Coping with a crisis

Contingency workforce planning

We’ve all had our fair share of staffing disruptions over the last 12 months. From the swine flu pandemic putting our employees in quarantine, to the volcanic ash cloud leaving them stranded abroad - this is certainly a wake up call for us all to be better prepared for the unexpected.

And don’t forget ‘Britain’s big freeze’ earlier this year, which has been estimated to have cost businesses around £700 million alone.  Hopefully this will be the last of such events for a long time yet. Nonetheless, HR teams need to be sit down to reassess the contingency plans they already have in place. Neglecting to do so will not only be costly, but will also bruise employee trust and confidence in the company.

But where’s the best place to start? The first thing that needs to happen is a full assessment of how you were affected by the recent events. For example, were any key staff absent as a result? Once this has been determined, you’ll be able to take steps to counter some of the negative effects of the crisis. Maybe you could arrange a video conference, or allow staff to work from home.

As emphasised by HR management gurus Ulrich and Brockban: “as change agents, HR strategic partners diagnose organisational problems ... help set an agenda for the future and create plans for making things happen.”

Plan your back up workforce

Once you’ve identified your top talent, you’ll need to devise a strategy that will ensure you still have the right skills available to you, in order to get things completed to a high standard.

The most widely practiced strategy would be to employ temporary workers, or to outsource technical work to qualified professionals. This way, you can have peace of mind that work is being carried out to a high standard – so when your staff do return, things are still in good shape. This is a gem for small businesses, as they generally have fewer workers and less capacity to cover staff absence.

Multi-skilling is also worth considering, where job shadowing and cross-training can be used to address skill shortages. This is particularly effective in manufacturing and industry. For example, a production environment where employees are able to do every job in the factory can provide enormous flexibility in allocating labour to tasks. This in turn leads to reduced labour costs as people are utilised more efficiently.

Take a proactive approach

It’s often the reactive approach that ends up being the root cause of bad workforce planning, so organisations must become more proactive and work for the future, instead of addressing short-term aims.

If you prepare for the “worst case scenario”, then you’ll be more likely to effectively handle other situations that may cross your path. Ask yourself “when and why things might go wrong, and what actions the company can make collectively to avoid them”.

It’s all about team work

In any crisis, it’s important that everyone works together as a team, motivating and supporting each other in order to keep the company on its feet. However, whether your team is large or small, teamwork rarely happens overnight. That’s why you need to consistently lead by example. That is, if you want to instil teamwork, you’ll have to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in with your employees too.

Contingency workforce planning is often overlooked, and when it is, many organisations experience slumps in productivity, financial loss, increased employee stress and lack of confidence in the company’s actions. Therefore, implementing a contingency plan and reassessing it on a regular basis is a crucial step in protecting your company, your employees and your clients.

If you’d like to find out more about how Ceridian can help you with Workforce Management, or HR and payroll outsourcing, please speak to  one of our experts by calling 0800 0482 737.