Prepare to change your organization this year, advises leader of Integrity
Lehigh Valley, PA - January 27, 2009 - On Tuesday, the head of one of the region’s most recognized workforce management companies delivered a clear message to Lehigh Valley business leaders: “prepare to change your organization this year.”
Kevin Flemming presented the 2009 Lehigh Valley Workforce Report to a full house at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Fogelsville on January 27th. As part of the Annual Economic Strategy Luncheon sponsored by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, this year’s report was highly anticipated by a business community facing the second year of a recession that seems to keep getting worse.
Following a talk on national economic trends by Wachovia’s Chief Economist, John Silvia… Flemming, the President of Integrity Personnel, Inc., opened his presentation with an immediate call to action. He told the audience, (made up of the CEO’s and senior executives of some of the region’s best-known companies and institutions) they need to take immediate action to prepare their workforce for the new economic reality.
“By giving employees the unvarnished truth and asking all of them to contribute ideas for managing operations in a more cost-effective way, we can demonstrate that we’re all in this together”, said Flemming. “This will help mitigate the fear and resentment that inevitably occurs during times of lay-offs, budget cuts, and dropping revenue.”
The real cost of lay-offs
According to Flemming, this is only a first step for companies to develop their recession strategies. Using organizational research performed by Integrity, he laid out a new model for employers to acquire and deploy their human resources.
“The region’s unemployment rate increased an unprecedented 50% over the past 12 months and continues to rise. This means that many of our organizations have reduced their headcount or scaled back hours”. Although these actions are necessary to maintain the financial security of our organization, he said, the real cost of lay-offs is a permanent loss of resources. “Due to diminished capabilities, companies will be in a weakened position when the economy does rebound … and it will rebound.”
He explained that the identification and acquisition of resources shouldn’t be limited by the traditional employment relationship. “Organizations can begin to use alternative resources to perform non-core and support functions at lower cost. This goes beyond outsourcing certain office operations. The smart organizations will use a multi-channel sourcing strategy to operate more nimbly.”
The use of alternative resources preserves jobs
Flemming believes that this model will preserve jobs. When companies can purchase resources to perform their non-core functions, the regular workforce is free to focus on the highly specialized activities that generate profit. When economic downturns cause a reduction in revenue or production levels, cost savings can be achieved in the non-core areas of the business. The in-house staff remains both a necessary and productive resource that can be redeployed, rather than reduced.
He closed the presentation by putting the concept into perspective. “With the availability of inexpensive technology, flexible employment regulations, and a surplus of talented professionals and paraprofessionals in the labor market - there is no barrier for companies to create a new, more robust operating model. This is the best path for organizations that need to operate with limited resources. And it creates a competitive advantage for those that are flexible, enabling them to quickly rebound when the recession is over.”
This is the second year that Integrity produced the Lehigh Valley Workforce Report for the region’s business community. The full report is available on the website, www.lehighvalleyworkforce.com.
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