Reducing personnel costs article. Ways to optimize personnel costs. Personnel search costs

The need to optimize personnel costs arises in a number of cases:

  • - if shareholders demand to increase the value of the organization;
  • - during restructuring of an organization (merger - acquisition);
  • - when there is a change of owner (the appearance of a new investor);
  • - when the strategic guidelines of the organization change (rapid growth, entering new market segments, etc.);
  • - if there is a need for a general reduction in production costs.

There are traditional and modern optimization methods

personnel costs.

Traditional methods are used mainly for the general reduction of production costs in the case of attracting personnel on the basis of an employment contract or a civil contract (contractor agreement). The most likely options for the behavior of organizations in a situation of economic downturn are the following:

  • - temporary cessation of activity;
  • - providing everyone with leave without saving wages;
  • - reduction in production volumes with reduction in number and (or) staff;
  • - reduction of wages established for employees;
  • - temporary cessation of payment of wages (delay of payment).

When choosing one option or another, you need to understand that quickly solving the problem - minimizing the costs associated with remuneration - is almost impossible.

The implementation of these behavioral options is associated either with the termination of employment contracts or with changes to their terms, so it is important to correctly assess the costs associated with the implementation of these measures to optimize personnel costs.

Carrying out measures aimed at reducing payments related to wages can be achieved only after a legally defined time (no earlier than two months). In addition, since reducing personnel costs affects the interests of the employee, the organization must be prepared to defend its position in court, incurring additional costs. Therefore, it seems important economic justification option to reduce personnel costs.

Collective agreements in effect in organizations may contain clauses providing for additional benefits for employees in the event of their dismissal, for example, a larger amount of severance pay, conditions for retraining and retraining of workers dismissed due to a reduction in the number and (or) staff at the expense of the organization. In this case, it is necessary to comply with the specified clauses of the agreement.

It should be borne in mind that if a collective agreement contains conditions according to which the benefits and compensation provided to employees in the event of their dismissal at the initiative of the organization are less than those provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, then these conditions can be challenged by the employee in court.

Temporary cessation of activity. If the financial difficulties of an organization are caused, for example, by delays in settlements with consumers and, according to management estimates, are temporary, short-term in nature, then the organization is forced to reduce the amount of work for a certain, relatively short period, as a result of which a number of employees find themselves unemployed during a given period of time (simple). It is assumed that during downtime the employee is at the workplace. The organization's costs for downtime (Article 157 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) consist of at least 2/3 of the employee's average salary and the unified social tax accrued on the amount of payment for unworked time, including forced downtime.

Thus, a temporary suspension of the activities of an organization or its divisions (downtime) makes it possible to reduce labor costs during a certain period by no more than 30%.

Providing everyone with leave without pay. If the organization's activities are suspended for long term, then it is possible that some employees will try to find another job (part-time) for this period. Obviously, an employee who has taken a temporary job in another organization does not have the opportunity to be at his workplace (as the downtime mode implies). Therefore, he appeals to management with a request to grant him leave without pay. In this case, payment of compensation for forced downtime to the employee is terminated (Article 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, choosing this option allows you to completely stop paying wages without increasing your debt to employees and to the budget and extra-budgetary funds.

Reduction in production volumes with reduction in headcount and (or) staff described in detail in paragraph 2.3. Usually in collective agreement the procedure for releasing personnel in the event of a reduction in business activity organizations. If possible, the employee is given severance pay, letter of recommendation, provide assistance in employment, retraining, etc.

Reducing wages established for employees. In a financial crisis, organizations may be faced with the need not only to reduce the number of employees, but also to reduce the wages of employees who remain in their jobs. Changes in wages can be made through:

  • - reduction tariff rates(salaries);
  • - making changes to the bonus system;
  • - reduction or cancellation of benefits, additional payments, allowances.

Since such a management decision significantly changes the terms of the employment contract, it can be challenged, including in court, which will certainly affect the organization’s costs when choosing this option.

An indirect way to reduce wages is to introduce part-time working hours into organizations.

Temporary cessation of payment of wages (delay of payment). In the case where the organization does not have Money to pay wages to employees, wages are accrued but not paid (the organization's debt to employees is formed). At the same time, the procedure for paying insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds does not change and penalties are charged for the amount of contributions not transferred in a timely manner.

Modern methods optimization of personnel costs are based on the redistribution of functions for managing the functioning of personnel using various options for attracting temporary staff. These methods include:

  • - staff leasing(staff leasing);
  • - temporary staffing(recruitment of temporary staff);
  • - outstaffing(removal of staff);
  • - outsourcing(use of external services).

Staffleasing - legal relations that arise when recruiting agency concludes an employment contract with an employee on its own behalf, and then sends him to work in some organization for a relatively long period - from three months to several years. This is mainly practiced in cases where the services of a qualified specialist are required with some regularity.

Temporary staffing is used when short-term projects or work that lasts from one day to two to three months. As a rule, we are talking about hiring administrative and service personnel during exhibitions, conferences, marketing research, PR campaigns, as well as during illness or vacation of full-time employees.

Outstaffing is used in cases where a recruiting agency (contractor) does not select workers, but recruits the existing personnel of the client organization (customer) into its staff. At the same time, workers continue to work same place and perform its functions. The number and qualifications of the required personnel are determined by the customer, who does not have labor relations with the provided personnel, but can motivate each involved employee. The contractor is thus the employer of the personnel, and the customer can hire personnel to perform various functions. For the duration of their work, the provided personnel becomes part of the customer’s team, but all personnel document flow for the provided personnel is carried out by the contractor.

The use of outstaffing becomes justified if there are:

restrictions on permissible staffing levels. This case is often found in large holding structures that strictly plan and control the number of subsidiaries;

the need to maintain gross profit volumes given the task of reducing headcount set by the management organization. This case is a variation of the previous one. Reducing headcount may be a strategic objective of an organization aimed at reducing social security costs;

the need to implement high-risk projects. There may be projects that require a variety of staff to be hired, but if they fail, those staff must either be fired or given other jobs. If the project is unsuccessful, additional costs arise due to the release of personnel, leading to increased losses. In this case, the mobility of the project is lost, for example, if it is necessary to move the implementation of the project to another region;

the need to increase business mobility. This may be necessary when working in rapidly saturated markets in different territories, when over time life cycle the product needs to ensure maximum coverage of various territorial markets without moving all the personnel involved in product sales;

the need to save overhead costs on maintaining a large personnel service and the part of the accounting department involved in payroll calculations. By obtaining personnel through a contractor, savings on overhead costs are possible. This savings is due to a reduction in the number of personnel departments and accounting departments of the organization, excluding the costs of special software;

the need to implement the concept of “concentration of brains” in the organization. The essence of the concept is as follows: the organization’s staff consists of only key employees - the “golden fund”, the intelligence of the organization. Workers and support personnel are involved in outstaffing. By implementing this concept, it is possible to ensure reasonable differentiation social guarantees depending on the actual value of the employee to the organization.

