At the next committee meeting, the Accounting Department stated that they also needed another person for data entry.  The department employee count had been reduced by one when the economy started to slow down.  Business was picking up, and the current staff couldn't keep up with all of the data entry.  It was taking a couple of days to enter information.  On top of that, more and more time was spent answering phone calls from employees wondering if various orders had been shipped or received.  In addition, people were starting to make mistakes during data entry.   The result was a decrease in customer satisfaction.  The Accounting Department had a great case for adding someone to help out.

Once again, Bob asked how much this person would cost.  He then shared how his old company added scanning and handheld devices to warehouse and manufacturing processes.  This eliminated the need for Accounting to enter the data, because it (data) was entered directly into the handheld devices.  Accounting still performed the update process to ensure accuracy of data.  The results?   Customer shipment accuracy was increased, receiving functions were accomplished more quickly, and everyone had the right information at their fingertips to ensure on-time delivery to the customers.  Customer satisfaction increased.  So did profits, because of the increase in sales due to higher customer satisfaction.  They were able to increase business by 20% before considering adding additional employees.  The committee decided to contact their software vendor to investigate their options.  Once again, the purchase could be spread over three years and would cost less than hiring another employee. 

The Company's management agreed to the change.  They had been looking at another system that had all the bells and whistles, but the cost was very high.  Management was also impressed with how the recruiting issue had been handled.  As you can guess, productivity increased, errors decreased, and customer satisfaction skyrocketed!  Bob was starting to see The Company for which he had always wanted to work start to live up to his expectations!

Bob now had the committee's attention, and they started looking at other ways to improve internally.  He started sharing how his former employer had a performance review system tied to corporate goals.  This increased productivity even further, by about 5%.  Turnover was also reduced by 14%, since employees felt more valued and knew what was expected of them.

To be continued........