Tackling the Declining Economy's Effect on Your Organization

The economy this. The economy that. Economy, economy, economy. OK so we’ve heard a lot about the declining economy. But guess what? We have to deal with the consequences this declining economy has caused on organizations.

Like many companies, Banner Health had experienced organizational challenges that were imposed on them as a result of the turbulent economic times.

Banner Health had a slowdown in the fourth quarter. Their revenue was impacted. They’ve experienced layoffs, undergone cost cutting and needed to remap their processes in order to ride the storm. The economy forced them to look at things that have been on the drawing board for some time.

They were forced to streamline and execute programs and initiatives. They really analyzed programmatic and operational costs and reinvested in training development by having internal leaders run the initiatives. On the learning side of the business, Banner Health underwent major consolidations with third party vendors and discovered they produced a better product by merging. Because of the revamping and process mapping, Banner Health eliminated waste within the organization, which made them much stronger and allowed them to keep to their promise of making a difference in their employee’s lives and careers so that they can make a difference in the lives of others.

Though the economy wreaked havoc on companies, Banner Health found ways to stay afloat. Employees were given the opportunity to suggest ways to reduce cost, minimize impact and help create productive strategies for the organization before it became detrimental.

Robin Hollis, Senior Director, Learning and Development, and Janice Ganann, Senior Director, Executive Talent Office for Banner Health, discuss with Human Resources IQ how the economy has affected their bottom line, what they have done to keep the company profitable and how they have kept their promise to their employees and patients.