A gig worker is considered “on the bench” when they are not engaged in a project or generating revenue for the organization. In project-based roles, there are periods during the lifecycle when a worker transitions between projects, creating bench time for the resource.
Maintaining a benched workforce can be beneficial, especially in offshore IT services, as it ensures quick resource deployment for new projects. However, during project ramp-downs, an unchecked bench size may lead to layoffs and reputational risks. In high-cost regions, sustaining a bench is often impractical. Since it adds to expenses, organizations should optimize bench size, keeping it below 5% of the workforce.
Conversely, industries like AEC often experience fluctuations in bench size due to the sudden ramp-up and ramp-down of projects. As a result, organizations may need to maintain a larger bench, but resource managers must ensure efficient deployment to prevent excessive cost pressures. Additionally, companies can use this opportunity to future-proof their workforce by equipping benched employees with the latest skills through targeted training programs.
In this blog, we will learn more about bench time, its impact on employees and organizations, and strategies for minimizing it in your firm.
What is Bench Time?
Bench time refers to the period when employees are not deployed to any billable work and remain unoccupied, either due to a lack of project demand or internal allocation gaps. If bench time is significantly high in a firm, it leads to lower employee productivity, attrition, billable losses, and reduced profitability. Thus, organizations must take corrective action to keep bench time at a minimum and maximize billability.
Let’s now look at why bench management matters and how it can add value when done right.
Importance of Bench Time Management
When firms actively manage bench time, they can optimize resource utilization and reduce financial losses. Instead of leaving employees on the bench for a long time, managers can strategically deploy them to projects by bringing forward timelines or training opportunities to upskill them. This approach not only maximizes the billability of the resources but also minimizes overhead costs.
Beyond cost savings, effective bench management improves workforce planning. If employees are frequently sitting on the bench, it may indicate gaps in project allocation or hiring strategies. Addressing these issues proactively helps prevent under/overstaffing, creating a more optimized workforce. Furthermore, training on-the-bench resources helps upgrade their competencies, boost employee satisfaction, and increase retention rates.
Now that the definition is clear, let’s see an example for bench time to understand it better.
Example of Bench Time
Think of a financial analyst in an investment firm who just wrapped up a major client project. While waiting for the next assignment, the analyst sits on the bench without billable work. The organization, during this time, incurs billable losses as the resource is not bringing in any revenue.
Instead of leaving the analyst on the bench, the resource manager can involve them in strategic business development tasks such as market research, mentoring junior employees, or assigning them to skill development programs. This way, the analyst will be engaged in tasks and will get new learning opportunities. Thus, firms can strategically optimize bench time to prevent revenue leakage and ensure none of the employees are sitting idle for too long.
Let us now move on to the impact of prolonged bench time in firms.
Impact of Prolonged Bench Time
There can be a direct impact on both employees and organizations if some of the resources are on the bench for a longer period. Let’s explore a few:
Impact on Employees
Given below are a few issues employees can face while being on the bench for a longer time:
Skill Deterioration
When employees are on the bench for extended periods, they are likely to notice a gradual decline in their knowledge, expertise, or abilities. This occurs when their skills are not consistently applied in billable projects. As a result, they may become less competitive and unprepared for future revenue-generating responsibilities.
Read More: What is Skill Development? 10 Best Strategies to Build a Future-Ready Workforce
Career Growth Stagnation
Without active projects, employees miss opportunities to hone their skills and expertise. This often leads to skill obsolescence. Moreover, limited exposure to projects makes career progression slower. Over time, this can reduce their ability to qualify for leadership roles, resulting in career stagnation.
Low Employee Morale
When employees remain on the bench for too long, they may feel undervalued and disconnected from work. This can lower employee engagement and motivation over time. As a result, their productivity may decline, which will ultimately affect their work quality and delay delivery deadlines.
Read More: Signs of Low Employee Morale and How to Course Correct
Increased Job Insecurity
If employees remain on the bench for a prolonged time, the fear of losing their jobs becomes profound. Since they are not bringing in revenue, the company may see them as expendable. Therefore, a feeling of job insecurity may seep in and demoralize them further. This can have severe repercussions on their long-term engagement and retention.
Impact on Organizations
Listed below are the few problems faced by firms due to prolonged periods of bench time:
Capacity Wastage
When employees remain on the bench instead of being allocated to billable work, their expertise and potential go untapped. This reduces overall workforce productivity and hinders business growth. Moreover, prolonged bench time can result in higher operational costs, as companies must pay salaries without gaining any revenue gains.
Higher Attrition Rates
Employees who stay on the bench for too long may start looking for opportunities elsewhere. They assume the company doesn’t value their expertise and start feeling unappreciated. This triggers them to exit the firm in search of better pay and job stability, resulting in higher attrition rates.
Read More: 10 Effective Strategies to Combat Unplanned Attrition in the IT Industry
Missed Business Opportunities
When firms lack oversight into benched resources, they fail to deploy them to appropriate pipeline projects. As a result, they experience a short-term skill shortage, limiting their ability to take on multi-faceted projects. Without clear visibility into people-on-the-bench, organizations might overlook available talent, leading to missed opportunities and potential client losses.
