Reducing costs is a challenge for most organisations. Some of the issues being faced by large and medium sized organisations are :
- Senior management set the cost reduction targets for every department or business unit based on a organisation wide objectives; not necessarily addressing the true drivers of service performance. Often managers feel better results could have been achieved for the business unit, department and the whole organisation if there was wider consultation prior to the targets being set in stone.
- Once the targets at the business unit or department level have been received , there is often very little time to implement the changes. Hence, arbitrary criteria are used to decide where the cost reductions will happen. As an example: The level of customer service to a whole market segment may be reduced because it is "too hard" and it "takes too long" to figure out how to offer varying levels of service to different customers based on the profitability of each segment...and there may not be 'enough savings ' if we do that!!
- Change management issues that impact on people are seen as a necessary evil and the common assumption is that the "HR change processes" will be enough. Alternatives are seen as too tifficult and too difficult to control; holistic Change Management approaches that of engage a wide group of people to create additional value while being transparent about the business circumstances are therefore not executed.
The end result is that costs are reduced only in the short term (they return with passage of time as economic condictions return) and the workforce adopt a "wait and watch" attitude rather than supporting and working towards the common goal of making the whole organisation sustainable in both boom and bust cycles.
This website provides an overview of Dowling Consulting's Service Excellence Methodology to achieve sustainable cost reduction that engages the workforce while delivering business results quickly. In our experience this helps to address many of the issues described above. The methodology is executed using numerous proprietary templates, examples and most importantly...our collective experience of executing Service Excellence engagements with clients from a broad range of industries.
For more information please contact Sudipto Sarkar on sudipto.sarkar at dowlingconsulting.biz .
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