When Less Is More: Managing Human Resources With Reduced Staff

The effects of the struggling economy are being seen in the human resources field, just as they are in other fields. HR departments are experiencing -- and will continue to experience -- significant pressure to do more with less. Only a rare organization will see the current environment as an opportunity understand the implications for HR departments and programs, and act with decisiveness and foresight. The implications of these lean economic times are clear. The ranks of human resources professionals are being reduced at a time when their workloads are increasing and their skills are more in demand than ever. Remaining staff, therefore, will have to do more with less. Possible approaches, used alone or in combination, include simplifying HR processes and programs, improving efficiency and outsourcing complex or one-time HR projects and technical design tasks. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]