The new year means a fresh slate to achieve and accomplish things you couldn’t in the year prior. Setting resolutions is a task that many people take part in on New Year’s Eve, stating their intentions for the year and what they hope to accomplish. The downside is that most people only stick with their resolutions for January, and then completely forget about them, or adopt the mindset that they have the whole year to accomplish them and push them to the wayside. Setting realistic goals with measurable ways to view them is essential to making sure they are achievable. Through this article, we discuss tips and tricks for setting goals and sticking with them, and provide free tools to help you manage your goals for the year. Our success here at Optimum RTS is measured by the success of the companies we work with. 

Common goal-setting mistakes to avoid:

The most common outcome for New Year’s resolutions is for them to be forgotten and not met. It’s easy to avoid goals, but the most common reason goals remain unmet is that we struggle with setting reachable and attainable benchmarks. 

Setting goals that are too vague, for example,  “get fitter” or “be happier”, are not reachable. What does “fitter” or “happier” actually mean? Does it mean losing weight and smiling more, or is it gaining muscle and feeling content? Vague goals are easy to set aside and feel unattainable as they are subjective. The subjectivity of goal outcomes also makes them hard to track. Not being able to track progress through goals doesn’t allow for any reflection on the steps being taken and what is working and not working.  

Additionally, taking on too many goals at once causes confusion and can become overwhelming. By setting many goals at once, you can lose focus and not allow enough time and effort for the things you wish to achieve. Prioritizing specific goals rather than generalized desires allows you to pinpoint specific actions that you need to take to be successful. 

When prioritizing goals, focus on forward progress and not perfection. Setting goals and believing that one must perfectly meet them is not possible. The chances that we perfectly meet and achieve our goals are not realistic. Focusing on forward progress instead of perfection allows you to succeed and be pleased with your achievements, increasing personal motivation. 

How to set effective goals (the foundation):

To create the highest possibility for success in achieving goals, goals must have the proper foundation. There are many ways to set goals, although the easiest and most successful type of goal structure is the SMART structure. Why create harder goals when you can set SMARTer goals? The acronym SMART is the easiest way to set approachable and achievable goals, forcing you to think realistically. SMART stands for: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. These are all conditions for a solid foundation for effective goals. For the sake of this article, the example goal will be to “Increase Optimum RTS Newsletter engagement (measured by open and click-through rates) by 20% within the next two business quarters.”

To start, let’s talk about being specific and measurable when choosing goals. Both of these conditions go hand in hand as you are choosing precisely what you want to achieve. The “Specific” criteria include what you would like to accomplish, the people involved, the actions needed, and the explanation for why it matters. From the goal above, the “Specific” part applies to “increasing Optimum RTS Newsletter engagement”. It also outlines how the progress will be measured, “measured by open and click-through rates”. To make goals measurable, you must set a benchmark. For example, the frequency something occurs, the percentage increase or decrease, or another measurable metric. In the goal above, the measurable aspect is “increase by 20%”. 

Onto the ART, portions of the SMART structure goals:  attainable, relevant, and timely. Whether a goal is attainable or not is very subjective to the person creating the goal. Essentially, it is asking, “Do you think this is actually possible?” With that, there needs to be support for why a goal is believed to be attainable. For the example goal, let’s say that Optimum RTS just purchased new marketing software that will track and monitor newsletter engagement. This software could be a reason to believe that the goal is more attainable. As for relevancy, you must decide how this goal pertains to your life or position. As the Director of Marketing for Optimum RTS, increasing newsletter engagement is relevant to the position. Lastly, the timely aspect is used to create a reasonable timeline for when goals should be achieved. Adding a deadline puts positive pressure on achieving the goal and not pushing it off. Deadlines force time management and ensure we are always working towards something. If there were no deadline for completing a goal, then it would most likely never be completed. For the sake of the example goal, the time in which the goal should be completed is “two business quarters”. 

Break Big Goals Into Actionable Steps:

To be successful, it’s important to find a way to make big goals seem more manageable. If you are setting a high goal for yourself this year, the last thing you want is to be overwhelmed by the size. Find a way to break ambitious goals apart into smaller steps. As Desmond Tutu once said, “How does one eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. By breaking goals apart into smaller steps and focusing on consistency rather than intensity, ambitious targets are more easily met. An easy way to consistently work towards a goal is to set up a routine. For example, the goal of “get healthier” is too vague and subjective. If the aim is to achieve a healthier lifestyle, actionable steps could be “work out 3x per week for an hour” or “cook a low-carb meal twice a week”. These are two steps that can now be consistently repeated and thus propel you towards your main goal. 

