The Ghosts of Past, Present and Future

In Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” it took visits from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future to get Ebenezer Scrooge to change his ways. This is the time of year where we all go through a little of that as individuals and as businesses. Productivity tends to wane in these last weeks of December (at least productivity as defined by output per worker or labor hour). But there are also qualitative aspects of productivity such as creativity, teamwork and innovation. While those may be harder to measure, they can certainly impact a company. So as our minds wander let’s turn our attention to those and think about what was and what has yet to be. Can’t you just about hear the chains rattling?

Reflection and introspection are common human activities at this time of year. You look back and evaluate what went well and what you want to change. Was this a good year for you? Here at Insource this was a big year. We launched a new corporate image and new website. We encountered tremendous growth and continue to build a customer list that would be the envy of most companies. We saw some new faces come and some old faces go. Did we do everything right? No, but we learned from our mistakes and we will be stronger as a result.

A less celebrated, but equally real aspect of the holidays can be fear, and depression. The holidays can stir emotions in people that you wouldn’t expect. Perhaps because there is so much introspection people start to think about the future and what it holds for them. Businesses react in the same way. Sure we have a plan for next year and I am confident it is going to be another great year here, but there are still some unknowns we are all facing.

There are signs that the economy is turning, but that can be good or bad depending on your situation. If demand is coming back for your products are you going to hire more people? What if the turnaround doesn’t stick, then what? You certainly don’t want to just lay off those that you hired. But how do you deal with the variability? Many of the employment projections indicate that the fastest gaining labor category is Temps, but just because that is a common solution doesn’t mean it the best one.

How about the impact of the new healthcare legislation? Do you fully understand how that is going to impact you? Do any of us? Do you have a plan? A lot of companies, including those in the staffing industry, are spending a lot of money fighting these proposed changes; asking for exemptions, looking for loopholes, etc. How does their plan potentially impact yours? How do you project labor costs with all this uncertainty, what is going to happen if none of this comes true? What is going to happen if all of this comes true?

Ok, now you wake up…and in this story there is no ghost of the present. It is here and it is upon us. We can look around and see where we are. With full awareness of what lays ahead (uncertainties and all) and clarity of where we have been we can make the right decisions. We can make the changes we need to make and we can all become stronger though our evaluations, analysis and planning.

Throw back the curtains, look outside. It is a beautiful day and it is yours for the taking.

And so our story ends just as the Dickens tale: “God Bless us everyone”

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and best wishes for a successful new year!

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