The cities were forced to consider downsizing because of several years of facing economic challenges in the county, along with shrinking population base, and having to cut down on budgets down to penny for the past month.
2 What are the positives of downsizing?
Some of the positives of downsizing were when salaries and employee costs were held down.
3 What are the negatives?
Some of the negatives of downsizing included decreases in productivity and morale.
4 What other difficult decisions did the manager need to consider?
Some of the other difficult decision manager needed to consider were: who must be laid off, how much notice to give these individuals, what amount of severance pay to provide, and how much help to give the laid-off employees in finding other jobs. The manager also had to weigh the impact on service delivery : would public safety be cut, if the city could still afford to provide quality-of-life services. Also which staff should layoff: last hired or first fired, on a 10% seniority basis. Also with the employees being laid-off, how many employees from which department needed to be laid-off.
5 Why was it a problem that a comprehensive downsizing plan had not been developed?
It was a problem because now cutback decision had to be made in short order.
6 What strategies did Ron Olson offer to deal with economic bad times?
One of the best strategies Ron Olson used for dealing with the bad times is preparing during good times by building up find balances, controlling spending, and putting one-time revenues into capital projects, rather than operations. Another strategy is to do a multiyear financial planning. This keeps me thinking about my city’s general financial condition and how today’s decisions may affect future years.
7 Audrey Seymour recommends to involve the employees early and often? Why?
Yes, Audrey Seymour recommends to involve the employees early and often. This