Is there an alternative to redundancies in the economic downturn?

While this may offer immediate relief, it can be expensive both in the short-term, with redundancy payment costs, and longer term through lost skills and experience, higher overtime, more out-work and so on.

I recently talked to a web carton printer who foresaw that in consequence he could have insufficient skills left with a disproportionate hit on quality and delivery performance.

But there are plenty of alternatives and I want to focus this column on ways to reduce staff costs without resorting to redundancies. My colleagues Linda Harrison and Chris Swirling, the BPIF HR advisors in the North West, have been working on this challenge with a range of companies.

Practical alternatives they have concluded include: agreed reductions in shift patterns and sequences; negotiated changes to break times; standardised overtime and shift premiums in line with Partnership at Work; annualised or banked hours; a total pay review (including benchmarking rates and roles in the local area); pay structure simplification; and agreement on across-the-board wage reductions.

None of these options is easy and the procedures required, including formal consultations, and legal implications including fresh contracts of employment are challenging. But in every case I have come across, there has been a responsible and realistic response from the workforce, who have recognised the seriousness of the situation and have been prepared to consider the lesser of two evils to avoid or minimise redundancies.

These may be daunting alternatives to the quick, if nasty, redundancy option, but the flexibility gained for the future and the commitment gained from the workforce by a more consultative approach will pay dividends.

Richard Gray is director of Vision in Print. Contact him at richard.gray@visioninprint.co.uk