In an anonymous opinion piece, one former employee explains how a reduction in expenses destroyed productivity and morale. Mark down another incident for the law of unintended consequences.

The following quote comes from the Adventures in IT column in Infoworld:

Here’s the kicker: Because analysts and admins were now employees of different vendors, we were forbidden by our respective management to speak to each other directly. All communication was to be done via the tracking database in the tickets that were created by the out-of-state help desk. Since most of us were physically located in the same complex, it was an extremely frustrating situation. There were several times when an issue would come across our desk and we could see the guy at the other end of the cubicle farm who could resolve it, but we were forbidden to take it to him directly.

On the one hand, there’s a certain beauty to a business operation that is so efficient and cleanly segmented that it can be completely outsourced. But as The Methodology Blog documented during Remote Work Week, shifting tasks so they occur in different locations is more complicated than writing a memo. Management might reduce costs, but how much will savings increase frustration and negatively impact employee success?

The story from Infoworld refers to an IT department; however changes in productivity and stakeholder satisfaction due to cost cutting occur in virtually every department. If your organization is thinking about reducing expenses, consider reaching out to Slaughter Development. We help companies make sure that cutting costs does not lead to an unexpected decline in productivity and satisfaction.

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