Whatshot

2026
All
September
2025
All
November
All
2024
All
June
All
April
All
2023
All
March
All
2022
All
2021
All
2020
All
March
All
February
All
2019
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
2018
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
2017
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2016
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2015
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
DHS
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2014
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
KZN
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2013
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2012
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All

Sprout Business Talk

Sprout Business Talk

Date: 2014-03-07
Times of late have been tough. Revenues aren't rising as quickly as costs in many instances as the recession has forced buyers to put pressure on supplier's to reduce prices. Few companies can sustain losses before they either need to get more investment, borrow money or, in most cases, cut costs.

Staff costs are typically the biggest component of a cost base. Care is needed to ensure that all staff are kept motivated when not giving increases or bonuses. This is often the easy approach as all are treated the same and all jobs are kept. This is counterproductive in my mind as the top and bottom performers are all treated same. It is then usually the top performers that feel the inequity of the blanket approach and lose motivation.

My preference has always been to retrench, as difficult as it is, rather than to cut the pay of everyone equally. The reason I say this is that the remaining team tend to feel insecure when there are pay cuts and you could lose key staff who value job security highly. You only want to go through one round of retrenchments if you can help it or insecurity will set in.