With outstaffing, the employer receives the following benefits:

  • - the employer does not enter into a contract with the employee labor contract and, therefore, does not enter into labor relations with him;
  • - there are no risks of labor disputes regarding personnel attracted through outstaffing;
  • - it is the responsibility of the contractor to resolve all issues related to compliance with the requirements of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
  • - the employer becomes mobile in matters of attracting and reducing personnel; under certain conditions, the mobility lag may not exceed several days;
  • - the employer does not need to maintain personnel document flow for personnel attracted through outstaffing, therefore, there is no need to increase the number of the organization’s personnel service;
  • - increased stability production activities, since thanks to outstaffing it is possible to transfer part of the semi-fixed expenses into the category of semi-variable ones;
  • - there is a possibility of extension probationary period for any necessary period;
  • - it becomes possible to build multi-stage motivation programs, including using a non-material incentive to transfer an employee to the main staff of the organization;
  • - it is possible to achieve significant savings in the costs of providing social guarantees.

The most attractive is the joint use of personnel outsourcing and outstaffing; with such a “symbiosis” one can expect savings in the “Overhead” item.

Outsourcing. In this situation, the organization transfers some of its functions to an external organization (a division of another organization). The customer buys a service from the organization (contractor), not labor specific employees. Moreover, the function is transferred completely to the contracting organization, and the customer organization does not have personnel engaged in performing this function. The cost of the service is determined by an agreement between the customer and the contractor. The contractor himself decides on the number of personnel who will implement the transferred function. The customer does not have an employment relationship with the contractor’s personnel and cannot exert a motivational influence on them.

As a rule, work that is necessary to maintain the life support of the organization, but is not core for it, is outsourced: maintenance of computer networks, logistics, marketing research or cleaning the premises. The advantages of outsourcing are:

  • - concentration on the main activity;
  • - rationalization of production operations;
  • - gaining access to professional knowledge;
  • - diversification of risks;
  • - no need to constantly implement new technologies on our own;
  • - improving the quality of products (services);
  • - release of human resources;
  • - optimization of cash flow (cash flow);
  • - increasing control over the business;
  • - business ability to change (on demand).

However, there are also disadvantages of switching to outsourcing, which include:

  • - concerns about the reliability of the service provider (bankruptcy, etc.);
  • - loss of control over the production process;
  • - potential reduction of own staff;
  • - concentration on the product (process), and not on the consumer;
  • - loss of the opportunity to grow our own qualified personnel;
  • - negative attitude from own staff.

In Western practice, it is customary to use a scheme for assessing the feasibility of switching to outsourcing according to the criteria of “strategically important/non-strategically important”, “competitive/non-competitive”, developed by the PriceWaterhouseCoopers company and presented in Table. 5.1.

Table 5.1

Assessing the feasibility of switching to outsourcing

Type of transaction

Strategically important

Non-strategically important

Competitive

Non-competitive

Leave as is Reorganize

? (Needs to be discussed) Outsourcing

However, the criteria for determining how strategically important an organization's position on separate species operations, are unique to each organization and are subjectively perceived by managers.

The "Reorganize" field allows you to short term outsource the operation, but in the long term should be returned to the control of the organization.

Field "? (Needs to be discussed)" provides many possible solutions: selling, expanding and providing services to other organizations; expanding profile and creating strategic competitive advantage.

When performing non-strategically important and non-competitive operations, PriceWaterhouseCoopers clearly recommends outsourcing them.

There are private criteria for switching to outsourcing used in Russian practice:

  • - inability to provide the required quality of products (services);
  • - cost reduction;
  • - release of scarce equipment and highly qualified personnel;
  • - release of unique equipment on which standard products are manufactured;
  • - improving the work of the supply department;
  • - reduction of the range of purchased products through the purchase of assembled products.

The criteria for refusing outsourcing are:

  • - lack of reliable contractors;
  • - potential monopoly on the part of a possible contractor;
  • - reduction in efficiency below the required level;
  • - a significant increase in production time outside the organization, unacceptable to ensure the production process;
  • - the cost of production within the organization is less than the supply price on the market.

If we talk about the differences between outsourcing and outstaffing, the main one is that with outsourcing the customer pays for the performance of a certain function, and with outstaffing the customer pays for the provided personnel with the necessary qualifications. What these forms of personnel attraction have in common is the ability to reduce personnel costs without incurring losses associated with a decrease in labor productivity and product quality.

Speaks at the Board of Directors financial director and reported that the company had passed the growth stage and a period of stabilization had begun. Profits are barely growing, and staff costs have continued to rise recently. The HR director confirmed this and explained why HR costs were rising: we had to recruit a lot of new employees. Both to replace those who quit and to newly created units. The board of directors decided: not to expand the staff, to reduce the costs of recruiting personnel and payroll.

These costs are perhaps the highest. Salaries are the main item of personnel costs. And the selection of employees, a process, although at first glance not the most expensive, continues continuously. It becomes especially intense when new divisions are created and there is an urgent need to staff them with employees. This also requires funds. It is no coincidence that these are the items of expenditure that, as a rule, are cut first when saving is required. What exactly and how to reduce?

Analyze how and how much the HR department spends on posting job advertisements

Look at what exactly the funds are spent on, what kind of return the division you head in particular and the company as a whole receive for every ruble invested. As a rule, the main channels that we use to post information are standard: print media, specialized Internet portals, the company’s own website, television/radio, so-called “fence” advertisements (posted on poles, parking lots, notice boards). Internal channels are also usually used - word of mouth, intranet.

Check that these channels are being used effectively and appropriately. After all, there are different categories of employees who need to be looked for. This means that it is necessary to use different channels for posting vacancy announcements. Instead of searching for everyone through Internet sites or recruitment agencies. For example, the Internet can be used effectively only when accountants and PC operators are required, that is, those whose professional activity is directly related to working on a PC (and therefore to the ability to access the Internet). And low-skilled employees for positions that do not require any experience and knowledge must be selected using other methods. It would seem that these are obvious things. But if you forget about them, you will make unnecessary expenses.

