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Dear Payroll Manager, Thank you for making it rain every payday. No employee understands everything you do to make sure their paystub is accurate and on time. Pay rates, taxes, insurance, bonuses, garnishments, PTO, expenses and a whole lot more have to come together seamlessly every payday (or people come unglued). And more often than not you don't even get thanked when it all goes right. That's just not fair. We were going to write you a card for National Payroll Week, but we thought you could use a better payroll system instead.

Hiring for fit may be stunting your company’s growth. Sure your company culture may be the bee’s knees now, but if you continue to scale, two years into the future your culture might not be recognizable. With that said, not everyone has a culture they can rave to their friends and family about and the fact that you do is something to write home about. However, in order to be a sustainable company organizations have to be willing to transform, balancing profit-centered business practices with people-centered business models.

It’s five o’clock somewhere; can you access your payroll information? For instance, can you easily pull past pay stubs, enroll in benefits, request time off or submit your time sheet right from your phone or laptop? If not, you’ll be delighted to know this is all possible with the proper technology.

What if I told you that you were more likely to injure yourself at work than if you dove into shark-infested waters? In honor of one of the most important weeks of the year (Shark Week), we want to alert you of ten workplace hazards to avoid that occur more frequently than shark attacks. If you don’t take precaution you could become the next victim of a third-degree coffee spill or a protrusive file cabinet attack.

Despite their bad rap, sharks aren’t quite the bloodthirsty animals Hollywood has made them out to be. While Jaws may have been the box-office champ of its time, reality paints a different picture of these toothy sea creatures. Thanks to that 1975 film, its sequels, its rip-offs and other pieces of pop culture across several media – including Discovery’s ever-popular, annual Shark Week – we fear sharks.

Retail managers are known for wearing numerous hats: overseeing the store’s books, ordering supplies, scheduling and, of course, managing employees. Putting together employee schedules is a task most time-consuming, yet is also the backbone of a store’s success. If not enough workers are scheduled, the manager could end up with dissatisfied or lost customers. On the other hand, if too many employees are scheduled, the shop risks losing money.

Seattle recently adopted the nation’s highest minimum wage, raising an employee’s pay to $15 an hour. This represents a 60-percent increase from $9.25 and more than double the national average. Hold on – before anyone packs their bags to head to the Emerald City, finish reading.

As baby boomers reach retirement and generations X and Y tweet their way into the workforce, manufacturers face a shortage of skilled workers. No surprise there. Now, if only a small consensus of manufacturers were affected, a simple fix would get the job done: a little less social media and a lot more elbow grease. Unfortunately, the problem is more than hashtag-deep. (#FirstWorldProblems)

When HR and financial executives are in sync then operations run more smoothly and there is opportunity to advance the bottom line. CFOs are concerned with cost and HR handles a companies’ biggest budget item… its people, so doesn’t it make sense that these two work hand-in-hand? Let’s face it; we’re all in this together. But how do you foster this type of relationship? Where do you begin?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has already or will drastically impact employers with 50 or more full-time employees; however, the IRS announced it will be expanding incentives – in the form of a tax credit – to small employers who offer insurance through the exchange to its employees.

If you are considering owning your own business or franchise, then listen closely. Today, the oldest baby boomers are well into their 60’s and according to “The History Channel” about one in five Americans will be older than 65 by 2030. Today there are about 78 million American baby boomers and as the oldest of them hits retirement age many will have additional medical needs. People age 65 and older make up 12 percent of the population but they account for 38 percent of all Emergency Medical Service (EMS) trips and 90 percent of nursing home use. Here’s another staggering statistic; 60 percent of baby boomers have been diagnosed with at least one chronic medical condition.

Are your employees struggling to stay motivated? Are they longing to be outside, on the beach? Are they lacking in engagement and productivity because the only thing on their mind is the warm summer breeze? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, chances are your employees are experiencing the Summer Time Blues.