Tips to Stick With Your Goals All Year Round: 

Progress is rarely linear, especially when it comes to achieving ambitious tasks. You will often fail and have to restart, plateau, and struggle to build momentum, or take off fast with a running start. The idea is that no matter which path you journey towards success, remember to keep moving forward. 

Starting small allows you to build momentum towards the long journey towards success. Taking actionable steps, as we discussed in the section prior, will allow you to absorb the ambition and achieve smaller victories, thus adding up to a big win. 

It is important to track your progress, as this is truly the only way to view progress. Whether it’s through journaling, data entry, keeping a checklist, or a calendar, it is essential to document progress. Not only will this show progression, but it also creates a sense of accountability.

Expect that there will be setbacks, and plan for them. This doesn’t mean that being ambitious means you will inevitably fail, but you will encounter pushback, delays, or obstacles. Having a plan will keep setbacks from derailing progress. Additionally, understanding that goals can be changed saves room for grace when it inevitably happens. 

Optimum RTS is committed not only to helping our clients and candidates with their hiring and training needs, but we are also here to promote success for everyone personally and professionally. It’s our job to help you and your company become the best they can be. With this, we have created a free-to-use Goal Tracking Sheet to help you stay on track and accomplish everything you hope for. Feel free to follow the link and follow the steps to download the Goal Tracking Sheet. Additionally, we encourage our readers to contact us for more information about how Optimum RTS can help you and your company accomplish all of your 2026 goals. We are here to help you every step of the way: hiring, training, and consulting. 

The new year is not about perfection; it’s about consistency. With this, we hope that you take time to plan some intentions for the year and create a roadmap to accomplish them. Goals do not have to be dreams. With the proper setup, support, and strategy, they can become a reality. 2026 is your year to accomplish whatever you desire; you just have to set your mind to it.  

Click the Button for  the Optimum RTS Goal Tracking Sheet: Optimum RTS Goal Tracking Sheet

The Two Faces of Ghosting

There are two sides to the ghosting story and everyone is guilty of it. Whether you know it or not there is a chance you have once fallen victim to ghosting either as the ghoster or ghosted. 

Candidates sometimes stop responding to communication, don’t show for their interview or simply disappear after they have accepted an offer. This not only causes frustration on behalf of the recruiter and employer, but it causes hiring delays, and wastes resources such as time and money. 

Employers and recruiters have been known to not respond once resumes are submitted, or never reach back out to a candidate following an interview/phone screen. This not only causes frustration and disappointment for the candidate, but it can damage the company brand through negative candidate experience.

Regardless of which side of the ghosting you are on, everyone has had a bad hiring experience. Ghosting causes frustration and disappointment for both employers and candidates, and thus causes both parties to lose faith in the hiring system. Most candidates, ”who have been hunting for a job for months say the process is both frustrating and demoralizing, especially after sending hundreds of applications that fail to get a response.” (CBS News). This brings the question, why is ghosting haunting the hiring process?

Why is Ghosting Haunting The Hiring Process?

Ghosting is considered largely a new trend that was brought about with the increased use of technology within the hiring and communication process. With the influx of technology augmented hiring and communication, it is easier for both candidates and employers to look at all of their options within the hiring process.

The shifting dynamics of the job markets seen through hiring websites such as Indeed and LinkedIn, highlight how many opportunities are available at any given time. Meaning that candidates now can mass apply to positions and thus forget that they reached out to employers, or forget to schedule/show up for their interviews. Employers are facing the same problem, as there is a larger number of candidates applying to their positions. With this many hiring teams can become overwhelmed and thus not focus individual time to each candidate that applies.

However, the largest contributor to the ghosting epidemic is the general fear of confrontation. No one enjoys sharing bad news, especially when there is a fear of disappointing someone or upsetting them. This affects both employers and candidates. Candidates fear upsetting potential employers when explaining the position is not a good fit, or that they have found another position. Employers sometimes fear disappointing candidates when explaining that they are moving forward with different candidates. Both situations lead to either party avoiding the perceived confrontation, and with this the communication line dies. 

Lack of communication protocols only further exacerbates the problem, and with this the communication loop is never closed. Ghosting is something that will affect everyone within the business world and the costs of it are felt in every aspect of a business.

