Cutting jobs may seem like the easy way out for companies in a downturn, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to save costs. But three firms show that there are other solutions when it comes to human resources management during tough times.
Reinforce staff skills with courses, upgrading
Boom-time for the building sector meant that the staff at Lucky Joint Construction hardly had the time to attend training courses.
Back-to-back projects for the firm, which specialises in building underground telecommunications networks, have kept all of its workers busy, until now.
'Yes, we are feeling the heat from the economic crisis, things are slowing down and there are also fewer projects available these days,' said managing director Yeow Kian Seng, 53.
'Going forward, we are also concerned with tender prices and rising bad debts.
'All these add up to a big headache for us from a financial point of view, especially when you consider that all our wages were already fixed before the downturn.'
However, the 32-year industry veteran who founded the firm in 1982 does not plan to retrench staff just yet, preferring instead to send them for training.
'We'll need to diversify our business for the future because once our current projects come to an end, our people must have the capabilities and proper certifications for other projects we may bid for,' said Mr Yeow.
'So this lull period provides us with the opportunity to send our workers for courses that may be relevant to our future in the construction industry.'
He said his staff will attend certification courses for safety officers and site supervisors. 'These will prepare them for different roles and help develop their individual skills.'
Lucky Joint employs 38 local workers for its management team and 131 foreigners, who work on projects mainly for its key clientele in the telecommunications sector.
Over the years, it has emerged as a market leader for niche projects involving fibre and copper cable installation and horizontal directional drilling.
The firm was one of this year's Work Life Balance Award winners.
Mr Yeow believes that work-life programmes benefit both employees and employers, and says Lucky Joint will continue to set aside budgets for worker benefits despite the volatile times ahead.
Redeploy workers to other departments
AS COMPANIES cut back on recruitment and human resource activities, HR consultancies such as Oti Consulting are affected.
'Business is slower. The turnaround of accounts receivables has also slowed as companies delay payments,' said chief executive Helen Lim-Yang, 43.
The firm, however, already has short- and long-term measures in place to help meet the downturn, such as reducing spending on office celebrations and year-end retreats for staff.
'By being creative, we can cut back on costs, yet still achieve our objective of celebrating with our staff to show our appreciation for the hard work they put in for the year,' said Mrs Lim-Yang.
For the long term, Oti has a flexible staff management system that ensures no one is left twiddling his thumbs on days when there are no projects to work on.
Staff whose workload is affected by the downturn are redeployed to other areas where more help is needed, said Mrs Lim-Yang.
'For example, consultants with relevant skills can be roped in to assist with business or product development activities,' she added.
Oti, which employs 34 people, also stands ready to 'tweak' its business model to deal with industry trends.
To do so, Mrs Lim-Yang says Oti has to ensure that staff keep up with changing demands.
'Our staff are focused on research to keep current with HR knowledge trends, so that we can be prepared to catch the upside once the economy recovers,' she said.
Retrain staff in other aspects of the business
EARLY childhood education is one of the few industries that are still booming and in constant need of staff - just ask Cherie Hearts co-founder Gurchran Singh, 35.
'At the moment, we are thankful that our business has not seen any major adverse effects as a result of the looming economic downturn,' said Dr Singh.
However, he is not resting on his laurels and neither are his staff, whom he sends for training all year round.
'We strive to equip our staff with a multitude of skills and abilities so they will be able to take on different job scopes within the company,' said Dr Singh
He also believes that training allows staff to be redeployed to positions requiring different capabilities and skills.
'Apart from the national early childhood training programmes, we also actively seek other relevant and pertinent training and skills development courses and workshops for our staff to participate in, such as business and communication courses,' he said.
He believes that better-skilled workers who are exposed to a variety of functions can help increase the productivity of a business and help maintain costs.
'Increasing operational costs is one of our concerns, and we are taking steps to maintain, if not lower, these costs by capitalising on economies of scale,' he said.
'We are also actively looking into continuous training and skills development to add value to our staff and to increase their employability.'
The childcare chain employs more than 480 workers and Dr Singh does not foresee laying off any of them.
'Even in trying times, we strongly believe that retrenchment should be considered only as the absolute last resort,' he said.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on December 10, 2008.
