New Year is the best time to go headhunting

Q I am looking to expand and improve my business in 2006 and ideally would like to see the company as a market leader in this region by the end of the year. Accordingly, I'm looking to recruit new staff to increase the workforce. What time of year would you advise is best to look around the employment market and find the right people to help me achieve my goal?

A There couldn't be a better time to be looking for staff than now. January is a big month for headhunters who are searching for the right person to add to their clients' teams.

The reason for this is simple. While some people have made and probably already broken New Year's resolutions to give up smoking or to live healthier, there are those who have vowed to give their careers a boost and look for a new job.

A fresh start to the year means a lot of people will have a more open mind when opportunities arise, whether it is through a direct approach or by way of an attractive advert for a job in their particular field.

As the year goes on however, people will have their year more mapped out, particularly financially, and will be more reluctant to go through the upheaval of a career change.

With that in mind, you should also be concentrating on keeping your own employees at this time of the year as they too may be looking to move elsewhere.

Are they entirely happy with their contract with your company? Think of a proficient and loyal employee as being an asset on your balance sheet - your existing employees will play a vital role in your planned expansion.

Q My customers aren't paying me on time, which is causing serious cash flow problems and now I'm having difficulty paying my own suppliers. This is starting to put my business at risk. I don't want to lose my customers by being heavy-handed. What methods of debt collection would you recommend to be effective without losing repeat business from my clients?

A Dealing with customers who are slow payers can be very difficult. You can spend hours every month making phone calls and sending letters chasing money that you have already earned. If you introduce a third party, such as a traditional debt collector or solicitor, as well as incurring huge costs, you can risk damaging the relationship with your customer, which you have worked so hard to establish. This can be a very costly alternative, especially if the outstanding debt is only small.

With any new or existing client, it is very important to make it very clear what your credit terms are, these should be in written form and agreed by all parties.

Once the debt is incurred however, I would advise gentle phone calls at first, as it is often the case that they have simply forgotten, especially at this time of the year. A gentle nudge may be all they require, along with a reminder of your terms and conditions. Never get angry with a debtor, always remain polite, and never make empty threats. Try to remain on friendly terms with all your debtors, you are more likely to get paid.

Companies such as The Better Payment Group (BPG), at www.betterpaymentgroup.com, have developed a sponsored service to help businesses throughout the UK recover payment on overdue invoices, with the emphasis on maintaining a positive business relationship between you and your customer.

This company understands the importance of balancing the need to collect a debt and the need to maintain a client and, if relations with your customer break down entirely and the debt remains unpaid, The Better Payment Group can share the details of an unpaid debt with credit reference agencies, banks, building societies and credit card companies, and is the only organisation in the UK with the facility to do this without taking court action first.

Q Most of my staff are very reliable and take very little time off sick, but there are a couple who are repeatedly taking days here and there for various illnesses. Even their own colleagues are starting to comment and I'm concerned that it is causing resentment.

Obviously, I have my suspicions that these regular absences are not always genuine but, as an owner/manager, I am reluctant to make accusations based only on suspicions, as to do so might disrupt my working relationships with these people who, when they are here, are good members of the team.

How do I deal with this?

A Last year, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development said the cost of sickness absence had risen from £588 per worker to £601 during the previous year, so you are right to be worried.

While any reasonable employer appreciates that people become ill, sometimes it is impossible to be 100 per cent sure that someone has been genuinely ill, or whether they have taken advantage of sick pay provision. When an absence runs past a week, a doctor's note is legally required, but I find that it is best to treat any sick leave the same, whether it is a day, a week or a month.

Draw up a sickness policy that applies to every member of staff for any absence, whether it is a day or a month - done that way, it cannot be discriminatory.

Advise all staff that the policy is to be implemented to improve personnel files and records.

Advise them that accurate written records of sickness absence will be kept in each employee's file and that on returning to work the relevant employee will be asked to complete a return to work questionnaire during an interview conducted by their supervisor in order to ascertain what was wrong.

The questions you put on the questionnaire may include such things as whether the illness is likely to return, whether the employee visited the doctor and what the outcome was, whether or not the employee is on medication etc.

This will not discourage genuine absences, but certain employees - if they know that they will have to go through this every time they are off work claiming to be ill - will be less inclined to "throw a sickie".