Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Are You Really Saving By Cutting Back?


Recession, tighten our belts, cut backs, retrenchment and ‘batten down the hatches’. This is what we constantly hear and read in the media about businesses and the year ahead.

Does this mean we should all live in fear of loosing our jobs, expect prices to sky rocket and escape somewhere else? Does it mean we need to stop living the great Australian way of life and start sacrificing our leisure activities, cut back on the kids after school activities and save every spare cent? All this, whilst we work extra hours so our employer sees us as dedicated and for no extra remuneration.

Hang on a minute – we all deserve more respect than this in our jobs. Remember good people are hard to come by in any economic time. Isn’t the company’s best asset its employees? If businesses start loosing key people in their business where are we really heading?

Have we forgotten the investment that has already been made into the staff - recruiting, training, empowering and nurturing them? Our employees have years of knowledge and understanding of the business that can’t be documented and passed onto the next person. Now that the times are getting tougher is it not always the right decision to retrench or cut back on company benefits?

What should we be doing?
Michele and Silvana are the directors from LifeStyle Refocus; a Melbourne based Lifestyle Management Company. They recommend that we should still be looking after our employees so they don’t become disgruntled due to company cut backs. Investing in staff and looking after them is crucial in any economic time.

LifeStyle Refocus works with businesses in Melbourne helping give employees real work/life balance while still getting maximum productivity from staff. Silvana quotes “it is usually the small things we do for an employee that keeps them happy and content in their jobs – it is not always about monitory rewards”

We all appreciate being acknowledged and thanked for our efforts. Whilst at Christmas time our tradition is to do this on an individual basis, it is important to thank staff for their contributions on an on-going basis and as a team. Although economic times are tougher, employees still need to be acknowledged in some way so they don’t feel the need to move on once the market eases up.

LifeStyle Refocus can help businesses look after their staff by offering incentives and rewards. They also offer team building activities which brings employees together for a shared experience which is not only fun, but builds morale and team spirit. All the rewards and incentives are tailored to your business structure and culture.

Michele and Silvana from LifeStyle Refocus are proud of their business which offers staff incentives and rewards. Find out more about Lifestyle Refocus at
www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Michele on 0437 311 802 or Silvana 0417 595 744.

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