The Tribune

Effective resource management is a priority for all companies seeking to maximise profit margins, retain top talent and increase customer satisfaction.

Resource management is the process of using a company’s resources in the most efficient way possible. These resources can include tangibles, such as goods and equipment, financial and labour resources, including employees.

Resource management can also include ideas, such as making sure one has sufficient physical resources for the business. An often-neglected aspect is ensuring the correct ratio of people are assigned to tasks. so that the workload is covered and individuals are not sitting around the workplace idle.

Everyone in the workforce can think of somebody who always seems disengaged, and not having sufficient to do during a given day. Even in those environments, where the claim is that companies are short-staffed, there are many whose contribution is so minimal that, if they reversed this position, productivity and efficiency would increase tremendously without any dent in the bottom-line. This brings into the conversation, then, the whole business of resource allocation and, more specifically, human resource management.

Resource allocation is the process of assigning and managing assets in a manner that supports a company’s strategic goals. It includes managing tangible assets such as buildings, equipment, technology and finances, but also includes human resources and the careful and calculated sourcing, selecting and recruiting of human capital. Resource allocation further involves balancing competing needs and priorities, and determining the most suitable course of action to maximise the effective use of limited resources and the best return on investment.

Companies who take the business of resource allocation seriously have begun to invest in technology sauch as Smartsheets, which give executives the ability to see who on the team is busy and who is not. With this information being provided in real time, leaders can make sensible decisions on delegation and assignment reallocation, thereby maximising resources and ensuring success.

Here, then, are three questions that leaders must ask this week in the corporate boardroom:

1. What can my company do better to ensure we are not purchasing on impulse, or without sourcing - through research - the most beneficial resources for the advancement of our company?

2. Are we making optimal use of the facilities that we currently occupy, or are we able to further maximide usage?

3. Is every employee in the company fully engaged with meaningful assignments, and/or what must we do to ensure every team member has work that helps in accomplishing our corporate objectives?

• NB: Ian R. Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com.