2009 Credit Crunch Staffing
An Opportunity Not a Problem

With the current economic crisis, a recession is imminent, and every manager needs to think about how to reduce the impact of this on their organisation. One of the best ways to mitigate the effects of a recession is to reorganise your staffing levels to match your changing workload. Restructuring your shift pattern could save you from the effects felt by everyone else. The rest of the world may suffer, but you don't have to. Why Change? For most of us recession means reduced demand for our product. But by meeting this fluctuation with an efficient shift pattern it means you can thrive whilst others perish. Now is an ideal opportunity to bring in a change to ensure your survival. How to Change? You need to know two things about your business, where you are now and where you want to get to. In order to do this you need an analysis of your workload. The workload is the most important factor in any shift pattern. Understanding the workload is the key to an efficient shift pattern. Once you have your workload you know where you want to be. Then you look at holidays, absence and training in order to calculate the number of staff you require. This is a very simple calculation, and if the number of staff you require is the same as your current staffing level then there is no change there. Once you have the correct number of staff, the next step is to create an efficient shift pattern. By having your target workload for every hour of the day, everyday of the year, you can create a shift pattern to flawlessly meet this need. Once you have your new shift pattern, you then need a migration pattern to move our staff from their current shift pattern over to the new one. Gaining efficiency without losing staff If you want to gain the benefits of an efficient shift pattern but do not want to lose staff in the process, there are lots of options available. · Reduce overtime · Annualised hours shift pattern · Holidays included shift pattern · Secondary work · Improved equipment · New methods and procedures · Efficient shift pattern · Change products · Cross training · Research and development · Project working These points are all interlinked, a reduction in output frees staff for Project Work (to improve your current products) and research and development (to create new products). It provides time to cross-train your staff to make them more efficient in covering for absences or leavers. The next step Once you have chosen your course of action the next step is to implement it. Creating an efficient shift pattern is covered in detail in our book "How to Manage Your Shift Pattern" as well as other useful and key advice for running your shift pattern. Alternatively for the personal touch we are running training seminars in how to create and manage your shift pattern in March 2009. We also do consultancy for any company wanting help in any area of shift pattern design and implementation. CDT are leading consultants in shift pattern design since 1994. Our client list includes: Prime Minister's Office, Novartis, Universities: Bradford, York, and Kent, Hospitals: Pinderfields and Nottingham City, Police: Warwickshire, and Staffordshire, RBS, Barclays, NPower, RWE, Scottish Power, Councils: Sutton, Glasgow, and Bradford City, ICI, BP, and Raytheon. Best of luck with your new shift pattern, we hope 2009 will be your best year ever!