The Cost of Ghosting

Ghosting has negative effects for every aspect of the hiring process but the most damaging is an overall erosion of trust within the hiring process. Candidates feel discouraged knowing that they never heard back from employers, and employers are frustrated they wasted time having been ghosted by potential candidates. Both of these situations cause damage to a company or person’s brand. This can lead to negative word of mouth/reviews regarding experiences with a company, and can lead a candidate to be placed onto a do not hire list. There is nothing more damaging for a candidate than ghosting a recruiter, and not showing for an interview or first day. 

By ghosting employers, candidates miss out on good opportunities and positions, and likewise employers miss out on skilled and qualified candidates. Although ghosting is so easily avoidable, many people still let the fear of disappointing someone dictate what type of worker/company they will be. 

How to Break The Curse

Ghosting is a trend that is easily fallen into but it is also a curse easily broken. It takes action from both parties, but with a commitment to stopping the trend it can finally be put to rest. Employers can avoid ghosting candidates by setting clear expectations for the hiring process; highlighting the hiring process steps. In addition, a commitment to closing the communication loop between candidates and employers is the main way to stop the ghosting on a whole. Being able to communicate with candidates even when the response is a “no” is essential to eliminating ghosting from the process. Furthermore, building a communication culture that values transparency between both the company and the candidates can help in this process. 

Candidates can eliminate ghosting on their side of the hiring process by setting clear intentions with employers and recruiters at the get-go. Responding to employers/recruiters messages even if they are no longer interested in the position ensures that everyone understands each side’s intentions. Maintaining clear intentions and desires with employers/recruiters secures a communication bridge between candidates and employees. Due to this employers/recruiters are more likely to think of the candidate if a position they fit better arises. Ghosting is a fixable problem and with that both employers and candidates can experience a more efficient hiring process. 

Although ghosting plagues the hiring world, it can be easily stopped. This hiring season don’t let ghosting spook you. Take the steps to break the ghosting curse, and the easiest step is to increase and maintain healthy communication throughout the entire hiring process. Here at Optimum RTS we are working to exorcise ghosting, by helping candidates and employers avoid communication nightmares, and find real results. Our skilled recruiters are here to ensure that your company finds quality candidates and stays in contact with them. If you’re ready to hire candidates while avoiding the ghosting nightmare, call us today to learn more about our recruiting and hiring services.

Sources: 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/employment-job-market-surge-in-long-term-unemployed-workers-economy/

Why One Bad Hire Can Cost You More Than You Think

Sometimes the cost of a bad hire is easy to see. Other times they go unnoticed for far too long, further perpetuating the problem. The costs can be separated into two types: tangible and intangible. Your tangible costs of a bad hire are easy to spot; they are what you directly spent money on. Examples are recruiting expenses, training investments (such as time and resources) and severance/re-hiring costs. All these explicitly cost your company money, and each time that you hire quickly you might be sacrificing these things. 

Intangible costs are harder to spot. They relate to relationships, company environment, and productivity. A bad hire can impact the success of your company’s working environment, or possibly your relationships with your clients. Your employees are a representation of your company, meaning that if the hire was rushed it’s possible you might not have found the best representative for your company. In addition, your company’s internal environment can become less productive, due to gaps in skill or performance, and overall team morale can decline due to frustration. Whether the costs of a bad hire are tangible or intangible, both can cause damage to your company internally, and should be avoided. So why do companies often find themselves with a bad hire?

Breaking Down the Root Causes of Bad Hires

Most bad hires aren’t bad people; they are just the wrong match for the role or the company. Bad hires happen when employers rush the hiring process, use vague job descriptions, have no structured interview process, don’t check references, or just simply overlook the cultural fit within your office. 

Rushing through the hiring process forces you to skip steps and settle with a candidate due to time constraints. Vague job descriptions bring in a larger pool of candidates, but they may be missing critical skills due to the description not listing them. Using detailed job descriptions allows you to pre-screen candidates and prevents underqualified people from applying.

The structure of the interview process is crucial to ensuring that candidates feel as though your company has structure. When interviewing is lackadaisical it makes candidates feel inclined to treat the job as such. The structure of the interviewing also sets a schedule and allows for a hiring timeline. 

When employers feel the need to rush into hiring someone, they often skip the reference checks and other crucial screenings. References exist so that employers can hear feedback about their new potential employee. When this step is overlooked, potential problems are as well. 

