Hiring employees is a huge responsibility. Before hiring anyone, be sure to carefully analyze your needs in terms of extra assistance.

Once you've gotten through the hiring process, there's still much more you must do now that you've become an employer. If you're like most small business owners, you just don't have time to do all you're supposed to be doing when it comes to managing your employees.

The article aims to outline five steps you can take right now to better manage your employees. Failure to complete these steps may one day lead to trouble for your business ? trouble that could easily have been avoided.

Step #1 ? Publish a Company Handbook

Most employers do nothing more than chuckle at the mere mention of a company handbook. Who has time for such frivolousness? Besides, no one reads them anyway. If these are your thoughts, then think again. Make time to create a company handbook and then make every employee read it. Also have every employee sign a statement saying that they have read the handbook. Place the signed statement into their personnel file where it will remain should you ever need it.

Step #2 ? Create Files for Sensitive Employee Data

You will have a lot of employee-related documentation to keep track of and you must have a place to store it all, safely, and away from prying eyes. Payroll information, health insurance information, certifications including expiration dates, performance reviews, and kudos from happy clients as well as negative comments from clients or supervisors are just some of the documentation you need to maintain.

Step #3 ? Create a Schedule

If you operate a business with "normal" business hours and just a few employees, you might think that creating a schedule is unnecessary. But unless there is a schedule, you can only assume that your employees know when they need to show up to work. Creating schedules is a good habit to get into, especially if you plan to have a lot of employees on your payroll. Create a work schedule for your employees and put it where they will see it.

Step #4 ? Perform Periodic Employee Evaluations

Employee evaluations or performance reviews tend to be more important to the employee than they are to the employer. Employees want to know how they are doing and when they'll be eligible for a pay increase. There are so many reasons why it's important to complete employee reviews, including legal ones. An employee review is one of the few things you have, in writing and signed by employee and employer, that clearly describes an employee's performance on the job. Should you ever need to let the employee go or take other action, you'll have this documentation to back up your decision.

Step #5 ? Keep a Safe Work Environment

Sure you need to keep your fire exits clearly marked and free of clutter. But there are Federal and state laws with which you must comply covering everything from the storage of hazardous chemicals to the posting of bulletins in common areas where employees congregate. Comply with these regulations before you end up on the losing side of a lawsuit.

Properly implementing these five steps seems like a lot of work especially when you have little spare time. One way you can manage your employees and still have time to do all your other tasks is to purchase software that has been designed to help manage employees. Spending the time and money to better manage your employees now will keep you from spending even more time and money later on, after you've been hit with an employee-related lawsuit!

Copyright ? 2004 Cavyl Stewart. Get more software tips, strategies and recommendations to help you better manage your employees by signing up for my Exclusive 100% free, 100% original content ecourse: "How To Survive The Legal Dangers Of Being An Employer." To sign up please visit: http://www.find-small-business-software.com/employee-ecourse.html