Flexible Staffing helps balance workloads

Lancaster Laboratories has always cross-trained staff to enable employees to increase their skills and work in areas where they are most needed. Recently, however, the practice has been formalized, and a Flexible Staffing Group has been formed to serve as home base for cross-trained employees who work in departments as assigned.
Kim Davies (right), manager of the Flexible Staffing Department, discusses an assignment with laboratory technician Nichole Underwood, who will be working on a large client project at their site in June.
According to Flexible Staffing Manager Kim Davies, the initial focus was identifying employees within the company with the appropriate skill sets. Seventeen employees were drawn from existing departments that typically see significant variability in workloads. Once these employees completed all necessary training, they were assigned to departments where they were needed to keep large projects on track. “As workload needs change, their next assignment might be in their original areas,” says Davies, “but they will remain part of the Flexible Staffing Group.”

With the addition of new hires, the department has a staff of approximately 30. Davies explains that her goal is to ensure that every employee in the group has the same training. She sets up training plans for all employees, monitors completion of each module, and ensures that they have the skills necessary to work in the area to which they are assigned. “I’m happy to see a concerted effort to have an organized process for moving staff. It makes employees more comfortable and allows the managers of technical departments to concentrate on meeting client needs.”

Technical groups are pleased with the new arrangement because trained flexible staffers can hit the ground running. To illustrate, pharmaceutical groups are gearing up for two very large projects, and Davies has been able to slate employees for slots
ahead of time. The designated employees have been trained and prepped for their roles and can get up to speed more rapidly than people brought in from the outside.

Davies notes that her former job as manager of the Pharmaceutical Project Management Group stands her in good stead in her new position. “I call on the negotiation skills I developed in working with clients when I’m juggling department and employee needs now.” Organizing the process of moving staff required other management skills as well. “Lots of paperwork,” she says, noting the department’s new standardized training process and performance management process that is consistent across the company. Summing up her recent experiences, she says, “It’s a challenge…a good kind of challenge.”

It’s easy to see the benefits of flexible staffing for everyone involved. Employees in the group develop a broader skill set, which adds to their value. The company controls costs by not having to add as much staff to provide excess capacity. Departments can cut down on overtime (and stress) required in handling peak workloads. And clients benefit most of all: They can plan projects with Lancaster Labs, knowing that they can count on the staff of Lancaster Labs to fulfill their project requirements exactly as promised.