In today’s economy, businesses across the board are trying to find ways to find inefficiencies and cut costs in an effort to increase profitability, or in some cases, simply try to keep their heads above water. Running a business is no easy feat, considering all the expenses and moving parts that go hand-in-hand with entrepreneurialism.
If your business needs to find ways to save on budgets, one option to consider is evaluating the human resources department and increase the efficiencies will not only save in HR costs, but could help the whole company be leaner.
There are other ways to cut costs that you might think of first, for example freezing wages or getting rid of inefficient or unnecessary software programs. While some of them are good ways to quickly save money (like comparing business gas prices and other utilities to get a better price), they might not be enough.
If your company increases HR efficiencies, the costs you have saved could mean some of the more drastic steps might not need to be taken.
- Reduce Staff Hours
Without a doubt, your most expensive resource is your staff and their time, and wasted time is a big drain on your company’s bottom line. Quickly filling vacant roles with qualified and eager candidates who mesh well with the business is especially important, as is reducing staff turnover.
Another way to save would be to move away from a 40-hour workweek for the staff in favor of a 35-hour week. In doing so, your staff will be happier with their work-life balance, and in turn, be more productive at work. Furthermore, if you find your company is small enough to only need part-time HR help, you could try adopting that kind of schedule for your HR staff and utilize a software program to bridge any gaps.
- Reduce advertising costs for applicants
Sometimes when businesses are hiring, they pay to promote their available job postings online but end up overspending on campaigns that are poorly targeted. Get your postings in front of the right candidates, so your campaigns are more successful, and therefore will run for less time and be more cost-efficient.
- Reduce the risk of lawsuits
Having a diverse staff is a positive aspect to any business, but it can occasionally come with its fair share of tensions between co-workers or even the company as a whole. Human resource lawsuits can cost quite a bit and have a major effect on your business; it’s important to solve lawsuits quickly, or better yet, prevent them from happening in the first place. By providing the proper training courses and ensuring your employees understand all workplace policies, you can mitigate the risk of employee lawsuits. You can also avoid human error-related lawsuits by automating certain processes.
Cutting costs in a business can be a tough and tricky process because you want to keep your employees satisfied and productive, have all procedures running smoothly and efficiently, and still maintain good profitability in an increasingly volatile market and economy. Whichever methods work for your business, finding inefficiencies can be done, and you can help your company’s bottom line.
Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
