Saturday, January 21, 2017

Cost Cutting Strategies Ontario Through IT And Automation

By Lisa Richardson


At the last corporate webcast, your CEO delivers an optimistic review of quarterly results. Profits are up, revenues are strong, and stock performance is solid. But at the next departmental meeting, management unexpectedly mentions layoffs. Your coworkers exchange blank stares and confusion ensues. In the past few years, there have been acquisitions, facility upgrades and expansions. When did the company start experiencing problems? You wonder. This article takes you through Cost cutting strategies Ontario in downsizing.

Increase Productivity. Take a closer look at the many tasks your employees perform on a daily basis. It may surprise you to know that many of those routine, manual tasks can be automated via implementation of a simple, customized IT application. By automating many of the processes that are currently performed manually, these same individuals will have the capability to take on new, more productive tasks as they work in a more efficient manner.

Reduce Labor Costs. Is there a faster, better way to perform repetitive, time-consuming business methods? As you examine your business processes, focus on streamlining the most labor-intensive tasks. Any reduction in labor costs equates to an immediate savings. For example, by automating a task that requires six hours of manual intervention, you can expect to shave two hours off the total time to completion. In most situations, you can cut that time in half, yielding a significant cost-savings almost instantaneously.

There are setbacks to downsizing though. First, the workforce's patience is tested. Workers find themselves having to assume more responsibilities and dedicate longer hours. They start feeling expendable, which triggers fear and mistrust. This leads to poor work habits that ultimately compromises the quality of output. With an already increased workload, burdened department heads must train new hires to meet looming deadlines.

It is a very simple logic: if your employees feel valued, trusted and appreciated, they reciprocate by giving their best in their specific jobs which can go a lengthy way toward helping your business. Satisfied employees provide good quality service, quality service equals happy customers and happy customers generate good business deals.

Know Your Customers Better. Learn more about your customers by employing a customer relationship management (CRM) application tailored to meet specific corporate initiatives. This cost-cutting strategy embodies a customer-centric approach and is a very practical solution to outdated, paper-and-pencil processes. All data from each department are collected and organized to get a more accurate picture of your customer, making it easier to understand their wants and needs. Thus, your business grows by increasing customer satisfaction and retaining customer loyalty.

Certainly you want to reduce expenses and eliminate unnecessary costs. However, these actions alone don't address the underlying problem. And the underlying problem is revenue. So relying on a cost-cutting strategy is only useful if you expect the business environment to improve. Otherwise you must take additional actions in the areas of competitiveness, pricing, products and services. These areas are largely under your control.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that Cost-Cutting Doesn't Go That Far. Cutting costs can only take the business so far. Yes, you can reduce expenses, but once you get into a major cost-cutting spiral, eventually there's no more to cut and the singular alternative is to close the doors - and go out of business. If you reduce staff it will typically have a negative impact on service. If you cut hours you will experience less customer traffic. If you substitute lower quality products you'll see less customer satisfaction.




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