Example

The HR director of a clothing company, checking the work of his recruiting managers, discovered that even in order to find janitors (men or women 50-70 years old), as well as sellers, loaders and drivers, advertisements are placed, as when searching for specialists - on Internet job search sites. But this is unjustified for two reasons. First, these categories of workers, as a rule, do not use the Internet. That’s why there are almost no resumes from candidates for vacancies. The second reason is that money is actually wasted. To reduce costs, the HR director instructed his subordinates to change their work tactics and select channels for distributing information about vacancies that are adequate to the level of candidates. To find janitors, post notices in parking lots. public transport, entrances of residential buildings located near the office, on poles in crowded places in the area where the company is located. And when it comes to the need to select sellers, loaders, drivers, cooks, place advertisements in print media, since these categories of citizens most often read and view them to find work.

Track how and where the candidate learned about the vacancy

Make this the main rule for your recruiting subordinates. Let them collect and record information about where the candidate heard or read about your company's vacancy. This is especially important if HR managers
use more than two channels simultaneously to post information about available positions.

Create a table in which hiring managers can make notes accordingly. In the column on the left, list all the vacancies that were filled by the personnel service, at the top - all the channels for distributing information about vacancies used by your subordinates. At the right end of the table there should be columns that reflect all the information as a total (see sample table below).

Oblige your subordinates who talk with applicants by phone to be sure to ask the question: “How did you hear about our vacancy?” and immediately enter each answer into the table. Also include this question in the questionnaire that candidates fill out and ask your subordinates to ensure that applicants do not forget to answer it.

If you receive work reports from HR managers at the end of each month, add a separate section to the report for recruiting specialists - information about channels for posting vacancy announcements. This will be the same table that we talked about.

Table. Information about which channels were used during the month to find candidates

Choose effective channels for distributing information about vacancies

You will do this using the very table that you developed for HR managers. In it, they recorded where candidates learned about each specific vacancy. Therefore, now you can summarize. Each individual line contains one vacancy. See how often this or that channel “worked,” that is, conveyed information to candidates. The channel through which the most candidates came is considered the best. It reaches the target audience and is considered the most optimal for a particular vacancy. And the channel from which a minimum of candidates or none at all learned about available positions in the company is considered useless. In fact, the money spent on posting information about vacancies is wasted, and here we can talk about cutting costs. When a similar vacancy appears next month, we will know for sure that there is no point in using this channel.

In other words, by refusing to use ineffective channels for posting information about vacancies, you will reduce recruitment costs, and the quality and timing of selection will not deteriorate.

Check whether financially lucrative offers from online sites and print media are being taken advantage of

Agree, HR directors often brush aside offers from their recruiting managers or managers of Internet sites and newspaper advertisements supervising the company to consider more lucrative offers. But we forget that offers can actually be profitable, since newspapers and “work” sites operate in a competitive environment, and therefore make efforts to retain customers and get new ones. For this purpose, so-called package offers are created. For example, an Internet portal provides the opportunity to pay “in bulk” (and at a lower price) for a certain set of services for a certain period. At first glance, the price may seem unacceptable to us. But let’s compare how much a company spends in six months if it uses the usual services of a well-known Internet portal and if it agrees to its “package offer.”

Example

The company used the services of an Internet portal - posted vacancies and occasionally (in order to save money) looked through the contact information of applicants. A total of 35 vacancies were posted at a price of 2,000 rubles, the total cost was 70,000 rubles (2,000 rubles for 35 vacancies). The company looked at 120 resumes, for which it paid 18,000 rubles (120 resumes, 150 rubles for each view). Thus, the total amount of expenses for six months was 88,000 rubles. Now let’s calculate how much each cost the company new employee. A total of 1,870 people were selected, therefore, 47 rubles were spent to attract one (88,000 rubles: 1,870 people). However, the same Internet portal developed and made a profitable package offer for the same six months - unlimited tariff. It would be possible to post vacancies, gain access to applicants’ resumes in an unlimited number and for only 33,000 rubles. If the company took advantage of the package offer, then hiring one employee would cost it on average only 18 rubles (33,000 rubles: 1870 people). In other words, it was possible to reduce the cost of searching and attracting personnel by 2.6 times.

If we talk about posting job advertisements in specialized media, then you can also find economical options. After considering each option, first estimate the costs and choose the most optimal one.

Example

The company needed to place information about seven open vacancies: loader, accountant, economist, PC operator, storekeeper, lawyer, HR inspector. The HR director asked the hiring manager to find out what placement options were available and how much each would cost. It turns out there are three options. First: place each vacancy in a separate block (frame) 5.7 1.9 cm. One block costs 230 rubles. The cost for all blocks will be 1610 rubles (230 rubles for 7 blocks). Second option: place all seven vacancies in one block of 8.7 10.7 cm. The cost of a block of seven vacancies is 1,725 ​​rubles. Third option: group vacancies by thematic blocks and place them in thematic headings. It turned out to be three blocks. In one of them there are vacancies for a storekeeper and a loader, the cost is 460 rubles. The other contains information about vacancies for an economist, accountant, and PC operator, for which the company will also pay 460 rubles. And the third block, which will include vacancies for a lawyer and a personnel inspector, will cost the same price. Therefore, for posting all vacancies in relation to thematic headings you need to pay 1380 rubles (460 rubles. 3 blocks). The company used the latter option.

Use free information resources

Development information technologies in the world in general and in Russia in particular, gives us unique opportunities - to implement the most ingenious projects with the most minimum costs, and sometimes completely free! As a rule, working with free ones is very effective (both for those offering and for job seekers) Internet portals that exist in every region.

Example

Lipetsk has a free online job search portal. It's called 48.ru. A similar portal in Saratov is 164.ru. These portals offer employers to post a certain number of vacancies for free (usually up to three). In addition, the portals provide free and unlimited access to the database of applicants’ information. These are incomplete, detailed resumes. Nevertheless, the minimum information necessary to get an idea about a person is there. Most importantly, the HR service can receive applicants’ contact information online immediately after posting a vacancy. And so on for all three vacancies.

The regions have their own online news portals that support local authorities. These portals have a “Work” section. You can post a certain number of vacancies for free, and employers are not limited in using applicants’ contacts. Recently, the portals www.slando.ru and www.avito.ru have become popular. You can post an unlimited number of vacancies there for free and search for contacts.

Use social networks to recruit staff

Create a page for your company on popular social networks, for example, Facebook, Vkontakte. The more interesting and attractive your page is, the more potential candidates will be puzzled by finding a job in your company. We will not dwell in detail on how to properly design such a page. Let us only note that now there is a tendency to move away from broadband Internet to handheld mobile devices. Especially among the younger generation.

