Worcester Business Journal

22 Worcester Business Journal | January 21, 2019 | wbjournal.com 10 T H I NG S I know about . . . ... Retaining staff in the service industry By Erica Grinkis Erica Grinkis is the owner of The GazBar Sports Grill and Central Cup, both in Leominster. Reach her at thegazbar@gmail.com. 10. Sell a good product. Make sure the product your employee is trying to sell is reputable, this makes her/his job easy. 9. Compensate well. Go a little above the industry standard to show you start the bar high. Increase pay every 6 months to a year if the employee deserves it. 8. Offer employee perks. Half-off meals, discounted drinks & allow them to buy uniforms at cost, just to name a few. 7. Be accommodating. Work around employees requested schedule as much as possible. Put out the schedule a month early to give them time to plan their lives. 6. Grant authority. Give employees the chance to work all jobs, not just their own. Promote people within. Give everyone a chance to make decisions. 5. Team bonding. Plan events where the business can close down and staff can socialize. Give everyone a chance to bond with people they don't usually bond with. 4. Communicate often. A weekly message from managements keeping employees up to date goes a long way. Don't use it for only negative feedback but for positive words! The thread is also good for any service updates. 3. Open door policy. Be easy to reach at all times and assure employees no problem is too big or too small. 2. Work with employees. As an owner or manager stay on the schedule and lead by example. If someone needs help running food, making a drink, washing dishes, etc. don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Most people open their own business because they have done the job before. Make sure your staff sees how you can demonstrate this. This gives them sense you always have their back. 1. Understand. Things happen, and sometimes there is no way around them. Be understanding. Everyone is human, and sometimes people make mistakes. Make a bad experience into a learning experience. Sometimes things get uncomfortable, but be a mentor and guide the way. You will not grow living in the comfort zone. Treat everyone like your family, because after all ... that's what they will become if you do this right! K N O W H O W Use zoning to your development's advantage 10 1: H I R E B E T T E R L ocal zoning ordinances and bylaws are essential to comprehensive municipal planning and are intended to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the public. Yet, they are oen times far from perfect. Zoning ordinance or bylaw provisions are sometimes outdated, incompati- ble with the public need or economic growth, detrimental to the neighbor- hood or unduly restrict certain types of uses or developments. A zoning map might split a parcel of land into two or more zoning districts with certain dis- tricts being more restrictive than others. For reasons like these, developers oen see zoning as one of most significant obstacles to developing land. However, municipalities are oen willing to work with developers to amend their zoning in order to fix defi- ciencies or provide a more clear path for a project. Developers should begin con- versations with municipalities early in the process to determine how a zoning amendment can benefit their project. Massachusetts law provides the pro- cedure for amending zoning. A zoning amendment begins with the filing of a petition with a city council or with a request to insert an amendment for a town meeting. Once filed, the amend- ment is submitted by the city council or board of selectmen to the planning board. Following a public hearing on the amendment, the planning board will then provide a report to the city council or town meeting with its recommenda- tion. Aer the planning board hearing, a city council or town meeting may adopt, reject, or amend the proposed zoning. Passage of a zoning amendment will generally require a two-thirds vote. Although the zoning amendment pro- cess may appear rather straightforward, a number of issues can arise to disrupt the process, including objections by opponents, delays in the review process or getting on a city council/town meeting agenda. Proponents have to remain pa- tient while the zoning amendment works its way through the approval process. Nevertheless, there are steps that can be taken to ensure the zoning amendment process runs as smoothly as possible. Zoning amendments are subject to immense scrutiny, so proponents must have a clear understanding of what the effects will be on the subject proper- ty and the surrounding areas, and be prepared to address any objections or concerns raised by opponents. A lack of preparation and coordination with the municipality can lead to an unfavorable result, which would generally prevent the zoning amendment from being con- sidered again for two years. Opponents of a zoning amendment may have a valid claim of spot zoning, which occurs when a municipality approves a zoning amendment benefitting one property over adjacent properties which are indis- tinguishable from the benefitted prop- erty. Proponents should be prepared for the possibility of opponents aggressively opposing and appealing the amend- ment. Zoning amendment appeals can significantly delay a development, which further underscores the importance of addressing opponents' concerns early on, to the extent possible. At the end of the process, a successful zoning amendment can have a lasting, beneficial impact on the community. rough new development permitted by a zoning amendment, a developer can activate an underutilized parcel or offer new uses and/or styles or sizes of build- ings previously not possible at a particu- lar property. Zoning amendments have the power to expand the tax base and promote economic development within a community. Developers just have to think creatively and work closely with a municipality in order to make proper use of this effective tool. BY MARK A. BORENSTEIN Special to the Worcester Business Journal BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal D oes your company plan growth in 2019 requiring new positions? Here are some expert tips on cre- ating job ads, screening applicants and interviewing candidates, to help ensure whoever you welcome onboard will be the best fit possible – and save you time as well. Watch ad wording. Craing of effec- tive job descriptions involves no more than six "must-have" bullet points with "nice-to-have" requirements as well, "so as not to discourage candidates who could learn secondary skills on the job," writes Nikoletta Bika at Workable.com. Steer clear of clickbait-type lines (such as "Great opportunity for recent gradu- ates!") and be specific when describing your organization. For example, saying your company is growing fast isn't as use- ful to job hunters as saying the company just opened three new locations. Pick up the phone. Set up a list of phone-screening questions to identify qualified candidates more quickly and move the hiring process along. "Using a consistent set of questions in both this step and your face-to-face inter- views will help ensure you're evaluating candidates equally," says an article at Entrepreneur.com. Interview promising candidates more than once, in different places. Brian Tracy and Mark ompson, authors of "Now, Build a Great Business," give this advice to hiring managers at Monster. com. Why meet in different places? It's replicative of most real-life work environments – with different scenari- os, people and situations coming their way on a regular basis. "It is amazing how the personality of a [candidate] can change when you move the interview setting from your office to a coffee shop across the street," they write. ey add candidates will be at their best in the first interview, with the veneer – if there is one – beginning to fade with subsequent interviews. Mark A. Borenstein is an attorney in the real estate & environmental practice at Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey. Reach him at mborenstein@bowditch.com. W W W

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