In the simplest terms downsizing is an exercise undertaken under a well thought out plan to prune the workforce to its minimum optimal level. Metaphorically, it is nothing but the art of corporate sculpture. Just as a sculptor needs a tool, the chisel, for carving a rough mass of material into a shapely figurine, corporates or business enterprises also employ certain `tools' to ensure proper downsizing.
"I began a revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I'd do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and a plan of action," declared the longest serving president of any country in the world, Fidel Castro of Cuba (courtesy: "New York Times," dated April 22, 1959.) Legendary war heroes like the Mongolian Emperor, Chengizkhan, and the French Emperor, Napolean Bonaparte, also have a series of landslide military triumphs to their credit, engineered and brought about by armies that were largely outnumbered by their enemies. Their achievements are practical illustrations of the fact that, for a team to achieve success in any activity, it is not its largeness that matters, but it is its competence that counts.
So it is for any business unit too. For a business enterprise to be successful, it is not the bulkiness of its HR population that would matter, but it is the expertise and capability that would count, however small the team may be. Hence, any prudent team at the administrative helm of a corporate would naturally bestow every thought on this aspect of keeping up the `right size' of the workforce. |