Lastly, you should ensure that candidates fit within your company’s culture and environment. If a hired candidate does not match the mission of your company they are not going to help you achieve it. Every person has their own culture they bring to the table. It’s important to note that companies should be hiring employees that fit within the company culture. Miscommunication throughout the hiring process can result in problems identified too late, thus leading to a bad hire.

Your Action Plan to Avoid Costly Hiring Mistakes

The ways to avoid making a bad hire can seem self-explanatory, especially after we’ve addressed why bad hires occur. The first way to avoid a bad hire is to slow down. As we said previously, rushing through the hiring process only makes things worse and thus further wasting your company’s time. To avoid a bad hire, slow down and take the time to define exactly what you are looking for, not just skillsets but also personality-wise. Using a structured interviewing process can help with time management. Following a step-by-step procedure for screening and interviewing candidates helps filter candidates though scheduled events, allowing for a productive hiring timeline. In addition, having set interview questions allows for interviews to flow easily, and for you to easily determine whether a candidate is going to be a good fit for you and your company. 

Working with a professional recruiting company such as Optimum RTS removes the stress of hiring and finding the perfect candidate. We handle that for you. We vet hundreds of candidates a week, specifically pinpointing what our clients are searching for, both skills-wise and personality-wise. Once we have located a candidate that we think will be a good fit on paper, we interview them prior to sending them to you. By interviewing candidates throughout the whole process, it allows us to ensure that you are only receiving candidates qualified for your job. We don’t just fill jobs; we find the right people for the right roles. 

Once we have submitted the candidates to your company, you interview them and then finally decide whether the candidate will become an employee. If you feel as though we did not find the right match, we start the entire process over and will continue until we have found your perfect candidate. We are only paid once, and that is when you have decided that the candidate is exactly what you’re looking for. In addition, if a recently hired Optimum RTS candidate doesn’t end up working out, we will start the search again without any added fee until you are satisfied. Our proven recruiting process helps clients avoid the costly mistake of a bad hire. Whether you’re hiring entry-level or executive-level, temp or perm, we are here to help. 

Bad hires are more common than they should be, especially when there are effective ways to avoid them. By learning how to identify and prevent bad hires, you can save your company both time and money. At Optimum RTS, we’re here to help you find the right person for the job. With our expertise, your company can avoid the costly consequences of a bad hire and stay focused on what you do best.

Happy 4th of July from Optimum RTS!

We are hoping that you and your family enjoyed a relaxing and fun-filled holiday! We are here for you and your company any time you need it, whether it is hiring, training, consulting, and more.

Marketing Magic & Money Moves with John Dalton

In this month’s spotlight, Optimum RTS owner John Dalton joins Patti Heid, Director of Best Practices and Compliance at the Home Care Association of Florida (HCAF), for an insightful conversation on “Marketing Magic and Money Moves: Winning Tactics for Homecare Growth.”

John shares his journey from launching his sales career in 1991 to founding Optimum RTS, a leader in healthcare recruiting, training, and staffing. In the episode, he dives into powerful strategies for driving sales in the home health industry, including how to stand out, create meaningful referral relationships, and build a marketing team that truly understands the art of connection.

Key Takeaways:

• Why “everything is sales” beyond just your marketers
• How to paint the picture for referral sources
• What top-performing sales reps do differently
• Proven tactics to increase visibility and drive growth in your agency

Don’t miss this episode packed with practical insights and real-world experience.

If you would like to view the Newsletter in its original form, please use the button below.

Embrace and growth mindset:

Understand the importance of the desire to learn and grow. This means challenging yourself and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and using criticism as feedback rather than failure. This allows you to shape yourself into the best version for both your job and employer.

Develop key skills:

Identify skills that are crucial to your career or position within your company and work continuously to strengthen them. Invest in both the hard skills your position requires and the soft skills that allow you to be a stronger team member.

Build a strong personal brand:

Define and communicate what sets you apart professionally. This can be done through enhancing skills, learning new techniques, and promoting a desire to always learn more. Using platforms such as LinkedIn not only allows you space to shine, but they can also draw attention to the work you and your company are doing.

Master time management:

Improve productivity by effectively managing your time and devoting your time to what matters most. Eliminating distractions and minimizing multitasking allows you to produce a higher quality of work in a more timely manner, leading to higher overall productivity. By analyzing what you are allocating time for, you can better schedule and shape your day-to-day, creating a higher yield of success.

