Probationary Employment Periods

I'm struggling to come to grips with the angst that many are portraying in relation to the Government's introduction of a 90 day probationary for employees in businesses with less than 20 staff.

Surely, if you're any good at your job (and have any degree of judgement over prospective employers), there isn't going to be an issue.

In 99.9% of cases the probationary period will come and go and everyone will carry on, the world will not come to a grinding halt, and everyone will live in harmony.

To put the shoe on the other foot, an employee can, at any time and for no reason whatsoever, resign their employment - why shouldn't an employer be given the same courtesy for only 90 days?

In my many years in business I've made the wrong call in relation to hiring an employee. If they are incompetent you can work through performance management and eventually get rid of them (if they don't sink your business first), but the hardest one is where you have someone who can do the job OK but doesn't fit well with you and/or the team. They can sit there doing their job to a reasonable standard while everyone else around them festers and then leaves. Much better for both sides to nip it in the bud early I say.

Welcome!

Well, hi there and welcome to my first ever attempt at writing my own blog.

I've been an avid reader of blogs over the past couple of years but haven't attempted my own....until now.

I'm an accountant by trade (but please don't switch off - I'm not your typical accountant) and have worked in many large and highly respected New Zealand companies in senior finance roles. In May 2008, I decided I'd had enough of helping big business make money and that I could take my skills to the small/medium business sector. And so, RockSalt was born.

I'm asked plenty of times "why RockSalt?". when I originally set the company up in 2007, I wanted to incorporate Salt being the first letters of the first names of my family (Steve, Larissa, Tom & Alessandra). Salt Limited was already taken but RockSalt gives a good impression of what I love doing - building solid bases for business.

My tag line is "The Sensible Business Development People". That's what I'm in business to do - provide sensible, practical advice to business owners and managers so they can take their businesses exactly where they want to.

I guess you could say I'm right leaning (I've never voted anything but National), but I'm certainly not extreme (I'll blog my thoughts on the first month or so of the National government soon).

So, basically, that's me. I hope that I'll find some people out there that will enjoy reading my view on the world. Any questions you might have, please just ask. I'd love to hear any feedback you might have and we can all learn as I get a handle on "blogging for dummies".

Cheers,
Steve