December 14, 2024
As we move further and further from the warmth of early fall and into winter we’re noticing more frosty mornings, a more enjoyable warmth to the afternoon coffee, and the constant threat of colds and flu. While there’s plenty to love about our New York winters, there’s no doubt that it makes getting into an office near impossible some days. Even when the roads are clear, there’s always a chance of office mates calling in sick.
In general, there are two types of absences that businesses can expect to experience among their employees: planned and unplanned. For planned absences backup can be arranged, assuming that someone is both willing and able to find a suitable replacement, train them, or just find someone to cover aspects of their workload for a short period of time.
Unplanned absences are almost always categorized for the inability to prepare for them in advance. However, we at GLC have always seen this as slightly short-sighted. Even if we don’t know when they will happen, we can say with absolute certainty that they will happen. Unfortunately, we also know that the planned absences often only result in a slightly better transition to someone being out of the office.
Anyone who has ever waited on hold while calling an office where the receptionist has been out for three days can tell you: being short staffed, or forcing staff into positions they are not trained for, creates nothing but headaches. For the GLC Business Services’ commitment to excellence, that simply isn’t acceptable. That’s why we build preparation for all absences right into our contracts. From a holiday dash for PTO to a sneeze that threatens the IT department, any necessary replacements are covered.
We keep District Associates (DAs) trained and ready to support our clients when the available staff cannot manage the workload productively. These personnel, along with many of the regular staff members assigned to our client offices, are meticulously cross-trained so that any lag during absences is minimal. The added training allows those assigned to an office to stay efficient in every process. Meanwhile, our DAs are able to move and float between clients and positions as needed, regardless of when they are called into action. Our goal is to keep offices running smoothly and professionally regardless of the circumstances, and that does not change when an employee is out.
Over our years of experience in professional settings we’ve noticed that without the power of available back-up, offices too often fall to disorganization when faced with unplanned absences, or absences that span longer periods of time. In some scenarios there’s a possibility of calling a temp agency, which might result in getting someone to fill in the next day, or possibly the day after that. Once the space is filled, the temporary hire can either provide the courtesy of filling a chair and flashing a smile, or they will need training on the finer points of fulfilling the demands of the position. The latter, of course, requires more time and company resources even if it does lend itself to a better end result for company productivity.
Our back-up personnel are not only cross-trained for such eventualities at no additional cost to the client, but we also arrange for them to be familiar with our clients before they are needed at various sites. We send them out to meet our teams, to get to know the company’s culture, dress code, the nuances of their unique business needs, as well as the positions that they may need to know at the site. Many professional service firms require background checks and clearance levels to be able to get into their buildings and access areas, such as the mailroom and records room, which must be handled with sensitivity. We make sure our staff fills those requirements up-front, so that there is no hold-up when the office is in need.
John Falco, CFO, says “The focus is to cover everything without a blip. The model of Consider It Done extends to all eventualities so that we can answer the question before it is asked. We don’t scramble for a solution; we already know what to do when someone asks ‘what are we going to do’?”
We call the high performing members of our teams “champions” for a reason, and that is because we require a lot from those serving in our partners’ offices. We have high expectations for productivity and attention to detail. That is why we are so committed to recognizing the work of our teammates who stand out, because we know the effort they put in.
Focus, effort, and passion allow us to support offices while you do what you do best: run your business. Our job: remove any hurdles to your doing that, support your revenue generating staff, and let you Consider It Done.