• The phrase Do you want fries with that? is actually a great example of two things: suggestive selling, or “up-selling”, and knowing your customer.  In this case, the customer has approached the company and said I would like to buy a burger.  The company knows its customers like fries with their burgers. 
  The suggestion that the customer try some fries will sometimes be met with a positive response and sometimes a negative response.  Either way, the customer is already at the point of sale so it costs the company no additional money to market the fries to this customer.  Amazon is a great example of a company that knows its customers and practices this suggestive selling.
• Responding to customer requests quickly will only be met with disappointment if it sacrifices quality and accuracy.  I have yet to see someone unhappy when his or her order is delivered quickly and correctly in a fast food drive through.  I have, however, seen many people sigh, cuss, frown and so forth when they open the bag and discover the order is incorrect or incomplete.  Regardless what industry you are in, responding to customer requests quickly and accurately will help build goodwill – that intangible quality that helps give you the edge over a competitor with a similar product.

There are many more examples of things we should do and things we should NOT do but I wanted to focus on the two items listed above.  Feel free to post your own thoughts and experiences via the comments section of this blog.

Thomas Goodwin is an Ohio licensed real estate agent (Realtor) and insurance agent.  He is the Founder and CEO of Northern Pine Properties, Inc., a real estate investment, development, and management company in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He also had the joy of working in a Dairy Queen restaurant when he was 16.

First let’s go over the application for employment:

Aside from the most basic information such as name and contact information (phone and address), it is imperative that the application has the following additions:

Employment at will statement.  Unless you work in a business that has union labor you must disclose to the applicant that the company may let people go if it needs to and do so without advance notice.  This statement is a two way street though, the employee can leave if and when he or she chooses as well.  Applications for unionized positions will require an arbitration agreement on a separate document from the application.

Equal Employment Opportunity statement.  Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 50 years, this should not be a surprise.  You cannot discriminate based on any of the protected classes: age, disability, race, gender, national origin, ancestry, and religion.  This is a great opportunity to remind you that you should have an attorney review any documents used in the pre-hire stage of your business (not just the application, but any advertising recruitment materials, any supplemental forms, etc.).

If you conduct background checks, and it is wise to do so, have a separate form that the applicant must sign giving permission to complete the background check.  The application itself can have a statement that the applicant is providing information that is truthful and accurate to the best of their knowledge. 

Disclose if you require medical examinations or drug screening prior to employment.  Make sure you state that employment is conditional and contingent upon the results of these tests.

Avoid these pitfalls:

DO NOT ask the applicant to submit a photo with the application or resume, not even a copy of a driver’s license.  I think the ONLY time this could even remotely be considered appropriate is if you are the casting director for a tv or Broadway show.  A photo opens you up to allegations of virtually all of the protected classes in the Equal Employment law.

DO NOT ask the applicant to list graduation dates from schools, colleges, and so forth.  Once again, this could be construed as a roundabout way of identifying someone’s age. 

DO NOT ask for a copy of the applicant’s driver’s license, birth certificate, green card, passport, or military ID.  For something like a driver’s license, which contains a photo as well as the person’s gender and age, this hints at several of the protected classes.  In addition to age, birth certificates can be construed as a way to determine national origin or ancestry.

DO NOT request the applicant to provide or list membership in organizations or affiliation with any affinity or charitable group.  These non work-related “community involvement” categories on applications only serve as a way to learn about someone’s political, religious, or ethnic affiliations and values.  You don’t want a question on the application to be construed as hinting at protected classes.  Even stay away from asking about involvement in trade assocations and job-related groups.  As a licensed insurance agent, this reminds me of the Women in Insurance group.  Yes, it’s a job-related group, but it specifically identifies gender.  Avoid asking about organizations and affiliations in general and you won’t have to worry about someone listing a trade group that also identifies a protected class.

DO NOT ask about marital status or sexual orientation.  No need for explanation there I hope.  While these are not protected classes, how much do you think a sexual harassment lawsuit will cost you?

DO NOT ask about medical conditions or health problems, whether mental or physical.  If the person shows up in a wheel chair or wearing sunglasses and carrying a white cane to turn in the application, don’t even think of making a note about it and certainly don’t ask a thing about it. 

DO NOT maintain multiple versions of the application.  You will not want to have to explain why you give someone one version of an application but give someone else another.

Finally, consider purchasing the following types of insurance for your business:

Employment Practices Liability Insurance.  This will protect you from claims of wrongful termination, discrimination based on a protected class, and so forth.  Each insurance company can have its own coverage form so ask your insurance agent what is covered and what is not.  Generally, you are not covered for negligent acts on your part as this insurance is not a license to sin.

Crime coverage.  Namely, Employee Dishonesty.  This is to cover the obvious employee embezzlement as stated in the title of the coverage.  A similar coverage that often accompanies this coverage or is offered in addition to it, is called ERISA coverage.  ERISA coverage is protection you may need when you administer a retirement plan, i.e. 401(k) for your employees.  This coverage guards against embezzlement or misuse of the plan’s funds.With the proper risk transfer techniques in place during the pre-hire and employment stages, you can make sure your employees contribute more to your organization as assets than liabilities.

NOTICE:  I am not an Attorney.  Nothing in the above article should be perceived or construed as legal advice or instruction.  It is important and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you seek legal counsel and consult with a licensed, practicing attorney to discuss any concerns and to review your business and human resource practices as well as your application and any other documents.

Thomas Goodwin is an Ohio licensed real estate agent (Realtor) and insurance agent.  He is the Founder and CEO of Northern Pine Properties, Inc., a real estate investment, development, and management company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In my “Progression of Livelihoods”, a Venn diagram is used instead of a pyramid because several of these roles can overlap. I also believe that a strict sequential progression is not a requisite, since people often leap-frog to different roles or assume multiple roles at the same time. This is my definition of livelihoods and the logical progression between each:

• Employee
  Employees are hired by an employer and agree to work a specified amount of time performing a specified set of activites for a specified level of compensation. They are typically classified as either hourly or salaried and provided a set of benefits such as health insurance and retirement savings plans. The majority of working individuals are employees. Employees are resources being leveraged by the company for whom they work.
• Self-Employed
  Self-employed individuals do not work for a specific company, but instead work for themselves. They define their own work schedule and compensation level, and work independent of other employees, partners, or managers. Self-employed individuals are leveraging their own skills and talents.
• Small Business Owner
  Small business owners run businesses that typically have fewer than 500 employees. They establish their business as a legal entity and deal with the day to day operation of the company. The majority of businesses in the United States are small businesses. Small business owners leverage their employees’ skills and talents.
• Entrepreneur
  Entrepreneurs seek to start new ventures from value-creating ideas. They typically take more calculated risks than any other role and have a greater understanding of how to assemble quality teams of people to run their ventures. Entrepreneurs leverage people, resources and assets.
• Venture Capitalist
  Venture capitalists invest money in new, growing or struggling businesses. They do not typically work within the ventures that they fund, but they often function as board members to help guide these businesses towards success. Venture capitalists leverage capital.

Here is an assignment that you can complete in the comments section of this post: Define some possible combinations of overlapping roles. An example would be an overlap between a self-employed person and an entrepreneur: self-employed individuals are pefectly capable of leveraging their resources and creativity in an entrepreneurial manner to benefit their business. Could there be an overlap of 3 of the roles? In which role are you currently? In which role do you want to be?