We can all take a collective sigh of relief as 2010 comes to an end. We finally finished a difficult year and frankly a trying decade. As we enter the New Year, there is reason for optimism. The economy is rebounding and businesses and employees can expect good things to follow. My workforce predictions for 2011:

1.Hiring will be up. Throughout 2011, hiring will increase, slowly, but steadily. Watch for targeted hiring as employers focus on key employees who can make an immediate contribution in the company's core business. Hiring for the sake of hiring is dead.

2.Turnover will increase. As employees become more confident of an improving economy, many will bail. Pent up frustrations with cuts in pay and benefits, watching fellow employees lose their jobs, and fatigue due to working more with less will push workers to begin searching for greener pastures. At the same time, employer's star performers will be targeted by external recruiters for poaching. As business improves, key staff will be needed and those unprotected and unappreciated stars will become vulnerable and open to a recruiter's pitch.

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Most employers today have developed employee handbooks or policy manuals. As smaller employers see the number of their employees increase, they often begin to consider whether they should write one. Before doing so, they should ask themselves whether there is a need and if they believe there is, they need to determine the goal in having one.

Handbooks can be a valuable employee communications tool and a must for insuring a positive employee relations program at their organization. Unfortunately, handbooks also pose certain risks to employers. Some courts have held that handbooks can constitute a contract between the organization and their employees--a relationship many employers would prefer to avoid. At the same time, employee handbooks have proven to be an effective ingredient in keeping employers out of court. So should employers write one? Do the benefits of a handbook out-weigh the potential risks, and are the risks really that significant?

If your professional association needs a speaker, let me know. I am now booking a number of engagements for 2011. Click below to review my speaker information sheet.

A number of tools and booklets to help you manage your workforce are available now. These include:

• Sexual Harassment Prevention Toolbox
• Preventing Discrimination & Harassment Guide
• Strategies to Survive a Tough Economic Downturn Guide
• Guide To Massachusetts Employment Laws for Managers
• Employment Laws for Maine Organizations

NPR's KUHF Houston on how to hire, retain and engage employees. Listen in

Podcast with Jennifer Kruger of Imaging Executives how to make managing easy. Listen in

"Mind Your Own Business" on Portland's WLOB-AM discussing difficulties small businesses face with managing their workforce. Listen in