Do More with Less

Can we have a pizza party for the team?  No.  Can we sign up for that training session?  No.  Can we do that teambuilding event?  No.  Can we update our software?  No.  Can we have a holiday party?  No.  Can we get a raise?  Heck no.  Instead, we're going to cut the expense budget by 5%.

 

And oh by the way, we’re not backfilling any of those positions where half the department left the company.  We’ll just need to figure out a way to absorb those responsibilities into our workload.  Plus, we’ll need to take on that new project.

Sound familiar?  Do more with less.  Sounds like a theoretical discussion best suited for a college economics class.  Unfortunately, it’s a reality for most every worker in corporate America.  Outside of the revenue producing salespeople, everyone is considered overhead.  And overhead in a word is bad.  Cost center is a four letter word. 

 

Doing more

The ‘doing more’ part would normally be the easier part.  Efficiency and process improvements in everything we do has been a strength in this country for years.  It’s only when we throw in the ‘with less’ part that presents the problem.  Corners begin to get cut, quality takes a hit, stress levels go through the roof, and job hopping becomes the norm.  It’s one of the many contributing factors to the demise of employee loyalty in today’s marketplace.   

 

With less

I’m all for fiscal responsibility.  But potential cost cutting should always consider long-term effects.  While cutting certain financial expenses may seem like a no brainer when preparing the incredibly shrinking overhead budget, think again.  Sometimes those seemingly insignificant financial gestures like teambuilding events go a looooooong way in keeping employees happy, motivated, and prepared to do their jobs.  Companies may be surprised at how some relatively low dollar recognition gestures can have an exponentially positive effect on morale and ultimately employee performance.  One key point though.  The recognition needs to be consistent and timely.  If it is sporadic, it will likely be ineffective.  Also, not investing in T&T’s (training and tools) can have drastic consequences down the road.  A small short-term win today (i.e. cost avoidance) can ultimately morph into a large long-term loss tomorrow (i.e. inadequately trained employees with inadequate tools making more mistakes and hating their jobs and co-workers).  

 

Unfortunately, over the years, my experience has been that many companies are simply overly focused on today and not focused enough on tomorrow.  Ultimately, the ‘do more with less’ approach cares more about getting today right than getting many tomorrows wrong.  Tomorrow is someone else’s problem.  And more importantly, decision makers today will never be held accountable for the tomorrows that may be years down the road. 

 

While companies continue to ask employees to do more with less, at some point it’s just less.  Springing for that pizza party doesn’t sound so bad now.

 

Related reading:

Ditch Train the Trainer

Two Years Later... Still Stressed and Pressed

The Fallacy of Doing More with Less

Doing More with Less