Try to minimize the negative consequences of optimizing payroll costs

Reducing labor costs is an extreme step that usually causes a whole wave of negative consequences. For example, staff reductions, lowering employee salaries. Both can lead to the loss of qualified personnel. This means that labor productivity and quality of work will suffer. Try to explain this to management. Emphasize: there is no need to significantly reduce payroll expenses. The losses may be greater than the savings. Suggest, say, freezing these expenses and preventing them from growing.

If you cannot avoid a noticeable reduction in payroll, think about outsourcing

Thanks to outsourcing, you will significantly reduce personnel costs without negative consequences for the company. First of all, you should outsource work that does not require highly qualified personnel with special skills and knowledge. Namely: loading and unloading operations, work in warehouses, freight forwarding, packing/packing, cleaning of the territory, warehouse and office premises, customer service at the cash registers, work in trading floor(merchandising). This may also include the services of junior staff (waiter, maid) and advertising campaigns(promoters, life-size puppets, extras). Calculations show how profitable outsourcing is for a company.

Example

The organization hired a loader. His salary is 20,230 rubles. In addition, for this amount the company must accrue and pay contributions to funds - pension, social insurance and mandatory health insurance. The total contribution amount is 30%. To this must be added contributions for insurance against accidents and occupational diseases at a rate of 0.2%. Total – 30.2%. In monetary terms it will be 6,109 rubles (20,230 rubles. 30.2%). Consequently, the employer’s costs will be 26,339 rubles (20,230 rubles + 6,109 rubles). The employee will receive 17,600 rubles (20,230 rubles - 13% personal income tax). If the company used a loader on an outsourcing basis, it would spend only 17,600 rubles and no more on paying for his labor. This amount is the sum of the loader's hourly rate - 110 rubles, multiplied by 8 hours (working day length) and 20 working days: 17,600 (110 rubles 8 hours 20 working days). As you can see, the employer would save 6,109 rubles on taxes. And this is only for one employee.

Yuri GRIGORYAN, Director of Human Resources management company"Alfa - Capital"

We began to select all categories of employees on our own and train them

When we analyzed the budget, we realized that the most expensive expense item was personnel recruitment. To reduce these costs, we began to develop the professional level of our recruiting managers. Over time, they were able to conduct high-quality examinations of candidates for any positions, and now we select personnel ourselves, including top managers. We applied the same principle of developing “internal expertise” to training. In other words, we stopped hiring third-party trainers, and asked them to act as key specialists and top managers. This also helped reduce personnel costs. In addition, we have introduced a savings regime when organizing corporate events. We left the key ones, including low-budget projects. For example, health day, exhibitions of works by our employees in collaboration with experts from the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation, small gifts for employees on minor holidays

Olga TOKASOVA, HR Director of the AYAK group of companies

Eliminate unnecessary levels of management, cut social programs, establish bonuses for savings

Try not to reduce salaries and bonuses to employees - efficiency may drop sharply. And it is worth reducing staff only if it is necessary not only to optimize costs, but also to “cleanse the ranks”, leaving the most productive employees on staff. In my opinion, one of the best ways optimize costs - reconsider organizational structure company and eliminate unnecessary levels of management. Another effective step is to reduce corporate expenses. Reduce social programs and benefits that were previously provided to employees in excess of established by law normal Alternatively, you can develop a transparent bonus system that will motivate staff to reduce all kinds of costs. At the same time, part of the saved money will be partially paid to employees

Attention!

Some print media offer a discount of 5 to 10% for posting two or more blocks of vacancies in thematic sections. This is attractive from a financial point of view. In addition, by placing job advertisements in thematic blocks, you will receive the maximum number of responses.

Olga MOLINA, HR Director, AstraZeneca Russia

Stretch out the training over time and conduct interviews with non-residents via Skype

To reduce personnel costs without harming the company, I prioritize tasks. Then I look at which tasks are not critical, which means they can be abandoned or their deadlines can be postponed. For example, review the employee training calendar, spreading it out over time and reducing the burden on the company. It is also important to understand whether the HR department can avoid attracting expensive contractors (consulting firms, recruitment agencies) and get by on our own. Let's say, ask key employees to conduct some training. Another way to optimize HR costs is to organize a tender among the remaining suppliers and reduce the cost of purchased services. In addition, it will help you save modern technologies. For example, instead of traveling to other cities to interview candidates, use Skype or video conferencing

After creating a company page on a social network, be sure to take care of developing its mobile version. Thanks to this, the page will be displayed correctly on various gadgets and mobile devices from which young people access the Internet. This means that the company will increase its chances of reaching target audience– talented youth with high potential.

Three Important Benefits of Outsourcing Employees

First, your company will reduce its headcount. Secondly, you will be able to “order” workers only for the period when they are really needed. There is no need to pay them a salary when they have little work (as happens when employees are on staff). Meanwhile, it has been noticed that downtime in the absence of work sometimes reaches 2/3 of the working day. Consequently, 2/3 of the salary is paid during such a period, essentially for nothing. Thirdly, if your company depends on seasonal business fluctuations, you can easily either reduce or increase the number of employees in a given season.

When making a decision to cut, remember: cutting budget items only makes sense if the portion being cut represents a significant portion of the company's expenses.

To save or develop - what is good for a German is not good for a Russian.

The market dictates its own rules of the game. But don’t forget – the rules are the same for everyone, but the teams playing according to them are different.

Let's ask a question that seems strange at first glance: “Why cut costs?” At the same second we will receive a surprise response - “Of course, in order to increase profits.”

Increasing profits is a task that can be solved in two ways (in the most simplified way): by reducing costs or increasing income.

And so, the task is “Increase profits.” Solution to the studio!

What does the average Russian director do? Reduces costs!
What does a forward-thinking Russian director do? Increases the profitability of all its assets not only in the short term, but also in the long term

Arguments in favor of reducing HR costs:

  1. Personnel document flow? What a small thing, let the accountant do it.
  2. Recruitment? We'll instruct the secretary to pick out what to do.
  3. Motivation? Why, the salary is already good. In extreme cases, 3 percent of revenue, or 20 percent of profit.
  4. Psychological climate of the company? Come on, everything is great with us.
  5. Education? What do you mean, let the staff do this in their free time and at their own expense.
  6. It's easy to operate - every cook can do it. Oh, it doesn’t seem like it’s from here...

We reduce personnel management costs.

Before we start cutting, let’s decide what what we’re cutting consists of:

  1. Cash remuneration for HR department employees and “salary” taxes.
  2. Equipment of workplaces for personnel department employees.
  3. Access to paid Internet resources and professional periodicals.
  4. Rent of additional meters and utility costs.
  5. Organizing and conducting training for company employees.
  6. Conducting personnel assessment and certification.
  7. Office expenses and other small items.

