Facing a Financial Crisis in Manufacturing: How Can HR Help Turn Things Around?

I am working in a manufacturing company that produces machines. Currently, our sales performance has declined, and the company is facing a severe financial crisis.

As an HR professional, I kindly request suggestions on what needs to be addressed. We have a total of 200 employees working across various departments including sales, service, quality, supply chain management (SCM), production, design, and administration.

I would appreciate any recommendations on how to improve the situation.

Thank you.

Sounds to me like the Sales Manager should be sacked first. However, I am cognizant of the fact that the world is in a bit of a mess right now.

Issues at play

However, there are a number of issues at play here. HR in relation to headcount is only one.

Management considerations

Management needs to look at a range of issues beyond the scope of this forum. For example, why the product you are manufacturing is not selling. This can include cost, quality, better competitive products, the competition in the space, etc. A thorough investigation into why the sales team is not performing is also needed.

Consultation recommendation

As Saswata has suggested above, these issues can only be investigated by an outside consultant who can take an unbiased and objective look at the organization as a whole.

When it actually becomes an HR issue, i.e., reducing headcount, come back to us with your questions.