Whether the market is bullish or bearish, you can always find ways to control labor costs. Consider these suggestions:

1. Set up a bonus system rewarding individuals for project profitability as well as for the utilization rate of staff under their supervision.

2. Establish individual productivity goals (for instance, utilization rates), and tie them to regular management reviews.

3. Shift job cost reporting, billing, and so on to a secretary who does these as a part-time collateral responsibility.

4. Assign collateral duties to everyone (have people make their own photocopies, blueprints).

5. Reduce employee education costs by hiring speakers for in-house seminars rather than sending staff to outside programs.

6. Use high school or college students as part-time workersfor routine tasks like filing and deliveries.

7. If someone leaves, fill the position with two part-time people. Part-timers will cost you less and afford you greater flexibility.

8. Use part-time people so you can adjust staff to fit the work- load and increase productivity. (Full-timers waste 90 minutes a day; part-timers waste 5 minutes.)

9. If you’re not fully using your administrative staff, sell part-time support services to other tenants in your building.

10. Don’t have a retirement policy. Keep people working as long as they want.

11. Put principals back to work on the boards.

12. Reward people for perfect attendance. Sick days are expensive.

This is an excerpt from PSMJ's free ebook Finding, Recruiting, and Keeping the Best, which provides advice from the A/E industry’s most successful, forward-thinking HRs leaders on how to grow—your people, your leaders, and your business—in this global economy.