Cost Cutting

Over last few months the employees at my organisation have been at the receiving end of various logistics decisions being taken (read cost cutting) .All this came into forefront today when the strategy meeting for our team transformed into a a verbal ding dong and everyone lent out their dissatisfaction at these cost cutting measures. Everyone had their say and suddenly the drab meeting came alive. All the zombies like me who were just patiently listening to the usual managerial jargon thrown at us jumped out of our places when the meeting digressed into discuss this. Seeing TT rooms being made into a makeshift workplaces, no dinner for people staying late etc are a few examples of these. Taking a cue from them, we started cracking jokes at possible measures in future. The cafeterias would actually reside the new joinees. The car parking areas would soon be made the server and mainframe.The coffee vending machines would be containing single toned milk,Switiching off the ACs during the day....Gosh ..what's scary is that some of them mite even get implemented.The issue of cost cutting has to be balanced to meet employee satisfaction and at the same time improving company's margins.

Taking an emotional stance cannot be justified on the grounds that we forget that the very existence of our jobs is a byproduct of cost cutting measures taken somwhere on this planet so we have to be reasonable to question the company's actions.The organsiation can do their bit to involve employees in decision making and having their feedback to formulate cost cutting measures.Collecting the actual data and surveys from employee on facilities required by them and which are secondary to them can bring in positivity ,if not any tangible solutions.That way the employee can themselves propose cost cutting ways(sounds paradoxical) .That would mean a whole lot of ideas and suggestions,however bizzrre they might be.Like one below:)

My Cost cutting proposal : Disposing off all the coffee and tea vending machines and substituting that with a nook residing the nukkad ka chaiawala :).