Cost cutting | 3 ways to drive savings in HR

For many businesses, the pandemic has created extra pressure to find cost savings with revenue streams either drying up or uncertain. Cost optimisation is an ongoing critical concern. However, for HR, as with any function, the balance must be about balancing business value with any cost cutting programme.

There are also different schools of thought when it comes to cost cutting. For some HR functions, it will be about knowing what they can let go when they are asked. For others, it’s about building cost optimisation into ongoing strategising. “Successful HR leaders focus on cost optimisation as an ongoing discipline, not as a one-off exercise,” said Matthias Graf, Senior Executive Advisor at Gartner. “Cost optimisation strategies should look beyond cost-cutting and proactively promote options for immediate efficiency gains, while not compromising on long-term impact on business performance.”

To help with strategic cost optimisation, HR Grapevine scoured the internet for some of the most popular strategies – looking at why they might work. Read on below.

1. Automation