By Doug Hare EBS STAFF
Kari
Gras spent the bulk of her childhood years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After
graduating from Georgia Southern University majoring in outdoor recreation,
with a minor in business and biology, she lived in eight different states
before moving to Big Sky two decades ago.
Her
company TogetHR Consulting has hired three consultants in the last two years,
providing HR, payroll, recruiting and bookkeeping services to small businesses
across the Gallatin Valley.
Like
most good Montanans, Gras enjoys the outdoors—wakesurfing on Hebgen Lake in the
summer, exploring Lone Mountain in the winter, and scuba diving and sailing on
vacations. In her interview with Explore Big Sky, Gras offers plenty of sage
advice for both employers and employees alike.
Explore Big Sky: You
moved to Big Sky in 1999. What drew you to a ski town in Montana?
Kari Gras: I moved to Big Sky in 1999 to land a
career job at the Yellowstone Club and followed my boyfriend, at the time,
along with our roommate from Vail, Colorado, Eric Ladd.
EBS:Can you tell me more about your
employment history since moving here?
K.G.: I worked for the Y.C. from 1999
until 2005 in various roles, but my true passion was working with kids in an
outdoor setting. I began as their Children’s Director overseeing and creating these
programs along with the children’s ski school.
In
2005, I decided to explore another career opportunity and I accepted a seasonal
position with the Big Sky Fire Department as a firefighter and EMT. In April of
that year, I transitioned into working as a property manager with Continental
Concierge, a sister company of Continental Construction. Around 2007, another
position became available at Y.C. working in the payroll department, so I
returned. Working there through the bankruptcy, as people left and were laid
off, I emerged as the HR and Payroll Manager in 2009. I remained in that
position until leaving in the spring of 2013.
EBS: How did you decide
start TogetHR consulting?
K.G.: I first started my business under
the name Gras HR Consulting, with the help of my friend Lindsey Pruiett at
Pruiett Creative and Prospera Business Network in Bozeman. The more I shared
the idea of helping small businesses with their human resources needs, the more
my business has grown and continues to grow today! There are a lot of small
businesses in the Gallatin Valley and most of them don’t need an HR or payroll
person full-time and that’s where TogetHR Consulting fits in perfectly.
EBS: What is the most
memorable client that you’ve had? How were you able to help their enterprise?
K.G.: This is a tough one to answer
because I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many wonderful business owners
and employees throughout the years. I have a couple of success stories about
coaching owners and managers to have difficult conversations with employees
about their performance and watching those employees turn their performance
around and become a better employee and teammate. It doesn’t happen that often,
but when it does, it’s wonderful to see that good HR practices do work.
EBS: What is the best
business advice that you’ve received over the years?
K.G.: We get what we tolerate. I wish I
could remember who I heard this from. It’s great advice for anyone with
employees and can be applied to all aspects of life. It’s about setting healthy
boundaries and communicating clearly. I use this quote in my trainings quite a
bit.
EBS: Many of the small
businesses in Big Sky don’t have an employee dedicated to human resources. What
do they tend to miss out on?
K.G.: If a small business doesn’t have
someone dedicated to HR they run the risk of not being up-to-date with
employment law or in compliance when things are changing. I make sure my
clients have up-to-date policies in their handbooks, compliance practices with
paperwork, and hopefully soon I will get back to teaching classes for managers
and/or owners.
For
example, there are a couple big changes coming in 2020 with regard to exempt
versus non-exempt employees and those classifications—not to mention a new W4
and minimum wage increase for Montana to $8.65/hour.
EBS: What are some ways
that small companies mismanage their payroll operations?
K.G.: Generally speaking, it’s a common
practice for employers to require their employees to get approval before
working any overtime hours. While this is a great practice, where companies get
into trouble is when they remove those overtime hours already worked, don’t pay
the employee what is owed and simply tell the employee it wasn’t approved, and
therefore, they aren’t paying them.
The
other common mistake I see is upon termination, when the company doesn’t have a
policy that outlines when the employee will receive their last paycheck. It’s
Montana law that the employee must receive their final paycheck at the end of
business that day, unless there is a company policy that states otherwise. That
policy must be worded in a specific way and indicate when the employee will
receive their final paycheck.
EBS: What regulations
are the most common ones that are not followed by companies, that might be
unaware they are not treating employees fairly/legally?
K.G.: This is definitely the situation of paying an employee as an
exempt versus non-exempt employee. Common business terms and practice is to pay
employees hourly versus salary and most businesses think that as long as an
employee has ‘manager’ in their title, they don’t have to pay them
overtime.
Under
the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) there is a duties test that qualifies an
employee to be paid as an exempt employee and this is a white-collar exemption.
If the employee doesn’t qualify or perform work within the five classifications,
as defined, then that employee must be paid as an hourly employee, even if they
are a manager.
EBS: What do you see as
the most difficult part of growing an organization rapidly?
K.G.:
Currently, that would be more jobs to fill than people available. The
unemployment rate in Gallatin County is currently 2.6 percent and below the
state’s non-seasonally adjusted average of 3.3 percent. Not to mention the
affordable housing dilemma in Big Sky. Despite these hurdles, I think Big Sky
businesses are doing their best to collaborate with each other, offer
affordable housing options for their employees along with competitive wages and
benefits packages.
EBS: What is your
advice for an employer to retain the most talented/effective employees?
K.G.: Build a benefits package that suits your employees, be fair,
equitable and mainly ask your employees, “What matters most to you?”.
Sometimes, the answers may surprise you!
