Good Cost Cutting Measures

There’s an old saying that says you have to spend money to make money, actually, there’s one additional requirement—you also have to spend it wisely.

Profits are made by creating value. It is people putting materials, equipment or service together to create products that are worth more than they cost to produce. If a consumer finds that their cost is not worth the value they are getting they won’t buy it. It’s a process that requires good value judgments and cost control up and down the line. Anyone who doesn’t do his or her best to contribute doesn’t realize what business management is all about.

Controlling costs requires a team effort. You, the manager have to instill a cost conscious attitude in each of your employees. You have to watch every dime spent, every move made, every item, used all the time. Now this might make your employees that they cannot take risks and of course we want our employees to think for themselves. If you are a cost conscious manager they will know that and when they make a purchasing decision it will be in the company’s best interest. When making decisions on spending think first “do I want it?” or “does the company need it?” When making the decision you have to think that it has to benefit the company you work for and the customer. It cannot benefit one and not the other. This is easy to say and hard to do. When people want to spend money for new equipment or a new program, it’s tempting to easily exaggerate the potential savings just to make the purchase. This is when you have to think “do we want it or do we need it?” It might be a newer piece of equipment but is it really going to save the company money?

Many employees don’t really see how their everyday work affects costs or profits. Their jobs may seem far removed, or they may feel their own effort doesn’t really matter. They may believe that costs are something handled in the accounting department.

The plain truth, of course is that whether a company is a high or low cost producer depends on everybody’s work. It’s a boss’s responsibility to inform his people and educate them that big savings come from little savings multiplied over and over. They have to understand that your decision on spending not only considers the benefits but the benefits versus the cost.

People need to be cautioned not to make needless mistakes, waste materials, hoard supplies, or otherwise run up unnecessary expenses. Sometime you have to remind them that money doesn’t grow on trees and the company can’t just print it.

Some employees are careful by nature and others couldn’t care less. When you do job appraisals make sure to include cost savings measures in it.

Give Your Employees Some Personal Attention

Nobody likes to be ignored. One of the most important things you can do as a manager or leader of an organization is to pay some personal attention to the people who work for you.

People need personal attention the way an automobile needs maintenance. They are more productive when they get it.

How can you provide the attention people need at work to produce better at work? How can you do it without playing favorites? The key to that is to devote the same amount of time to all employees.

Notice the work they do and compliment them. Notice any signs of improvement and acknowledge it. Employees want to be recognized that their hard work is noticed.

Notice the work that may not be up to standards. This let’s them know that you notice all aspects of their work. You won’t settle for sub-par performance. Ask why they did the work that way and if there is anything you can do to help them. 

Take time to talk to your employees about their interests. Get to know the world they live in. The world of which they are the center. People love to talk about themselves, their hobbies or their children. Getting to know what interests with them will give you a better understanding of how they think and why they perform the way they do at work. Good or bad. You’ll have a better insight.

Appreciate how important it is that their jobs be done well. Let them know how important they are to the company. Without your employees your job would be very difficult. If you don’t think so, have all your employees take the day off and see how much you get accomplished. You will definitely appreciate them when they return.

Give experience employees certain responsibilities. This makes them feel recognized and show that you have confidence in them. It also relieves you of some work but helps you develop your delegating skills.

Ask your employees for their suggestion on work problems. Remember, they do the work everyday and probably have some great ideas. Some employees are just waiting for you to ask them. They may not come to you if they feel there is no open door policy. So you have to go to them and ask.

Listen. Probably the biggest pay off. Most of the time it may be a personal and while you may not be able to do anything about it, you might be able to relieve some stress at work so they can cope with the problem. Sometimes just being there to listen helps them.

Keep in touch with the people who work for you.. Never let a good thought die. When you have something good to say share it with them. Nobody has ever been accused of giving too many compliments. Most people get far too little. Your employees will be a lot happier and give you better performance if they got more.

Excellence

 

Excellence is never an accident. It is achieved in an organization or an institution only as a result of unrelenting and vigorous insistence on the highest standards or performance. It requires an unswerving expectancy of quality from the staff and volunteers. It is what should be expected. When it is expected there is no other alternative for the employee to do anything less.

