Staffing Your Facility Within a Budget

The April issue of Aquatics International has an article titled "Creative Solutions." It takes a close look at the importance of having well trained, experienced and qualified staff at your center, and yet the difficulty of keeping that standard within a budget. There are some great potential solutions, and I recommend you read the article:

http://www.aquaticsintl.com/2012/apr/1204_salary.html#.T6AedrNDx2A
 
It probably won't surprise you that the first idea suggested was to eliminate overstaffing. I almost skipped over that section because it was too obvious, but then I checked my ego and went back to see if there was some new or creative detail that I may not have considered. There was something...

Again, it sounds a little common-sense, but the first thing that you should do is figure out how long every procedure and task takes. From there, you will have a much better idea of how much time your staff needs to be working to get the job done. That is not necessarily a novel idea, but I think it may be one that is overlooked frequently.

It is surprising how much a small task can add up to a large wage over the course of a month. Here is a really good example:

A while ago, Information & Energy Services Inc got together with Sempra Energy (a leading utilities provider in California) to conduct a test on Heatsavr, the liquid solar pool cover. In addition to the energy savings that were seen, they made a very important note in their analysis:

"The labor savings are calculated as the cost of two employees at $10 per hour who will clock in 10 minutes later each morning and clock out 10 minutes earlier each day, for a total of 1/3 of an hour saved per employee per day. We feel that 10 minutes to remove the cover and 10 minutes to apply the cover is a conservative estimate. The labor savings translate to approximately $6.67 per day, or $200 per month in reduced labor cost for the facility."

If using a plastic pool cover on a daily basis can add that much to your staffing costs, you have to start considering alternatives. That is one reason Heatsavr is so appealing. There is no extra time for application - it is all automated. It also works 24/7, as opposed to only when your pool is closed. So, by using a liquid pool cover, your facility can save money on heating costs, conserve water and the cost of water, and reduce their staffing costs by automating a daily task.

Win-Win-Win.

For more details on where you can find a supply of Heatsavr, email [email protected] with your City and State. I'll help you out!

Again, I strongly recommend reading the full article in Aquatics International Magazine, because they truly do offer some impressive, creative solutions to managing your staffing costs.