Last year there were many changes for small businesses. These include same-sex marriage rights, insurance adjustments and the newest addition of The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Of course, like last year there will be many more changes and issues as we further into 2014. Here a few of the biggest challenges 2014 may bring to small business owners.
Performance Management
Performance management is always a difficult part of dealing with smaller companies, especially when it’s difficult to compare the results across the industry. This year we may see that employee performance management will become a top focus to invest the success of their human capital with the expected return on investment. And most importantly we see technology growing larger and larger each year. This year we may see systems that engaged employees in learning initiatives and cloud-based projects more commonly used in the workplace to attract the best high-performance employees.
New Tax Credit Changes
Though this is constantly changing and growing in different directions each year there is a tax credit offered to business owners who hire a particular percentage of types of people. For example, if a company were to hire a returning U.S. disable veteran he/she may be rewarded by getting a tax credit for this year’s taxes. This becomes very useful, especially to small business owners who usually need all the help they can receive.
The IRS issued special procedures for employers to claim refunds of FICA taxes that were previously paid for same-sex marital employee benefits when section 3 of DOMA was struck down in June in the landmark case United States v. Windsor. In September, the courts ruled that same-sex married couples may be considered as married for federal tax purposes and benefits. According to the US Treasury and the IRS, this covers filing status, IRA contributions, and claims for earned income credit and child tax credits. The expansion of benefits and retirement coverage to domestic partners and their children is something that could gain momentum as more states approve same-sex marriages. The use of payroll and employment tax software that provides legal updates automatically may assist in handling the challenges of DOMA.
Social Media Use
As technology grows, so does our social media marketing and advertising; a recent survey showed that nearly 75% of HR professionals now use social media for a variety of activities including recruitment, advertisement, employee development and corporate communications. We live in a time of the internet and the internet is our right hand man and business partner. It’s important that we use our resources wisely and learn how to properly use social media.
This will be a challenge for small business only because hiring a social media marketing person is NOT cheap. But it’s also dangerous to try to wing it yourself. Be sure to shop around when looking for the best company you should use!