>From my experience, HR's post highlights what *is* happening. For the past
several years, I have been working with firms and individuals in several
fields. Across the board, people are doing more and working faster. One
client(who is not a complainer) jokes about being a machine--going, going,
doing, doing --without thinking, because there is no time to think.
I have read the texts on what should/could be happening. ..for the most
part it is not.... just fewer people struggling to do what more people
did. As for helping people "work smarter, not harder," for a lot of
people, working smarter means losing overtime pay.
The things that seem to work ( when people are willing) are quick to do
such as flow charting processes and eliminating/combining steps, etc.;
Teaming to get the jobs done..i.e. get together informally by departments,
units, etc. to establish the bottom line and take a few minutes to decide
who will do what, etc., etc..
Even after reengineering, rightsizing, downsizing -companies have to look
at functions, not FTEs or even jobs. SOPs for many positions include
unnecessary tasks..that have grown because "it's always been done that
way."
There are lots of opportunities out there, but that's not the question.
Sometimes eliminating work from a system is to find another system to work
in .... and it is being done all the time...with excellent results.
HJRobles@aol.com wrote:
> Replying to LO20691 --
>
> I work as an instructional dean in a California Community College. In
> 1994, we had to cut 10% from our operating budget in one year, this after
> 5 successive years of budget cuts that left us no choice but to eliminate
> positions -- 40 in all in the district -- mostly classified but also
> faculty and administration. We were not adequately prepared for the
> logistics of downsizing and watched as our various information and
> evaluation systems that were supposed to have helped us in making informed
> decisions turned out to be useless.
[Big snip by your host...]
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