It is a fair bet that most chief executives are right now spending a lot of time thinking about costs and how to reduce them. This extended breakfast meeting was an opportunity to think about costs and how they might be reduced against the background of BT's experience of 'Cost Transformation' and some examples from the NHS.
The meeting acknowkledged that cost reductions will need to found, but that cost reduction can also be a catalyst for positive change.
Given the scale of savings that would be required over the next four years and longer, the meeting agreed that simple cost cutting would not be sufficient response to the challenge ahead. Spreading the pain as evenly as possible across the organisation or first targeting areas of high cost would not be enough. Neither would a strategy based on targetting short-term reductions or picking the low-hanging fruit.
It was accepted that it will also be about fully considering the long-term position and prospects: making decisions about where priorities lie; about what is or is not strategically relevant; and about what capacities, facilities and services will be essential or less so.
The breakfast, was sponsoreded by BT and organised in cooperation with the Northern Ireland Confederation for Health and Social Care along with the Forum. In summary it was a very useful and infomative meeting with those attending having the opportunity to learn about how others have viewed and looked to approach cost cutting in a structured way while taking full account of what the organisation is required to do and its strategy for achieving it.
The Speakers were:
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Contact
For more information contact Kim McKnight, T 02890 347400.