Now let's look at what are the options for cutting costs? personnel management possible:

  1. Completely eliminate the personnel department from the company's staff, redistributing all functions of the reduced department among the organization's employees.
  2. Reduce the cost of business processes related to personnel management, including:
    Refuse to use paid Internet resources - there are a huge number of free sources of information.
    Refuse from periodicals related to personnel management.
    Reduce the staff of the HR department, leaving one employee.
    Transfer specialist to personnel work for piecework wages.

When making a decision to make cuts, you must remember that cutting budget items only makes sense if the part being cut constitutes a significant share of the company's expenses.
Carrying out analysis economic activity can answer the question “what needs to be cut first.” But, unfortunately, this answer is often not liked by some officials organizations and... HR management costs are reduced.

Or maybe we’d better improve efficiency?

If the manager believes that the HR department is leading personnel records management and personnel selection - alas, efficiency no longer lives here.
If a manager understands that personnel are the resource with the help of which ordinary companies become unique and inimitable, then such a manager can work wonders.
What can HR do if it is empowered to act?

  • Develop an effective motivation system that will focus all the company’s forces at one point. The result is increased profits.
  • Create psychological climate, which in itself will increase labor productivity significantly. The result does not change - profit growth.
  • Form a team that can make an ordinary company great. The result is still the same - profit growth.

Another way to increase the cost efficiency of personnel management is to create an independent company based on a full-time HR department. Business guru Tom Peters calls this approach “Professional Service Firms.” If you consider your employees as people capable of doing more than sitting in the office from 09 to 18, this option for increasing cost efficiency is for you.

By reducing costs, we increase efficiency.

Why make a choice between downsizing and growing? There is a “Two-in-one” method – HR outsourcing.

Advantages of HR outsourcing:
Outsourcing service provider provides resource the whole company, at a price that is lower than the cost of specialists with the required qualifications.
The Contractor is interested in ensuring that the required result is achieved on time and in accordance with the Service Delivery Standard (S.L.A.).

Disadvantages of HR outsourcing:
It does not allow the illusion of control over the employee.
A clear understanding of the tasks that will be assigned to the performer is necessary, because everything is determined by the terms of the contract.

To conclude this material, I will say: value your employees. This is the only resource that can be grateful.

Sharapova Natalya Vladimirovna

candidate economic sciences, assistant professor,

Ural State Economic University

[email protected]

Sharapova Valentina Mikhailovna

Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, Ural State

the University of Economics

[email protected]

Borisov Ivan Alexandrovich

senior lecturer, Ural State Economic University

university

[email protected]

Natalya V. Sharapova

Ph.D., Associate Professor, Ural State University of Economics milena.555@mail .ru Valentina M. Sharapova

Doctor of Economics, Professor, Ural State University of Economics milena.555@mail .ru Ivan A. Borisov

Senior Lecture, Ural State University of Economics milena.555@mail. ru

OPTIMIZATION OF PERSONNEL COSTS

OPTIMIZATION OF PERSONNEL EXPENSES

Annotation. This article discusses the issues of optimizing personnel costs. Today, there are several different approaches to optimizing personnel costs. At the same time, we understand by optimization a change in the structure of the cost budget. In modern conditions, assessing personnel costs with their subsequent optimization is one of the relevant and priority areas. A well-founded approach to their optimization usually leads to a reduction in staff turnover, increased productivity, and increased company profits.

Key words: personnel costs, cost optimization, budgeting, staff reduction, staff turnover, remuneration.

Annotation. This article discusses the optimization of personnel costs. To date, there are several different approaches to optimizing staff costs. At the same time, we understand by optimizing the change in the budget structure of costs. In modern conditions, the assessment of personnel costs and their subsequent optimization is one of the topical and priority areas. A reasonable approach to optimizing them leads, as a rule, to a reduction in staff turnover, an increase in labor productivity, and an increase in the company's profit.

Keywords: personnel costs, cost optimization, budgeting, staff reduction, employee turnover, labor remuneration.

Like any other process - be it a superficial analysis of the socio-economic indicators of an organization or an extensive study in a particular area - the assessment process involves identifying negative trends caused by any negative factors, with a view to possibly resolving these problems. In the situation of assessing personnel costs, the main task is the optimization process, which can be carried out different ways taking into account the peculiarities of the personnel policy of the enterprise, its financial opportunities and other aspects influencing the choice of the optimal technique. In modern conditions market economy organizations prefer not unconscious submission to circumstances, but conscious and purposeful management of the development of prospects desired for the organization.

Today, the issue of optimization in an organization is one of the priorities, and, as a rule, is considered from two perspectives:

a) management of factors that influence the results of decisions made in the field of personnel management,

b) control and analysis of operating costs and investments in human capital.

The first approach involves accurate accounting and calculation of costs and minimization of any kind of losses, such as productivity, time and other resources. The second involves some kind of investment in activities that help increase staff loyalty, interest and retention at the enterprise. As a result of the implementation of these positions, significant returns are expected from the staff, however, often received only in the long term, but at the same time providing the company with some degree of guarantee of success.

The process of optimizing personnel costs can be represented as a general or partial reduction, as well as a redistribution of costs in priority areas of personnel management that contribute to the development of the organization in the short and long term.

Within the framework of this type of approach, the following ways to optimize personnel costs in an organization are distinguished:

1. Staff reduction. Along with its simplicity, among others, this method is distinguished by the greatest radicality, which, on the one hand, to some extent guarantees a reduction in a certain share of the costs of paying wages and other compensation or incentive payments, but, on the other hand, can entail acute social problems. economic consequences in the form of a decrease in the level of staff loyalty, labor productivity, and so on. But, given that the dismissed employee should be paid severance pay and earnings for the period of employment, “the reduction in personnel costs in this case will be noticeable, at best, 4-5 months after the decision to make a reduction is made.”

As a rule, organizations resort to this method not only in a bankruptcy situation, but also as part of the adoption of the following management decisions, which are also aimed at reducing costs: mergers of organizations, acquisitions, introduction of organizational innovations, optimization.

One of the most important points to pay attention to is the ratio of the reduction in personnel costs as a result of its reduction and the losses that were caused by this procedure. However, organizations often see only “one side of the coin” in the form of obvious cost minimization, forgetting about losses. The organization's losses may be as follows:

a) direct costs associated with the release of workers;

b) indirect losses and costs for those who remain to work in terms of training and retraining;

c) social losses at the enterprise level, expressed in loss of trust in management;

d) problems at the societal level in the form of unemployment and its consequences.