Foster a collaborative spirit:

Build a positive and welcoming work environment that enhances both personal and team success. Achieve this by actively contributing to team goals and encouraging colleagues to meet their goals. By sharing knowledge and helping the team around you, success is both personal and shared.

Adopt a results-oriented approach:

Focus on delivering tangible, impactful outcomes that align with the company’s objectives. Assess how you contribute to the success of the organization. Take the initiative and propose solutions to challenges that the company may face, increasing productivity.

Network and build relationships:

Expand your web of people both inside and outside the company. By increasing your number of connections you are also increasing the resources you have at your disposal. Participate in industry events to build professional relationships. Regularly check in with peers and mentors to build a strong network, and lastly offer to help and support others, leading to mutual success amongst team members.

The path to achieving your ideal outcome in 2025 is not set in stone, you must take active steps to ensure that this goal becomes a reality. Through an effort to hone new and old skills, network, support, and challenge yourself, you can truly grow into the best version of yourself. The actions you take today will shape the professional you become tomorrow, and it’s our job at Optimum RTS to help you through that process. Whether it is finding your dream job or the perfect candidate, our services can help ensure that 2025 is your best year yet for both you and your team.

If you would like to view the article in our published newsletter please use the link below: https://conta.cc/40qurDY

Let’s start off by defining who your customer is. Immediately, you envision the person currently utilizing your service or products. Typically, these people would be called your prospect, patient, client, shopper, patron, etc. Other people fall into this category as well, however, when you examine this a little closer. A customer is not always only the person using your services. It could be the parents of a child in school, the family members of a parent using your services. It could be the candidate you’re attempting to hire or the employees in your organization, or even your manager or one of the company’s vendors. In brief, it is everyone you come into contact with during the course of your work day. Beyond your work day, the term “customer service” can be substituted for just being polite in your interactions with everyone you meet. 

Now that we have defined who a customer is, let’s dig deeper into why understanding their emotional state might be important to a successful and positive interaction. To do this, think of a child and his or her parents going back-to-school shopping. In this scenario, there are two clients you will be faced with, and both may have very different emotional states. The child may be excited about going back to school, buying their new binders, pencils, and backpacks, whereas the parent is cranky about all the money they are spending, and trying to corral their children, the traffic, or crowds in the stores and malls. In both cases, how they are feeling has a direct relation to the way you or your employee will need to interact with them. For the child you will need to show that same excitement, and for the parent you might need to just be courteous and efficient. Now let’s look at a new patient being referred to a Home Health Agency. What could be the mental state of this customer? They could be scared, feeling vulnerable, tired of being sick and within the healthcare system, ready to be home, and concerned for the potential financial burden they might incur. Initially, the patient is not your only customer in this case, and each one of those involved may have one or more of the aforementioned emotions going on. As an example, when speaking to Mr. Smith and his wife, your ideal customer service would lead with empathy, reassurance, competence, and the timely nature of nursing, therapies, and caregivers. Whereas, when dealing with Mr. Smith’s daughter or son, you may want to switch the focus of your customer service to being efficient, actively listening, and providing concise descriptions of services and cost. This sounds easy, like basic information, but honestly, in most interactions, everyone is only thinking of themselves. For instance, the cashier at the office supply store in the first example might only see a grumpy lady and an obnoxious kid, or the staffing coordinator at the home health agency might be put off by the curt conversation Mr. Smith’s son is having with her. In both cases, the person who should be providing customer service has focused on themselves rather than the customer.

As you begin to read this list of best practices, think about your customer and their emotional state and how you would need to modify these best practices to be most effective.

Top 7 Customer Service Best Practices:

1. First Impressions: How your client initially interacts with you has nothing to do with you. Do not personalize a person’s attitude or behavior.
2. Observe and Drive: In face-to-face interactions, look your client in the eye, and all interactions use active listening skills to determine what the needs are and the driving force behind their need or question.
3. Be the fixer: Be concise in your response and only promise or solve issues that can be done at that time. Apologize and explain how you will get the information to answer the question or solve that problem. Be as specific as you can about the expected resolution time frame.
4. The Follow-up: Follow up on what was promised by keeping your client aware of your progress, should the timeframe you set move.
5. Make it personal: Personalize your customer service by introducing yourself and using your customer’s name when appropriate.
6. Smile: Smile. Really, it’s that simple. This applies when you are face to face or talking to someone on the phone. A smile can be heard as loudly as it can be seen.
7. Remove yourself: Remember, this interaction is not about you.

