Working Smarter – not Harder Part 2

Recently, I heard about a corporation paying $20,000+ for hosting of a simple file server for clients to access as needed. What’s equally sad about this is that they have staff on hand that could have orchestrated a much cheaper option that worked twice as well. They pay for the fastest connection possible and have their own data center but pay tens of thousands of dollars for a simple file server!

I witnessed another corporation recently that pays a contracted company to deliver their mail, act as the receptionist in the mornings and afternoons and ship out the mail at the end of the day. While those are great services, they are paying a premium for staff to do just this but not fully utilizing these staff. They have their own staff that stock supplies, call for copier service, stock paper and toner for printers and arrange for a service tech to fix their copiers and printers. Managers spend their time trying to track down who fixes what. Do you fix my copier? Where do I get toner for the printer?
Both of these are examples of situations where corporations could be working smarter and saving some much needed cash in these trying times.

In many situations, jobs go undone because someone hasn’t filled in the blanks. Sometimes, there’s higher savings by combining all these services through one contractor. Other times, it’s better to spread those out under one department head, having one person keep track of who does what as the primary contact.

In each situation, it’s best to have someone an independent consultant evaluate the return on investment for each situation honestly and forthrightly.

Have you ever wondered if that copier sales person really knows best what you need or is he just trying to pay his car payment? Or perhaps that staffing representative is paid on commission and their only thought is how they are going to pay their bills this month. Or the Office Manager who is proud at all she’s done. She’s overwhelmed and doesn’t want to fix what’s not broken. Not only that, she doesn’t want to admit it could be better.

You could eliminate all this frustration by hiring an independent consultant to come in and fully evaluate how things are currently being done. The best thing about an independent consultant is there’s no commitment. If you don’t like the ideas, you don’t have to launch them. However, if you like the ideas, you find you can actually save money and work more efficiently, everyone is happy.
Big or small, every company can stand to learn more about working smarter. Instead of having all employees working into overtime, tired, exhausted and over-worked, you could have employees who enjoy their work and have time and energy to do it well.

Ruth Incorporated is ready to start helping you save. The choice is yours so when will you start working smarter?