There are many possible losses caused by contraction

personnel, and therefore, before choosing this method of cost reduction, it is necessary to determine how effective and appropriate its use will be in the specific situation, in which on this moment turned out to be an organization.

2. Combating staff turnover. Today, staff turnover is a phenomenon associated with fairly large personnel costs due to their selection, selection, hiring, adaptation and other processes accompanying the entry of a new employee into a new environment. And, without a doubt, those who say that staff turnover is considered a relative category will be right, and, as a result, cannot be considered as an absolutely negative phenomenon. At the same time, comparing the optimal level of staff turnover in diametrically opposed areas of activity, for example, in the field retail and production sector, the difference will be colossal, however, comparing the same indicators, but in a similar area in different periods and noticing that these indicators go beyond the established standards, we understand that the time has come to think about the possible reasons for the emergence of this kind of imbalance in organizations.

There are a huge number of reasons that can cause unhealthy staff turnover, however, as a rule, the following are the most common in practice:

- “workers’ dissatisfaction with their position;

Dissatisfaction wages, working conditions or organization;

Lack of satisfaction from the work performed;

Failure to complete assigned tasks;

Inability to make a career, lack of prospects professional growth;

Relationships with the team and management";

- “change of generations”

IN modern world The so-called theory of generations has gained great popularity, which, as it turns out, is reflected in the issue of the uncontrollable increase in staff turnover. The identified dependence is characterized by the fact that the younger generation considers work in a particular organization as one of the stages of their career, while the generation retirement age they equated going to work with “lifelong employment”, not allowing the thought of changing employer.

At the same time, as in the situation of reducing costs by reducing personnel, it is worth remembering the various types of costs that the phenomenon of personnel turnover entails.

The search for an optimal solution to the issue of unhealthy staff turnover must be based on the specific reason for its occurrence, and, if considered, the most relevant measures, also related to the issue of generation, come down to the following aspects:

- “creating an employer brand;

Searching for new sources of capable employees, for example, from different geographical locations, demographic groups;

Establishing constant flows of potential employees from educational institutions;

Establishing more competitive overall remuneration and conditions of employment, and more.”

It is worth noting that as a preventive measure in solving this problem, organizations increase current costs, further counting on reducing subsequent costs.

3. Attracting and retaining “talents”. The previously discussed issue of staff turnover, when examined in more detail, reveals a more critical problem, which is the departure valuable employees, so-called “talents” - specialists capable of creating, developing and promoting innovative products and services to the market.”

The reasons for the turnover of both “talents” and ordinary employees may be similar, however, in the situation with the first category of employees, the reason for the impossibility of realizing potential and further development comes to the fore professional opportunities. For this purpose, an independent direction in the field of personnel management was identified - talent management, which provides two approaches depending on the personnel policy and strategic goals of the enterprise. The approach “from position to position” and the approach “from person to person” At the same time, it is worth noting that the first approach focuses on creating personnel reserve; the second is aimed at identifying and developing the individual abilities of each person.

Skillful application of the presented methods is designed to reduce the costs of external turnover of valuable employees and increase the competitiveness of the organization.

4. Combating lost working time. The problem of lost working time is not so specific, but rather commonplace, with which both Russian and Russian citizens have been struggling for a long time. foreign companies. Like any other phenomenon, loss of working time can be considered from two points of view of possible regulation of an employee’s absence from the workplace: justified and unjustified. As in the case of “talents,” the study of the causes of lost working time and the search for optimal ways to reduce them are also reflected in a separate area called Absence Management. It is worth noting that the study of lost working time within this area must be considered in conjunction with indicators of staff turnover, since “an analysis of many studies shows that indicators of turnover and absenteeism are interdependent, since both phenomena are caused by the same factors. In many cases, employees initially exhibit high levels of absenteeism, which leads to increased turnover." Therefore, significant attention must be paid not only to establishing the causes of absenteeism, but also the associated costs, by assessing a number of criteria for direct and indirect costs.

5. Operational regulation of the number and quality of personnel. In the context this direction personnel cost optimization refers to the process of optimizing headcount, which today is one of the most popular cost-cutting measures in many organizations. By optimizing the number of personnel we mean reducing personnel, justifying the need to reduce the number, while simultaneously studying the cost of working time and identifying direct losses. Operational regulation of the number and quality of personnel, as opposed to personnel reduction, is carried out mainly where employees work on a flexible schedule. The peculiarity of this area is that a flexible schedule allows you to plan the work of employees with precise consideration of the beginning, end and duration of work of each employee. This kind of method is widely used in retail trading companies or call centers, where the ratio of clients and the number of specialists of a certain qualification required to serve them is built. Therefore, if during some periods of working hours there is a low demand for certain services from clients, then in these periods it is possible to attract fewer workers and not of the highest qualifications. This in turn makes it possible to reduce labor costs.

6. “Core - periphery” is another direction in forming the personnel structure. This method comes down to dividing personnel into two categories: the first is designated as the “personnel core” and includes workers who are distinguished by their high level of professionalism and whose knowledge in the labor market is highly valued due to its limitations; the second is designated as “periphery” - these are ordinary employees, to whom, as

rule can be applied various shapes temporary employment. This approach contributes to more informed and rational cost planning both in relation to remuneration and in the field of social programs and personnel development. First of all, this kind of method is inherent in companies aimed at training and developing employees who have unique knowledge and high potential, which will allow these employees to successfully implement themselves in the professional field, increasing their level and at the same time the level of the company.

Thus, in modern conditions, assessment of personnel costs with their subsequent optimization is one of the relevant and priority areas of interest to absolutely all organizations, be it a small, medium-sized or big business. At the same time, it is worth noting that, despite the existence of many proven methods for assessing and optimizing personnel costs, when choosing them, any organization must, first of all, refer not only to generally accepted and widely used methods, but also take into account its specific activities, its peculiarities in building a personnel management system, in accordance with which a balanced system for optimizing personnel costs will be built that does not cause damage to personnel and the organization as a whole.

Literature

1. Karpova, A.V. Technology of personnel development management [Text]: / A.V. Karpova. - M.: Prospekt, 2015. - 397 p.

2. Kerimov, V.E. Cost accounting, calculation and budgeting in certain sectors of the production sector [Text]: / V.E. Kerimov. - 8th ed., revised. and additional - M.: Publishing and trading corporation "Dashkov and Co", 2015. - 384 p.

