With an eye on cash flow, small businesses say they are not eager to add back jobs just because business is getting better, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. In the article, firms say they are cross-training employees for new responsibilities, hiring contract or temporary workers on an as-needed basis or dividing tasks that laid-off workers performed among remaining workers.

 

We’re seeing the same in the distribution arena. Among MDM readers that responded to a survey for a January Webcast, many have employed "functional consolidation," which is when remaining workers take on tasks that laid-off or retired workers leave behind. This happened mostly in the first six months of 2009, says Webcast speaker and HR management expert John Salveson, co-founder and principal of Salveson Stetson Group, focused on executive search in human resources, sales and marketing, finance and general management.

 

But he says that distributors and manufacturers should take care when, for example, not filling a position that may be strategically important. "A position like that is so important and has so much risk associated with it, you have got to be very careful that you’re not cutting off your nose to spite your face," Salveson says.

 

If you missed it, a transcript and downloadable recording of the Webcast, Managing Talent for the Recovery, is now available in the MDM Store. Order now. Or just order the transcript.