Friday 10 July 2009

Choosing Your Employees

The current economic recession has resulted in rumours of employers sacking staff to "upskill" their workforce.

Any employer worth should always be looking for any opportunity to "upskill" and increase their product quality. In theory this should result in better service, better product, and happier customers. The reality may be different, however.

Firstly, assuming that employers have made others redundant to bring on the "better" staff, there will have been an interval during which customers will have noticed the disappearance of the "old" staff whom they knew and who knew them. The duties of those who left will either not have been carried out, or else passed on to over-worked colleagues, resulting in reduced standards, reduced morale and increased resentment on the part of the "survivors". The resulting loss of staff and customer trust and goodwill will take time to repair.

Secondly, the new arrivals will take time to settle in and get to know the company's systems, procedures and their new co-workers. Team-work and efficiency will need to be monitored by senior management, especially as the new recruits will be the objects of suspicion and distrust by their colleagues.

The other factor to consider is the cost of firing any previous workers and then of hiring the "better" ones. Redundancy payments and management time in managing those staff out are the main ingredients of the former, whilst advertising fees, headhunter fees (perhaps) and management time spent interviewing the potential recruits as well as potential union issues will all add up. In the end, is it all worth it?

One option to consider is additional training for those viewed as less productive. Not only will this maintain continuity, it will also increase morale and commitment amongst employees, as well as maintain continuity for customers.

Of course, if there are staff who are not pulling their weight despite all best efforts, they should be subject to normal sanctions and procedures. This will be seen by others as fair and part of the course of business. Beware, however, of using the current recession as an excuse to replace headcount because there is a "natural" reason to do so. Reducing to cut costs is one thing. Replacing because of current circumstances may cost more than it saves.

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