Excellence is contagious. It infects and affects everyone in the organization. It charts the direction of progress. It establishes the criteria for planning. It provides zest and vitality of the organization. Once achieved, excellence has talent for permitting every aspect of the life of the organization. When everyone is working towards excellence the entire organization focuses on it.

Excellence demands commitment and tenacious dedication from the leadership of the organization. Once it is accepted and expected, it must be nourished and continually reviewed and renewed. It is a never-ending process of learning and growing. It requires a spirit of motivation and boundless energy. It is always the result of a creative conceived and precisely planned effort. You cannot expect excellence some of the time and not the rest. When you settle for less that’s what you get.

Excellence inspires; it electrifies. It potentializes every phase of the organization’s life. It unleashes an impact which influences every program, every activity, every committee, and every staff person. To install it in an organization is difficult; to sustain it, even more so. It demands adaptability, imagination and vigor.  But most of all, it requires from leadership a constant state of self-discovery and discipline.

Excellence is an organization’s life-line. It is the most compelling answer to apathy and inertia. It energizes a stimulation and pulsing force. Once it becomes the expected standard of performance, it develops a fiercely driving and motivating philosophy of operation. It becomes the only way to do business. Many managers say they want excellence but few do what is needed to get that result. When employees see that you expect nothing less they have no other alternative but to strive for excellence also. You have to set the example for expecting excellence.

Excellence is a state of mind put onto action. It is a road map to success. When a climate of excellence exists, all things, staff work, volunteer leadership, finances, programs, come easier. Excellence in an organization is important because it is everything.

Excellence is you

Management By Delegation.

Do these scenarios sound familiar? You’re walking to your restaurant and an employee stops you to give a rundown of what’s happening; “Marry called off tonight so we have no hostess, our shipment was shorted the supplies you ordered, I’m going to clean out the stock room and after my break I’ll work on those files you asked me to do. The schedule will be done in a couple of days and,. by the way, the oven is not working right. Should I call the repairman?”

As you get farther into the restaurant, another employee stops you to give a rundown of his situation. This lasts another 5 minutes. Frustrating? You Bet. And you wonder. Why can’t these employees take more responsibility and not drop every detail of every project in your lap? Maybe it’s not them but you. Maybe you’re not delegating effectively. Here are some key points to remember.

Stress results, not details. Make it clear to your employees that you’re more concerned about the final outcome of all projects, rather than the day-to-day details that accompany them.

Don’t be sucked in by giving solutions to employees’ problems. When employees come to you with problems, they’re probably looking for you to solve them. Don’t! Teach them how to solve problems themselves. This, too, can be frustrating because it takes time. But in the long run, you’ll save yourself time and money.

Turn the question around. If an employee comes to you with a problem, ask him or her for possible solutions. If an employee comes to you with a question, ask for possible answers. This is key. When you do this you not only will create an employee who can get the job done, and not always bothering you, you will find out how this employee thinks and what leads them to their decisions.

Establish measurable and concrete objectives. With all employees, make your objectives clear and specific. Once this is done, employees will feel more comfortable acting on their own. Think of this plan as a road map and your employees will too.

Develop reporting systems. Get your feedback from reporting systems. The best way is to set up a pre determined time when the employee will meet with you. This way you can give all your attention and eliminate the bombardment when you walk in the door.

Give strict and realistic deadlines. If you don’t give clear deadlines, employees won’t feel accountable for the completion if their tasks. You can always ask the employee when you assign the job when they think they can have it accomplished. This way they are being accountable to themselves.

Keep a delegation log. When you delegate an assignment, jot it down. You’ll be able to monitor the progress, and discipline employees when necessary. Follow up is a key step. You can always ask the employee how the project is going and if you can offer any help. Giving advice or steering them in the right direction is all they may need to get started on the right track.

Recognize the talents and personalities of your employees. Being a good delegator is like being a good coach. You have to know what projects each employee can handle and what projects they can’t.

For more information check out 

Management Training: By The Book