How To Reduce Costs, Not Efficiency In The Workplace

Many businesses, whether they’re a startup or all-ready established, need to reduce costs somewhere. So if you have reached the point where you need to make cuts it’s important they’re done in a smart way.

This means cutting costs and not efficiency. We don’t want to affect output or cut the workforce, we want to be leaner, meaner and better at making money. Here’s some ways to do that.

Buy second hand

There are some things you can buy second hand to save money, especially when it comes to office equipment. Need a new printer? Try to find a second hand one that’s in a great condition. What about office desks? These don’t need to be bought brand new and can save you quite a lot of money – especially if you need multiple desks to kit out your office. 

As long as you’re careful – and the items you buy are in a good condition – then second hand goods are a good way to trim your costs. Why pay more for the same thing? 

Bring things in house

If some staff have seen their workloads reduced and you have outsourced any jobs, bring those back in house. There’s little point paying an external contractor when you have people on the wage bill who could fulfil those duties as part of their employment. You’re paying them anyway, so why not? It’s always good to regularly review outsourced costs anyway since this is often something that can be trimmed back by using more efficient use of your in house resource.

Invest in health and wellbeing 

Now we know the word ‘invest’ may not sound very cost-reducing, but there are some areas where spending money can help you save – and health and wellbeing is one of these areas. According to research, 90% of employees have admitted to going to work while sick. There are many downsides to this. It can:

• Can cause their quality of work to slip
• Can infect other members of staff (reducing your team and their quality of work)
• Store up worse problems for the long term.

According to that research, 54% of people said they go into work while ill because “they had too much work to do”, followed by 40% of people “not wanting to use a sick day” and 34% of people saying they felt “pressure from their employer”. Investing in health and wellbeing changes the conversation. It’s about treating your perople as an important asset and recognised that looking after them leaves happier, healthier workers who will deliver more – and better – work in the long run. 

Be organised 

Yes, being organized can save you money – quite a bit actually. One great example is by filing your taxes on time. Staying on top of this helps you to avoid any penalties. After all, the IRS can give you some steep fines if you are late submitting your W-2 forms, for instance. In fact, you could face a $50 fee per late W-2 form – so it pays to be organised and get them filed by the deadline.

Get organized, look after your workers properly, use your in house resources properly and invest in second hand equipment and you’ll be able to run a smoother, more efficient ship in your business.