3. Konyukova, N.I. Economics of personnel management [Text]: / N.I. Konyukova, O.S. Mezhova. - SibAGS, 2013. - 198 p.

4. Sharapova V.M., Sharapova H.B. HR forecasting

politics in a crisis // Economics and Entrepreneurship. 2016. No. 11-

4 (76-4). pp. 1148-1150.

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organizations: release of personnel //Economics and Entrepreneurship.

2017. No. 6 (83). pp. 885-889.

1. Karpova, A.V. Technology of personnel development management: / A.B. Karpov. - Moscow: Prospekt, 2015. - 397p.

2. Kerimov, V.E. Accounting of costs, calculation and budgeting in certain branches of the production sphere: / V.E. Kerimov. - 8 th ed., Pererab. And additional. - M.: Publishing and Trading Corporation "Dashkov and Co.," 2015. -384 p.

3. Konyukova, N.I. Economics of personnel management: / N.I. Konyukova, O.S. Mezhov. - SibAAA, 2013. -198 p.

4. Sharapova VM, Sharapova NVForecasting the personnel policy in the crisis conditions // Economics and Entrepreneurship. 2016. No. 11-4 (76-4). pp. 11481150.

5. Sharapova N.V., Sharapova V.M., Trushkov S.A. Personnel policy of the organization: the release of personnel // Economics and Entrepreneurship. 2017. No. 6 (83). pp. 885-889.

MODERN METHODS OF REDUCING PERSONNEL COSTS IN CONDITIONS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC INSTABILITY

Fomina Olga Ivanovna 1, Tselyutina Tatyana Vladimirovna 2
1 Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Belgorod State National research university", master's student
2 Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Belgorod State National Research University", Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Personnel Management


annotation
The article reveals the problems of reducing personnel costs in organizations in modern times, the state of the labor market and the “mood” of employers and employees are analyzed. The forecasts of Russian employers regarding the number of personnel for the next 3-6 months are considered. Modern methods for reducing personnel costs are identified and justified. Practice-oriented recommendations are offered to reduce personnel costs with the most gentle impact.

MODERN METHODS OF COST REDUCTION ON PERSONNEL IN THE CONDITIONS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INSTABILITY

Fomina Olga Ivanovna 1, Tselyutina Tatyana Vladimirovna 2
1 Belgorod State National Research University, undergraduate
2 Belgorod State National Research University, candidate of sociological sciences, associate professor of personnel management


Abstract
In article cost reduction problems on personnel in the organizations in modern time reveal, market situation of work and "mood" of employers and workers is analyzed. Forecasts of employers of Russia concerning the number of personnel for the next 3-6 months are considered. Modern methods of cost reduction on personnel come to light and proved. Praktikooriyentirovanny recommendations about cost reduction on personnel with the most sparing influence are offered.

Bibliographic link to the article:
Fomina O.I., Tselyutina T.V. Modern methods of reducing personnel costs in conditions of socio-economic instability // Humanitarian Scientific research. 2015. No. 12 [Electronic resource]..03.2019).

Transforming socio-economic and public systems societies are undergoing dramatic changes. World economic crisis has become one of the determining factors influencing the development of enterprises of all types, including in the multi-vector sphere of management. Crisis situation threatens organizations not only with economic problems and the loss of their position in the market, but also with the loss of qualified personnel, without whom it is impossible to effectively cope with the crisis. On the one hand, the rapidly updating world of technology and innovation, informatization and commercialization. On the other hand, an economic crisis is, first of all, a sharp deterioration in the economic situation of the country, manifested in a decline in production, disruption of established production relations, bankruptcy of enterprises, increased unemployment, and, ultimately, a decrease in the standard of living and well-being of the population. There is an intense struggle for leadership in global competition. Numerous interest groups face enormous risks of man-made disasters and threats to the natural and information environment. But the capabilities of modern personnel have never been greater. The winner is the one who uses new opportunities, technologies and strategies more decisively than others. In our opinion, it is important to ensure stable progressive development of the Russian economy, maximum protection of the population from the impacts of crises and, at the same time, steady and rapid renewal of all aspects of economic life - from the material and technical base of a particular institute, corporation, where the main element is the personnel working “in the organization and for the organization”, and, to approaches to the economic policy of the state.

During the period of economic instability in 2008-2009. The postulate has often been voiced that a crisis is a challenge, an opportunity to change something, an opportunity for a breakthrough. Considering the current situation in Russia, foreign and Russian economists “think differently”; on the one hand, this is very relevant; the strongest will certainly survive, thereby strengthening the economy and reaching the global level of production. Establishing a fixed oil price of 70-80 dollars per barrel. capable of stabilizing Russian economy, subject to the government making the right management decisions, says Leonid Grigoriev, adviser to the Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation. On the other hand, this statement no longer inspires optimism: the crisis is very serious and affects the political sphere. And now the most important task for enterprises is to think about long-term, strategic measures.

Today, enterprise management often moves from the anti-crisis category to the extreme category. That is why it is so necessary to put forward and use atypical schemes for managing production, sales, finance, marketing and personnel. With regard to personnel, as a rule, the only action taken is staff reduction in order to reduce personnel costs. However, in an effort to retain people, many enterprises prefer to reduce personnel costs rather than reduce the personnel themselves.

By its nature, a crisis can be sectoral, regional, countrywide, global, or an organizational crisis. Usually, if there is a crisis in a company due to ineffective management, employees quite easily leave this company and look for new vacancies on the labor market. If the crisis is sectoral, then there is also the possibility of moving from one sector of work to another; in case of a regional crisis, there are other regions in our big country. And during a national or global crisis, as now, employers and employees face more problems, and, accordingly, more complex solutions are required. And if an organization wants to stay afloat in such difficult times, then the task of HR directors and heads of functional departments should be reduced to the initiative to reduce personnel costs. The general approach to managing personnel costs is presented in Fig. 1.

Figure 1. Personnel Cost Management [compiled by the author]

According to the results of the PwC Saratoga study “Study of HR Management Efficiency”, conducted in 2013, the share of personnel costs, and this is not only wages, but also the costs of the social package, the costs of organizing workplaces, in the revenue of Russian companies averaged 10 .8%, and in certain sectors of the economy reached 44%. These are the most significant costs. It is obvious that it is absolutely impossible for a company not to reduce or optimize such costs in difficult times.

Modern methods of reducing personnel costs are shown in Fig. 2. The desire to minimize personnel costs requires, on the one hand, establishing a connection with the development and use of scientifically based economic methods their calculation, and on the other hand, improvement of methods for developing management influence. This circumstance indicates the relevance of the study of this article.

