UK Starting Business

The implementation of the recommendations can be divided into two sections which are the immediate introduction of measures to curb the company’s present problems and secondly, to ensure that steps are taken to prevent avert foreseeable issues in the future.

The author will now continue by suggesting implementation structures which he believes will ensure the smooth induction of the necessary actions.

Reducing Costs and Expenses
The sooner the staffing levels, the auxiliary services, and the firm is able to utilise its assets more effectively (either through the short-term leasing of its spare office space or by other means), the sooner it would be able to move forward and face the competitive environment in which it has strategically chosen to operate.

As stated during the recommendations, communicating the reasons for the needs for change will ensure less resistance and greater understanding and co-operation between the employees, both those who are and are not directly affected by the measures.

Thus, it is suggested that after the management have decided which measures (and the degree of their application) are going to be adopted, they inform all personnel and explain the reasons for them. Those employees who are being released should then be told as it is probable that the staff will understand the reasons and thus will be more sympathetic towards the company.

It would be more considerate to the individuals if they were told personally and sincerely by their immediate superiors or by the Managing Director (or equivalent) as opposed to an internal memorandum.

This would also allow the superior to express their regrets and to wish the employee well in the future. If the company has decided to offer payments above the statutory minimum, this could also be conveyed at this time and thus bring some relief to the employee.

The anticipated problems arising from these measures centre around the fact that very few people will welcome being dismissed or seeing their colleagues released, even if the reasons are communicated using a personal medium.

These behavioural problems may be diminished by the firm’s openness and explanations but can also be reduced if the redundancies all take place together, thus reducing the time span of people leaving.

The people who remain with the firm will then not be constantly reminded of the company’s actions and once the redundancy period has passed, they will feel more secure in the employment and thus will concentrate on their work and not on the fears about their jobs.

The implementation of the office leasing might form a longer term objective to streamline the company’s main operations towards one area of the building and to ensure that the other operations are flexible enough to move to join up with them when a prolonged slump in the market is occurring.

Obviously, the greater the planning for the changes, the lesser will be the problems when they take place. There will no doubt be a period where problems occur while the staff adjusts themselves to their new environments.
However, because their duties and operations will remain essentially the same, they should be able to adapt quite quickly and as the changes take place during the up and downs of the market, the company should be able to make the adjustments faster and in the long term, smoother.

The implementation of the measures to cut auxiliary services should follow similar lines to the introduction of the redundancy program with full explanations for the cuts in standards and/or staffing levels.

The company may consider employing outside firms to continue some of their services, thus unloading the burden of profitability on to others. If the company decided to take this option, the standards in service would be maintained and the employees would have the choice whether or not to use these services.