Report: Improvement found in management tactics, not layoffs

According to findings from Celerant Consulting’s Workforce Impactability survey, companies in specific industries can minimize restructuring and find significant bottom-line improvement by better organizing, monitoring and managing employee time.

Findings are published in a recent Celerant Consulting Perspectives report, “Saved Time, Saved Value: Impacting Employee Contributions Across the Organization.”

The survey showed that in the Energy, Life Sciences, Chemicals, and Consumer Packaged Goods sectors, some workforces are focusing approximately 50 percent of their time on non-value adding activities. For companies seeking to control costs, impacting these activities through tighter management strategies can reduce that percentage and result in savings as high as $100 million.

“The level of non-value add activity is high, but it is encouraging to note that much of that waste is impactable,” writes Matthew Marciniak, director of strategy and development at Celerant Consulting, in the report. “Time spent correcting human error, attending unnecessary or poorly organized meetings, traveling, and awaiting developments or approvals before taking next steps can be condensed or eliminated with the right processes in place.”

Covering the period from 2007 to 2009, the study analyzed activities of operators and supervisors on a day to day basis. Direct observation of 11,000 work hours of 208 subjects led to conclusions around how business can improve efficiency by extracting more value out of supervisors, performing tasks correctly on the first run, and promoting a greater end-to-end understanding of the organization.

For the full report and additional insights on industry issues, visit www.celerantconsulting.com/Research/ResearchPerspectives.aspx.