Due to a downturn in your business, you may have surplus staff resources; and possibly even yourself.
If you have developed a skilled and successful work team, over time, that you don’t want to downsize by letting some of them go (discussed in the Operating and Overhead Cost Sections of this Course), consider the following:
- Rent the surplus out, on a short-term basis, to other businesses which could take advantage of their skills.
- Look at replacing contractors, or outsourced labour, working with you by your permanent employees. This cost saving may be necessary on a temporary basis.
- If you have, for example, admin staff that are not fully utilised, investigate the possibility of time sharing them with other businesses.
One thing to keep in mind, when looking at your staffing, is Parkinson’s Law. This says that “work will expand to fill the time available” (see link). Your staff are definitely smart enough to look busy. Your challenge is to find the spots where ‘make work’ activity has developed for them to look busy.
For more help understanding any issues relating to this Section of the Turnaround90 Campaign, use the 12Faces Diagnostic System to drill down to root causes of problems and find our suggested Treatments.