What Would Your Company Do With 200,000?

For most companies, 2022 made its debut with a host of challenges, some new, some just amplified, that have made allocating funds feel more like an auction block than a spreadsheet. Which need is screaming the loudest? When staffing shortages, supply chain delays, new hiring standards, employee health costs, and changing rules in the online sales environment all need your attention at once, it’s hard to know where to begin. Many businesses have resorted to a survival mentality rather than planning to thrive.

But what if you were handed $200,000? Would you know where to apply it? This is arguably the better problem to have. Of course, short of winning the lottery it is unlikely to happen spontaneously. However, the money may already be there, hiding in your current budget. Many companies have fallen for the falsehood that resources are finite, that adding to one pile means taking from another. In the midst of the Great Resignation, no one can afford to cut corners even more with their employee benefits and production needs to be maintained to stay afloat. But this type of thinking is limiting and blocks innovative ideas from taking hold and if you want to survive in 2022, it is time for innovation. 

If you want to know where to find $200,000 in your budget, read on.

The truth is that many companies leave money on the table by allowing their most valuable asset, their employees, to suffer. Employees who are on their feet all day are taxing their personal capital, their bodies and their level of productivity, without any way to replenish it. The result is a higher rate of workplace injuries, reduced levels of productivity, and lower morale. Companies spend thousands, if not millions of dollars every year on worker’s compensation, efficiency experts to raise productivity, and empty-feeling employee appreciation efforts (pizza party, anyone?) but completely overlook one simple fact: if you could improve how employees feel, both physically and mentally, you could lower employee health costs while raising productivity and morale. Don’t believe me? Here are the numbers in black and white for 350 employees who make $15/hr: