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Make Your Organization More Efficient Resource Center
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Talent Acquisition

Top 3 Ways to Make Your Organization More Efficient

Every business is trying to become more efficient, productive and

cost-effective. In fact, reducing expenses is a top priority for

three-quarters of company leaders, according to a recent Deloitte study.

How are you contributing to this effort at your organization? Here are

some steps you can take today to increase efficiency and reduce

expenses:

1. Streamline complicated processes

Unnecessary processes are a major source of inefficiency for many

organizations. It’s crucial to identify the problem before crafting a

solution, so use the steps below to root out inefficient processes:

* Identify your company’s core competencies to set the stage for a

discussion of key processes.

* Map out and measure your current workplace processes.

* Ask yourself, what would be the ideal state of efficiency for each

process?

* Research efficiency benchmarks for each process to determine if your

expectations are realistic—industry associations and peer benchmarking

groups can be good sources of information.

* Investigate the least efficient processes and determine how they need

to change.

* Create a list of specific action items for making those changes

happen.

As you consider options for improving inefficient processes, you might

think about outsourcing as a solution for some tasks. For processes

that are necessary but not part of your organization’s core

competencies, outsourcing may be the most efficient solution. For

example, a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that “organizations

that retain payroll, workforce administration, time and attendance and

benefits administration in-house spend on average 18% more than those

that are outsourcing.” Relying on an outside vendor for certain

processes can free up your workforce to focus on adding real value to

your business.

2. Upgrade outdated systems

Technology can play a major role in your organization’s efficiency—for

better or for worse. Whereas outdated technology can hold you back,

embracing technological advances can propel you forward. How can you

determine where obsolete technology is holding you back?

* Make a list of the technologies you use.

* Include the date the last time each was updated.

* Determine if each technology is still working well for your

business.

* Identify the time and cost savings that could result from upgrading

each technology, balanced against the cost of upgrading.

* Spend some time investigating the replacement technologies with the

highest potential to make a positive impact.

An example of a standard, essential business process that can benefit

from newer technology is tracking employee hours. A surprising number of

companies still do this manually. But optimizing this process can lead

to huge time savings. For example, the staff at the Nashville

Sounds, a minor-league baseball team,

previously spent two full days collecting paper timecards and compiling

all the data. By switching to an online time and attendance

application

and digital time clocks, they can now transmit employee hours to their

payroll system in just 10 minutes. That’s almost two days of staff

resources were reclaimed by a targeted technology upgrade!

3. Make information easily accessible

Trying to gather key information from other people wastes an average of

36% of an employee’s day. While playing phone and email tag is

inevitable at times, there are ways to make sure more information is

readily available to the people who need it. Follow these steps to

identify what information needs to be accessible:

* Determine what sort of information your teams need on a regular basis

to make decisions or get work done.

* Find out whether they are able to access that information quickly and

easily.

* Decide if there is an easier way to make that data available, and if

there is, how to do so.

* Create a set of defined action steps to make it happen.

Some members of your organization need certain information to do their

jobs or make decisions, such as overtime data or benefit enrollment

numbers. Consider implementing a web-based reporting

solution

that allows them to access data and create custom reports on the fly to

enable them to be more efficient.

Other members of your organization might want to be able to access

simpler information, such as their work schedule, time-off requests or

pay stubs. Using a mobile

app that makes all

of this information available to employees from their smartphones is an

easy way to make sure they are getting the information they need

quickly, securely and efficiently.

By implementing some of the simple solutions listed here, you can make

your organization more efficient and help move you towards your goals.

*For more tips, download our whitepaper Doing Well with Less: How to

Address 5 Common Workplace

Inefficiencies

Sources: Deloitte’s Senior Executive Survey, PricewaterhouseCoopers’

“The Hidden Reality of Payroll and HR Administration Costs,” Payscale