Saving Money

Saving Money

Jane,<BR>Without any details of the company you work for (ie size/number of staff/business sector) it is hard to be specific. However, one area which is often a favourite when wishing to cut overheads is stationery supplies. Are there large stocks of stationery? How many pens do staff have in their desks? Dare I say it. - does stationery go home with the staff? Try to use recylcing methods for ink cartridges/re-use internal envelopes and filing media/improve storage and backup facilities. It is also possible to negotiate discounts with competitive stationery suppliers.<BR><BR>If you are a manufacturing business, try to look at idle time, overtime. Cost of materials can be analysed in the same way as stationery ideas detailed above.<BR><BR>One other major area of expense if staff and labour costs. Are the staff efficient? Do you employ expensive temporary labour? Would your employer accept increased output as a way to increase profit as an alternative to cutting costs? A staff incentive scheme may help to improve output.<BR><BR>I hope this helps, but if not, please provide more specific details of the business and I will try to think of some more ideas.<BR><BR>Good luck<BR>

Saving Money

Where I work we are trying to cut staffing costs. We have had a real problem with excessive sick leave which means that we pay for the employee to stay at home and then pay premium rate for someone to work their day off to cover the absence. In the employees contract it states that sick pay is discretionary, therefore we now no longer pay sick leave, and the person who covers gets a day off in lieu rather than time and a half. This has had a double whammy effect, it has reduced sickness by 60% and the projected annual saving is around 5K.<BR>You have to be careful not to break any contractual agreements. Nearly everything in our rule book is "discretionary" and that is our get out of jail card in lots of instances. reducing sick leave can save money by having a more effective and motivated workforce. We have introduced a "Back to Work" interview for all our staff who have had sick leave and this REALLY works, as a lot of the Monday hangovers are very quickly identified. It only takes one or two disciplinary letters and the word gets around. We have a workforce of around 65 people. This may not help if you have a good solid workforce. Best of luck.<BR>Anne Marie

Saving Money

I'd agree with Sheelagh; if you cut staff costs, there is a high risk that it will have an adverse effect on morale unless handled carefully.<BR><BR>As an alternative, drawing from the Six-Sigma quality system principles used by companies such as GE, how about carrying out a statistical analysis of errors by cost ? By then brainstorming the most costly source of errors first and resolving it, you will both save money and (by improving the service given to customers) generate inreased revenue in the long run. It also has hidden benefits (admittedly virtually impossible to cost out) by making staff work more efficiently and reduce levels of frustration, thus improving morale - the more so if attached to some kind of performance bonus for achieving the saving !<BR><BR>I appreciate that this isn't a pure "accounts" type answer, would need to be applied company-wide, and may need a shift in culture, but I've seen at first hand how effective it can be, as well as the opposite case where it isn't applied and the company goes into a downward spiral of reducing service levels leding to demotivated staff which reduces service levels further...