Getting personnel: tools for managing employees - business software: includes notes on a barcode software package and software for building multimedia web sites - Evaluation

Entrepreneur, Sept, 1996 by Cassandra Cavanah

It goes without saying that good employees are a successful entrepreneur's most important asset. But, as every busy business owner knows, managing employees often takes a back seat to the daily rigors of keeping a business moving forward and growing.

To help you get a handle on personnel issues, several software companies offer tools that take the hassle out of personnel management. This month we take a look at three programs that address three different aspects of employee management. EmployeeManualMaker from Jian helps users put together a clear, concise employee manual. KnowlegePoint's Descriptions Now! fleshes out job descriptions. And Austin-Hayne's Employee Appraiser assists managers with evaluation forms and coaching tools for writing employee evaluations.

These programs are JUst a sampling of what's available in the relatively new genre of MBA-ware software. MBA-ware, according to the Management Software Association, is software that enables managers to draw upon business theory and management expertise in solving problems.

* PUT IT IN WRITING

There are plenty of practical reasons for putting together an employee manual. One is to save your valuable time for things other than answering employee policy questions. Once your company grows beyond a handful of employees, you won't have time to address every single question that pops up regarding vacation time, sick leave and other personnel issues.

With a carefully written policy, you can avoid any misunderstandings--not to mention keep legal issues "t bay. And your employees will feel better knowing they have a clearly written description of what you expect from them.

Jian's EmployeeManualMaker is a set of templates that works with virtually any word processor--either Windows- or Macintosh-based. After installing the templates into their own directory, I was able to open them in Word for Windows 95 without a hitch.

What I discovered were well-written, easy-to-understand templates that cover the spectrum of employee-management needs. There's everything from "Bright Ideas," a form that allows employees to submit their ideas to management in writing, to "Voicing Concerns," a memo that outlines how employees should address issues of concern with management. There's also an employee application with supporting materials and files for assisting with general management duties such as interviews and reprimands. The "Interview Questions" section is particularly useful; it includes a list of illegal questions to avoid during an interview.

Of course, these files are merely extras; the main course is the employee manual itself. Stored in one file, it takes up 136 pages. Simply scroll through the file, making changes and eliminating sections that don't apply to your company. An accompanying printed user's manual takes you through each section page-by-page and step-by-step. Notes that appear in blue text on screen and in the manual offer educational advice for the newcomer to personnel issues.

Because you're using your own word processor to edit and work with the manual, it's easy to make changes. For instance, I did a search of the generic [Company] text that EmployeeManualMaker uses as a placeholder, and Word for Windows replaced it in 423 instances with my company's name.

EmployeeManualMaker's printed manual also includes a chapter titled "Survival Basics," which outlines all sorts of personnel issues and explains the legalities involved with sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, the Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

The ease with which these templates tackled serious personnel issues was impressive. Jian's other products include BizPlanBuilder, PublicityBuilder, SafetyPlanBuilder and LivingTrustBuilder. According to Jian, EmployeeManualMaker often retails for less than $100 in software stores--and it's certainly worth the investment.

* FILL IN THE BLANKS

The outside of the KnowledgePoint Descriptions Now! software box claims you can "Write job descriptions in minutes!" The first description may take a little longer--what with time needed to familiarize yourself with the program and get a handle on all the variables that come into play when creating job descriptions. Still, after working with this program for just 10 minutes, I was able to create an easy-to-read, legal document that cover, all the basics of a managerial job in a marketing department.

The program comes loaded with more than 4,700 pre-defined job descriptions. Pull up the appropriate job description template by searching alphabetically (you can also search using a key word or by job category). At the top of the form is the job information, including title, department, to whom the position reports and date of approval. Next is the pre-written job summary and a list of duties and responsibilities--all of which can be changed by either inputting new text or cutting and pasting text from another pre-written job description form.

The qualifications section outlines things like supervisory responsibilities, education and experience needed, language skills and the like. To flesh these out, access quick questions by hitting the "qualifications" icon on the tool bar. Descriptions Now! interviews you about the job and then writes the section for you (the results can be edited if necessary). Or you can create your own job descriptions from scratch.