In my 26 years in recruiting, sales management, and national sales as a trainer and now a business owner, I have seen communication and customer service lead to unbelievable successes and an equal amount of failures. The primary causes of those failures occur when the person providing the service did not fully understand the “why” behind an attitude or question of a client. Without that understanding, even the best customer service plan will fail.

About the Author: John Dalton is the owner of Optimum RTS, a medical employment and consultant company. He has taught and consulted for clients that have just opened their doors to Fortune 100 companies. He can be reached at jdalton@optimumrts.com and you can visit his website at www.optimumrts.com

Read the article in its original format using: https://conta.cc/3XuLF3c

In Today’s business climate, business owners face many challenges on their road to success.

Containing costs while increasing profits is the formula for growth.

Developing a competitive edge takes a willingness to react to market conditions, modify business plans, and adapt to change.

Why then if the method is this simple, do so many businesses fail?

Employers spend up to 30% of their time and resources on the non-revenue aspects of their business, primarily in the area of employee administration and government compliance.

How would you like to have the advantage of your employees without having the headaches of employee administration!

Outsourcing your employee administration to a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), will relieve your company from the increasing liability associated with state and federal employment compliance regulations and you will be able to provide your employees expanded benefits that will increase your ability to hire and retain productive and dedicated personnel.

When working with a PEO, your company enters into a Co-Employer relationship. The PEO becomes the employer of record and is responsible for payroll and payroll tax compliance, workers compensation insurance, benefits administration, unemployment claims processing and other related administrative tasks. Your company remains the worksite employer and continues to retain day-to-day control and direction of the worksite employees, and you can focus more of your time on the bottom line. 

Working with a PEO becomes a one stop shop for your employee administration and the PEO will take care of your Payroll, Workers Comp Insurance, Benefits, Human Resources, Regulatory Compliance and ACA reporting. So what do they do for you in every area of your administration?

PAYROLL TAXES

Payroll has become a complex process which requires up to date knowledge of tax laws. Human Capital has both the technical expertise and advanced technology to meet your needs and reduce your overhead by relieving you of the unproductive burden of payroll. Human Capital will eliminate the hidden cost of compliance and the risks created by ever-changing regulation.

The PEO will prepare, file and pay your payroll taxes, issue payroll checks and direct deposits, provide unlimited reports, issue annual W-2’s, file new hire reports, process Garnishments and maintain compliance, track PTO and sick and vacation time. Provide 24/7 online access to payroll and HR data including insurance, 401K and PTO benefits. When it comes to time and attendance tracking, we can use your current system or set up a new system to streamline your payroll process and use this data to import your payroll and saving you time and money!

WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE

Human Capital has a comprehensive workers compensation program, which includes Workers compensation insurance, claims administration and loss control. Included within our loss control services, we can provide onsite inspections, develop and implement safety programs, as well as provide assistance with federal and state OSHA compliance.

Human Capital’s risk management program provides their PEO clients with a multitude of services designed to prevent or mitigate their exposure to workers comp losses, leading to lower cost to the client and improved employee well-being and satisfaction.

Claims management and adjusting oversight, accident investigation, modified or light duty return-to-work programs, Safety program development and implementation, On-site hazard assessments, safety committee coordination, OSHA regulation and compliance assistance, job task analysis, worksite hazard training, Annual experience modifier analysis and audit and quarterly review of loss runs.

Pay-as-you-go workers compensation payments, based on actual payroll, paid with every payroll, with a PEO you have No deposits, No annual audits and No surprise lumpsums at the end of the year.

BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION

A competitive benefits program is crucial to attracting and retaining quality employees. Human Capital can provide a customized benefits program tailored to your specific needs at a competitive cost. Human Capital administers your benefits by collecting and remitting the insurance premium, coordinating enrollments and assisting co-employees with questions and concerns. Unlike other providers, our clients have the freedom to use their existing benefits, human capital sponsored benefits, or both.

Our benefit solutions include:

Medical/Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending account (FSA) & Medical and Dependent Care Reimbursement, 401K, Dental, Basic Life/AD&D, Vision, Short-Term Disability, Discount Dental & Vision, 24hour Accident Plan, Hospital Indemnity, Critical Illness and universal life coverage.  

