% to 90% of the total value of some companies, according valuation experts. Given this, it’s extremely important that these assets are well protected if you have them—and you probably do, […]

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