Lending hand business
Lending New Business a Hand

 How a anew easy-to-follow guide to six big employment issues can help you and your business.

The Department of Labour has just launched an innovative new information pack - The  Big 6 - that provides easy-to-follow guidance on the sic top employment issues for small business.

 

FINDING OUT WHAT YOU NEED

Starting a new business is never easy and this is particularly so when you are operating in a new business environment. Finding out what you need to know and where to go to find the information you need is a bedrock issue for all new businesses. It is a particularly challenging prospect for new migrants starting out in new ventures in a new country.

To find out what issues were top of mind for small business and business start-ups, the Department drew on both formal business surveys and its day-to-day experience of helping small businesses get up and running. There are six common areas of concern: 
  • ŸHealth and Safety
  • Recruiting
  • Pay 
  • Holidays and Leave 
  • Performance Management 
  • Ending Employment Relationship 


MAKING IT EASY

None of these are small topics but The Big 6 gets all the key information into one easy-to-use package. 

It is organised as six separate but complementary booklets. Each booklet is arranged around a standard 'What you need to know about' theme. The booklets then start by providing clear and simple answers to three standard questions: Who should read this?Why is it important? What do you need to do?

The ground work cleared, the booklets the present the information needed in a checklist format. This presents the user with a series of simple questions. As the user marks each with a simple Yes/No or Not Applicable, the checklist leads sequentially to its conclusion. Once the checklist is completed the user can then move to the next list and so on through each booklet.

At the conclusion of the checklist process, each booklet also provides guidance on key issues such as: How to resolve problems, Find out more information, Access free online tools. Each booklet concludes with a standard inter-agency checklist that illustrates in tabular form the agencies that deal with a range of business questions such as : How do I: start a business? Learn about tax? Get help with patents and trademarks?



AN INTERACTIVE PROCESS

The advantage of this approach is that it is interactive. The booklet don't just present information; they actively engage you in the discovery process. You can easily identify what you do and don't need to know; select just the information you'll need and move on through each booklet at your own pace. Also, if you need additional information, there are useful internet links listed at the conclusion of each checklist or section. 

The process is accessible and easy to use. As one reader puts it: 

This is a really great way to let small and medium enterprises know about what resources are available...it's great and doesn't require any effort on my part to find stuff. In fact, it acts as a reminder of some areas I should address. I think the best thing...is that it addresses the 'you don't know what you don't know' i.e. it tells you what you need to find out about.
 

For more information, please check www.dol.govt.nz/big6