Watch for these Red Flags!

Every aspect of business can impact on human resource requirements. In getting to know your client, watch and listen for the following red flags.

Business Strategy
Major shift in corporate direction
Rapid growth/alliance/merger activity

Industry changes/new sources of vulnerability
Sale/succession plans
Lack of customer/business focus

Business Results
Loss of key customers/major lines of business
Reduced responsiveness/stagnation/decline
High labour costs/temporary employees/recruitment/dismissal
Compliance issues, Dept. of Labour, WCB/customer requirements

Organizational Design
Excessive management time solving internal problems
Micro-managing, lack of employee self sufficiency, levels of bureaucracy
Poor job and accountability design, overlapping duties
Uneven workloads, overwork/underwork
Poor workflow, process bottlenecks

Staffing and Employee Productivity
Changes in top and senior management
Generally high employee turnover, absenteeism, WCB costs
Poor quality work/high error rate/rework
Interdepartmental and employee conflict
Poor performance is not being addressed
Misused and/or underutilized resources (especially technology)

Work Environment
Major changes in organization culture/political changes
Re-organization(s), redefinition of work
Low morale/burnout/stressful
Initiation and/or ongoing implementation of technology