Human Resources Survival in a Slowing Economy
Today's business environment is extremely competitive. Companies are competing for top talent while still trying to manage rising healthcare and fuel costs. To help control costs, look at how you can adjust or modify employment-related factors to meet your business needs and help with your survival. What types of measures can you put in place to control costs?
To Cut or Not to Cut?
When it comes to staffing, you may not need to implement a staff reduction, but a hiring freeze may be necessary. It's best to cut back on hiring rather than salary and benefits; however, you still should do what it takes to keep your high performers. The first people to leave an organization when it is in trouble are people who have many choices in employment.
This is not the time to cut back on training. Instead, develop training for your salespeople that focus on new strategies, selling techniques and help them sharpen their skills.
If your business circumstances do require a layoff, you will want to avoid legal claims due to the downsizing. A well thought-out plan is critical, so make sure to do the following:
- Prepare your plan and communicate it to the decision-makers. Identify the business reasons for the layoff and corresponding selection criteria. This helps to ensure that employee selection is based on a uniform set of criteria which is fair to all employees, including protected class members. (Claims resulting from layoffs are usually based on age, sex or race discrimination.)
- Take into account the potential costs for the layoff. These include the cost of attorneys' fees, unemployment claims, severance pay, diminished employee productivity due to poor morale, and possible litigation costs.
- Determine if the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) applies. WARN requires employers, among other things, to give employees advance notice if it constitutes a "mass layoff" or a "plant closure." The notice must be given to all affected employees, the state government and the local government. WARN applies to business enterprises, including public entities and nonprofit corporations, which employ 100+ full-time employees or 100+ full- or part-time employees who, in the aggregate, work at least 4,000 hours per week, exclusive of overtime.
The HR Services Team at Oasis has many HR services available to assist clients develop their HR processes and strategies. Contact us at 888-818-9797.
