Furloughs Are One Answer
The controversy over state furloughs has pretty much upstaged the fact that private enterprise has been dealing with the same challenge for over a year now.
The problem is more than how to reduce expenses. The real challenge is how to maintain a high level of service with a lower level of income.
Layoffs basically defeat that goal and are certainly not a preferred choice unless absolutely necessary to save a business. Some companies prefer to retain staff while reducing costs through pay cuts or furloughs or both.
At Trade, we talked to staff and decided to address the problem by initiating furloughs. Most felt this was fairer to all and while no one was happy at the loss of work, some actually enjoyed the free time created. Of course, as paychecks shrivel, that can get old, fast.
Our first furlough schedule took effect in August and gave employees a choice of which two days to take each month. This proved to be counterproductive, however, as staff often found working partners absent when needed. And, of course, those same staff could also be absent when their partners were working. Do the math. If 30 people are each taking two random days off a month, what are the odds they can all work together on a given day? In practice the answer turned out to be zero.
So, in October, we switched to a schedule with everyone except the printing department taking off each Friday afternoon. In effect, this closes down the company each Friday at noon, but for the rest of the time, we’re at full strength and everyone gets to work together. And that seems to be much more productive.
The goal is to get through the economic squeeze and back to normal as soon as possible. No plan is perfect and in your business you may find a different answer is needed. However, we did want to share our experience and will continue to keep our readers up to date on the results.
Meantime, our pledge to you is to continue to present the same high level of information, news and industry perspective that you have come to expect from our publications and other services. For this we thank our staff who are working so effectively in meeting today’s challenge.
