Running lean, and understaffed might seem like the best solution to cut expenses for the quarter. You may think you’re saving money by paying fewer people, but having too few employees limits the ability to serve current customers and grow the business. Point blank, understaffing will have a negative impact in the long run. How?
It Will Affect Your Payroll—But Not Positively.
Yes, cutting staff is a quick way to reduce payroll and benefits expenses, but those savings will disappear quickly. If your staffing levels are too low, you’ll have to hire temporary staff at a premium rate, which will drive up costs. If you have fewer employees but more of them have to work overtime, this can cost more than hiring additional full-time employees. When regular employees have to spend time training temporary staff and correcting errors, productivity diminishes.
Quality Will Take a Hit.
Both product and service quality suffer when you have fewer employees to serve customers and run production lines. That smaller group of employees must work faster to handle a higher volume of work, which means errors will increase. To ease the workload, employees may be rushed through training or even begin working without training. The resulting poor quality will diminish your company’s reputation and drive away customers.
Overstressed Employees Won’t Stick Around.
Yes, we all feel stress on the job sometimes, but when you don’t have enough employees, existing employees become responsible for more work—and increased workloads without sufficient breaks add extra stress. In turn, increased stress lowers morale and employee job satisfaction, taking a toll on your employees’ mental and physical health and increasing absenteeism. Turnover rates will also increase, because few employees will want to work at a company that keeps increasing their workload but not their pay.
You’ll Lose Business and Growth Opportunities.
When your understaffed business lacks the capacity to meet customer needs, you’ll miss out on growth opportunities. If you try to take on new clients or products and can’t deliver the goods or services, you’ll not only lose business but damage your company’s reputation. Lost business and a poor reputation lead to lost revenue and lost chances to grow.
Staffing firms that specialize in the manufacturing industry can be an invaluable ally in helping you truly save money and avoid these negative outcomes. They know that your staffing needs often fluctuate, whether seasonally or due to varying order sizes. They can help you create a strategic staffing plan which will ensure that you have the right number of people at the right time with the right skill sets for your current and future business goals.
The link below, from our friends at Crams, contains some very valuable guidance and instruction, and can serve as a valuable resource for employers. Check it out:
Ultimate Guide To Improving & Effectively Managing Mental Health at Work
Want to know more? Contact WorkSource anytime. We already know your industry—and we’ll take the time to understand your business so we can create the flexible staffing plans that meet your needs.
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