I have found that most agency owners are very generous people. They love the people they work with and want to create an amazing working environment. They are also very slow when it comes to firing an employee – whether it’s because the person isn’t performing at the right level or because billings have dropped [...]
A non-compete agreement form is like fire insurance. It's a sickening feeling to see the smoldering ruins of your just-burned house, and wish you'd bought the insurance policy. The time to create your non-compete agreement is before you get burned. There's a widespread belief among the advertising agencies that we meet in our workshops and [...]
What do you do about late (or non-existent) time sheets? Did I hear an echo? It seems that this question is asked again and again, year after year. The only modification in the conversation is whether or not you should do time sheets at all. (Watch for that discussion later this week.) The attitude of [...]
For the past 12 years, Agency Management Roundtable has conducted an annual salary and benefits survey looking at the trends in small and medium sized agencies. The survey results report allow agency owners to compare their salaries by position with how the rest of the country's salaries. The results are also presented by agency size [...]
Should you be concerned about possible fraud in your business? You bet. Here are some things to pay attention to when it comes to business fraud prevention. You may think that because your agency is a small business that you aren’t susceptible to employee theft and fraud. In our work with agencies, the biggest problem is [...]
An annual salary increase should be tied to profitability not the calendar. We don't recommend automatic annual salary increases. When learning how to manage payroll, we do wholeheartedly recommend is a salary plan that is fair and rewarding to all employees that inspires them to go above and beyond for the agency and its clients. [...]
I know I'm not telling you anything you haven't already figured out. An agency's employees are so much more than the life blood. They are the walking, talking embodiment of your company. And when they leave -- you can learn a great deal, if you conduct exit interviews. I've been really fortunate. In the almost [...]
