The Headcount Solution

At some point in their life cycle, most organizations will face a business crisis that requires drastic cost reduction, which often leads to downsizing. Often, company leaders believe that layoffs are the fastest way to shore up their bottom lines. But the way downsizing is typically carried out ignores the high costs associated with losing human capital--people who have critical business knowledge that is not easily replaced. In the desperate rush to cut costs, companies often dismiss the very employees who could have helped the business recover.

The Headcount Solution is the only book that offers managers both effective, cost-cutting alternatives to downsizing and the practical steps necessary to carry out unavoidable layoffs with fairness and compassion. Drawing on their years of experience helping clients restructure their businesses in times of crisis, N. Fredric Crandall and Marc J. Wallace Jr. explain the basic steps you must take to preserve your people and their skills, competencies, and leadership capabilities in order to put your company back on an even footing with the competition.

Reducing the number of "heads" in a company may meet short-term objectives but could drastically shortchange your organization in the long run. This groundbreaking book introduces you to a new kind of management thinking that will allow your company to avoid widespread layoffs and sustain a competitive advantage, now and in the future. You'll learn successful methods for retaining vital employees and keeping them productive--at a reduced level of involvement and compensation.