HUMAN RESOURCES SOLUTION’S

Human Capital’s HR solutions are designed with compliance and efficiency in mind. We can enhance your existing HR department or help fill any voids that you may have. Regulatory compliance can be overwhelming. Which laws apply to your company? How do you comply? Our staff can assist you in your decision-making process.

Human resource database and employee file maintenance. Assistance with immigration and Naturalization Service compliance (including Form I-9 and E-Verify). Assistance with independent contractor issues. Administer unemployment claims. Legal research and dispute resolution assistance. Compensation administration and compliance with FLSA and state wage and hour laws. Guidance with general employment situations and concerns, such as EEOC, ADAAA, ADEA, FMLA and CRA. Sexual Harassment and discrimination training (employee and managerial). Assist with the development of policies, procedures and documentation for employees. Access to experienced professionals who will identify possible government incentives for your business. Potentially resulting in real savings and tax credits.

ACA Compliant Programs, Products, Technology, Training and Support. Human Capital’s ACA solution provides a comprehensive and affordable solution for all your ACA requirements. We know that employers will have varying levels of understanding when it comes to ACA regulations. That is why our team of ACA experts can customize and tailor a solution based on your needs. Our solutions were designed to assist employers in mitigating the risk of IRS penalties, accurately file the required IRS tax forms and maintain access and control over your employee data.

Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) and Minimum Value Plan (MVP) health solutions options. E-File Services to IRS & Mail to employees. Eligibility Management. Real Time Risk Assessment reporting. Employee Hors and Status Tracking. 1095-C Offer Code & Safe Harbor Calculation. Dynamic Data Import.

Our Strategic Partner & author of this post this month is Michael Athmer !

Michael Athmer is multilingual with 35 years of International Sales and Marketing Management experience.

Born in Montreal, Canada and lived in Paris, France, Copenhagen, Denmark and The Hague, The Netherlands and moved to Florida in 2000.

Started an Insurance Agency in Florida in 2000 and later became Sales Manager for Southeast Employee Management Company. Worked as a Business Consultant for Progressive Employer Management Company and is currently Regional Manager for Human Capital Florida, providing Payroll, Workers Comp, Benefits and HR Services in Florida and 32 other states.

Michael is past President of BNI North Palm Beach, Past President of Toastmasters in Jupiter, Graduate of Leadership Palm Beach County Class 2006. Past Board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach County, past Board Member of the Human Resource Association of Palm Beach County, past Chairman of the Board of The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and past Board member of The Beyond Blind Institute. Michael is President of the Leadership Business Council and currently serves on the Palm Beach Public School Strings Foundation board.

He is also active with the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Palm Beach County.

Michael is divorced, has a daughter Vivienne and lives in West Palm Beach.

Michael Athmer can be reached at 561-644-8315 or 888-736-9071.

Michael.athmer@human-capital.com 

Is it important to focus on the details of your business?

We would all answer yes.  But how focused are you on your business?

A few years ago, I was on the board of a venture startup in New Jersey. The startup had a “cash cow” product that paid the lights, the bills, the everything. Management wanted to build a new product portfolio to address a wide range of mobile needs – pictures, music, and more. It blossomed into an entire set of mobile phone products and the financial resources poured into product development. Millions. But we had our “cash cow” product to lean on. A number of board members warned that we need to get to market with a subset of the new products and balance out the revenue. Management “had a vision” and persuaded a majority of the directors to stay the course.

Suddenly, the business partner pulled the plug on the “cash cow” product. The resulting scramble for even one of the new products to replace the “cash cow” fell short. The company disintegrated badly.

Why the long story? The CEO was not focused on basic revenue sources for the business. He was at trade events and looking at technology partnerships. Granted, he did a number of things right and the board could have been more prescriptive in strategy, but the lack of focus on customer concentration and revenue risk ultimately destroyed a 50MM company in a matter of months.

The moral that I learned from this is – worry about your business first. Events, partnerships, business groups and such are fun because there is energy in those venues! With a focus on achieving and maintaining a stable business, the chief executive will serve his customers, employees and shareholders well. It must be his or her focus.

Fred King runs Cloud Choice Technologies, Inc. which provides Managed IT Services, Business Phone Systems and Cloud Services to customers throughout Florida.  He launched this firm in 2014 after moving to South Florida leveraging his business expertise and technology background. The company is based in the Stuart, FL with customers throughout South Florida.

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