Cliff Oxford at the NYT Small Business Blog has a great strategy for for retaining employees, particularly during that vulnerable period where you've just trained them but they might be eying greener pastures:

Here’s how it worked: We offered talented new hires an ascending salary structure that started low but guaranteed automatic increases each month. These employees started at about 50 percent less than market rate, but by month 12 they were 20 percent ahead of the market. By the end of the second year, they were 40 percent ahead of the market, and by year five they could be as much as 100 percent ahead of the market — and worth every penny.

The idea worked because it attracted people with a long-term mentality and because, if they did choose to leave, they had something to lose. It did take us longer to find people who were willing to sign up for what I called the new deal but once they came on board, their hearts and minds were with us. While I’m sure there are other ways to solve this problem, this one worked for us, and I’m sure it would work for others as well.

Something to consider when negotiating salaries!

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Small Business Administration announced today that 24 awards will be made to states to support activities to increase exporting by small businesses.  The State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Program was appropriated $8 million to award by September 30, 2014. 

For more information, click here.

Lifehacker has a post from Lea McLeod, M.A that talks about five habits of great communication.  Well worth reading.  Our favorite, look at this example of avoiding "position defending":

...let's say that two co-workers, Megan and Jason, are discussing a project. Megan says, "This project is overwhelming the team; we need more help." Jason says, "We'll be able to handle it. Everyone will just have to put in some extra hours."

That's not communication. That's position defending.

Great communicators, on the other hand, ask questions and strive to understand all sides of the issue—instead of constantly repeating their side of the story.

For example, Jason might say, "What parts of the project are overwhelming to you?" or, "Tell me more about what you're seeing as the bottlenecks."

Over at the Single Platform blog, a post by Ashley Taylor Anderson on staffing for scale jumped out at us.  She reminds us of the importance of hiring for culture:

When there’s pressure to add heads quickly, it’s easy to take the first qualified candidate who walks in the door. If you want to maintain a great company culture as you scale, you need to keep hiring people who will make a positive contribution to that culture. In addition to considering individual skills and personalities during the hiring process, think about how each person will mesh with your company’s ethos.

Check out her original post for her advice on hiring for the strategic, long-term goals, and meeting demands.