Figure 2. Modern methods of reducing personnel costs [compiled by the author]

Since 2005, outsourcing has been actively introduced into Russian companies. The advantage of outsourcing lies in the higher quality and less financially costly performance of the outsourced function. The high quality is due to the presence of highly competent professionals with extensive experience in this issue. Due to the large volume of work in this area, the outsourcer has the opportunity to receive good experience and on its basis create various developments to perform a specific function. This happens due to the fact that the outsourcer is engaged in this area for more than one company, i.e. professional specialization begins, costs are reduced, and ultimately an accumulation effect occurs: the greater the specialization, the better the management; the simpler the management, the cheaper the whole process. Consequently, outsourcing costs become lower than when performing a similar function independently.

Today, outsourcing is very profitable and is used in a wide range. This includes HR outsourcing and outsourcing legal services, outsourcing of accounting services.

Flexible work schedules, part-time work, unpaid vacations are the most important tool that should also be actively used today. This is a tool that needs to be implemented on an individual level and knowing well the life situations of each employee. Whether he's paying off a mortgage or has a child, he might be happy to accept flexible hours, part-time work, or unpaid time off.

Currently, unfortunately, remote access work is only gaining momentum in Moscow. You need to understand that the costs incurred by the company for organizing the workplace, lighting, and creating living conditions when an employee is present in the office are also expenses. Therefore, if an employee stays home and the company bears less costs, and for an employee this is still a good motivator. Therefore, it is imperative to monitor those positions that can be transferred to flexible schedules work. Today, changes are even being prepared to the Labor Code on the organization of this form of work.

A very promising tool is the use of student interns. For the company, such a procedure will bring only positive results: firstly, students are very motivated to work, despite low wages or no wages at all; secondly, the organization has the opportunity to free up the time of full-time employees to solve more important problems, and students can be entrusted with simple and time-consuming tasks that do not require high competence. And, perhaps, when the unstable time passes, it will be possible to hire students, since they already have sufficient knowledge for a specific position.

A very complex and important issue is the wage freeze. According to the report of Art. Rev. Alexander Larin, Faculty of Economics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Nizhny Novgorod, 65% of Russian enterprises “freeze” employee salaries during times of socio-economic instability. Russian organizations They rarely reduce wages in nominal terms. Even in times of crisis and declining business turnover, people try not to use this form of cost reduction. This is explained by the fact that employers do not want to lose their employees, however, fixing wages at a certain level ultimately leads to a decrease in wages in real terms, since inflation gradually “eats” them. For comparison, in the USA and Great Britain the probability of wage fixation is comparatively lower – 5-20%. In the EU countries, the most common situation in maintaining wage levels is in Portugal (58%).

Combining professions is another important tool. IN Labor Code It has been established that, along with the work prescribed employment contract, the employee can be instructed extra work, which he must fulfill during the main working hours (Article 60.2 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). And you always need to sell this idea to employees as an opportunity to get a different profession, learn other skills, gain other competencies that will definitely be useful to them in the future, when they become a step higher.

The topic of promoting a company on the Internet and creating a positive employer image is very modern and important. In the age of information technology, one of the most effective platforms for brand promotion is the Internet. Therefore, today the task is to do everything possible so that the company’s image as an employer does not decrease, but, on the contrary, increases. Social media- this is an obligatory part of the work that an individual employee must do, either dispelling myths, or, conversely, supporting what is positive that actually exists.

If, after all, the company’s possibilities for reducing personnel costs have been exhausted, then the company begins to think about reducing personnel. The formula “20:70:10” can help here. It means that 20% of the staff are key specialists, 70% are line specialists, and 10% are employees who do not bring tangible benefits to the company.

First of all, it is necessary to retain key employees; this is the basis of the business, the “backbone”. Their list includes top management, specialists with unique competencies that are difficult to find on the market (manufacturers, etc.), heads of departments (line management), specialists who own important and unique information of enterprises, personnel working with key clients, mentors, “carriers” of corporate experience and some others. Among 70% of line employees, it is necessary to conduct an unscheduled certification in order to assess the success of each person’s work, and then, based on the results of the certification, make individual decisions on keeping the employee in the company, reducing wages, transferring him to a lower position or dismissing him.

Compared to the beginning of 2015, statistics on personnel reductions in organizations have noticeably improved (Fig. 3).

Figure 3. Employers' plans regarding staff numbers for the next 3-6 months

In the first quarter of 2015, 45% of survey participants reported that they were planning to or had already begun to make cuts. To date, only 14% of employers report plans to lay off employees. There is a high percentage of those who do not intend to search for new employees and plan to open vacancies only to fill vacant positions (43% of respondents). However, 24% of companies plan to increase staff in the coming year.

However, there are also areas of activity in which noticeable reductions have recently occurred - this is the banking sector. Today, most services are available to the client through a mobile application or the bank’s website, which significantly reduces the load on offices. Banking executives often mention this when downsizing. The head of VTB 24, Mikhail Zadornov, for example, announced data that in the 3 quarters of 2015, the total number of transactions made through Internet banking increased by 1.5 times, and the total volume of transactions increased by 59%. He also mentioned that by the end of 2014 the bank would lay off 11% of employees (4,000 people throughout the country) and close 57 unprofitable offices. Earlier this year, other banks announced significant layoffs (table), with the main layoffs occurring in the first quarter.

Table - Personnel reduction in retail banks in Russia for the first half of 2015

In the spring of 2015, VTsIOM conducted a major study of sociological opinion on the state of the labor market in Russia. According to its results, about 1/3 of respondents believe that there may be delays in wages (37%) or a reduction in salaries (35%). Translation to incomplete working week 30% of respondents suggest being sent on unpaid leave.

According to the survey, Russians are most concerned about layoffs at work (of their loved ones) - with a certain degree of probability, 38% of Russians already expect this, of which 7% are definitely convinced of this or observe this. However, half of the respondents (50%) are still optimistic and believe that this will not happen.

Every fifth respondent (20%) firmly believes that in the future they will find decent job without any difficulties. A third of respondents (35%) think that with some effort, they will also be able to get a job that is in no way inferior to today’s. 27% of respondents see significant difficulties in finding a similar job, and only 12% think that they will not be able to find a job without a reduction in position or salary.

All organizations are individual and each method of reducing costs must first be well planned, analyze the results obtained, and then make a decision on implementation, or search for a more profitable method.

The crisis forces leaders to work in new ways. Special attention The manager must devote the main resource - his employees, using innovative methods. Only in this case will the staff feel the care of management and begin to work with full dedication, which will ultimately increase the loyalty of employees to the enterprise and will help mitigate the consequences of the crisis and overcome it.

 

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