SAVIOM’s People on the Bench report provides valuable insights into available resources waiting to be assigned to a new project.
Revenue Loss and Reduced Profitability
Bench time directly affects a company’s bottom line. When skilled professionals remain idle instead of being deployed to billable projects, the organization continues to pay salaries without generating a return on investment. Thus, if bench time isn’t managed correctly, it affects the cash flow and puts the company in financial strain.
Read More: What is Billability and How to Calculate It?
Now that we know the impact bench time creates on both organizations and employees, let us see the strategies to reduce it on the firm.
Effective Strategies to Reduce Bench Time in a Firm
It is essential to reduce bench time in every firm as it directly impacts profitability. Let us see a few detailed strategies to learn how to reduce bench time in firms.
Align Hiring Strategies with Overall Business Goals
When there is higher project demand, firms tend to hire employees in bulk without a clear strategy. This leads to a higher bench count when the firm fails to deploy the new recruits to other opportunities when the initial project ends. To tackle this, managers can focus on aligning hiring strategy with overall business needs to ensure the right quality and quantity of resources are recruited.
For example, a consulting firm anticipating multiple client projects over the next year can adopt a phased hiring approach. Instead of recruiting a large team upfront, they can onboard consultants in waves based on project start dates and skill requirements. This ensures that resources are efficiently utilized, reducing bench time and aligning hiring with business objectives.
Forecast Pipeline Project Demand and Address Capacity Imbalances
Organizations must foresee upcoming project demand and analyze internal workforce capacity to identify resource gaps. This analysis allows managers to address excess capacity with corrective action and prevent employees from landing on the bench. Supervisors can proactively bring forth project timelines or sell extra capacity at discounted rates to minimize bench time.
For example, a construction company with an infrastructure project in the pipeline can assess its workforce and equipment availability in advance. If excess capacity is detected, project schedules can be adjusted, or surplus resources can be temporarily allocated to maintenance work or smaller projects. These measures can help reduce bench time and maximize workforce efficiency.
Read More: What is Capacity Planning? An Ultimate Guide for Business Efficiency
SAVIOM’s Capacity vs. Demand bar graph enables managers to quickly identify resource excesses/shortages with minimal effort.
Promote Resource Sharing Across Organizational Boundaries
Organizations can break down silos and ensure that employees are utilized across functional units. This approach provides employees with an opportunity to expand their knowledge and gain hands-on experience. Simultaneously, it allows firms to deploy employees to multi-faceted projects and enhance their billability. This helps reduce bench time, ensuring resources consistently contribute to the bottom line.
For instance, if an IT company faces a temporary slowdown, skilled engineers from one unit can be reassigned to assist in process optimization or product development in another department. This approach minimizes the likelihood of resources landing on the bench while also ensuring that they are engaged in meaningful work.
Foresee and Manage Ramp-Down Activities
Managers should proactively anticipate projects reaching the ramp-down phase and identify resources that would be rolled off. Such foresight gives them sufficient time to forward plan billable work or training activities to keep the resources engaged. This way, managers can prevent employees from landing on the bench and sitting idle.
For example, a pharmaceutical company completing a major drug development project can anticipate the ramp-down phase and identify researchers and lab technicians who will be rolled off. To keep them engaged, managers can allocate them to upcoming clinical trials, involve them in R&D for new formulations, or enroll them in specialized training programs to prepare for future projects.
Read More: How to Balance Ramp-Ups and Ramp-Downs in a Project?
Provide Multi-Skill Building Opportunities
Businesses must offer multi-skill building opportunities such as cross-training, job rotation, mentorship programs, workshops, retraining/upskilling sessions, etc. This enables employees to gain broader skill sets beyond their core competencies and seamlessly shift between different tasks or roles.
This flexibility allows employees to remain engaged and productive, reducing bench periods significantly. For instance, in a manufacturing company, a machine operator trained in basic maintenance can step in to support the maintenance team when needed. Without this multi-skill training, the operator would most likely remain idle, waiting for machine-specific tasks to arise.
Let us move on to see how resource management software helps in bench time management.
How Can Advanced Resource Management Software Optimize Bench Time?
SAVIOM’s advanced resource management software helps project-based organizations maximize the workforce’s potential and ensure successful delivery. Furthermore, its comprehensive suite of features allows firms to minimize bench time and maximize business profitability. Let’s understand how:
- The all-in-one resource planner provides multidimensional analysis that allows managers to view employees across different dimensions like role, availability, skills, and location. Thus, it facilitates competent resource allocation.
- Its embedded capacity planner helps you identify demand gaps and prevent resource excess, thereby minimizing bench time.
- Next, the intelligent matchmaking feature helps reduce bench time by assigning the right resources to suitable project vacancies at the right time and cost.
- Lastly, the early warning feature alerts every project manager and helps them take course-corrective actions before any resource issue escalates.
Key Takeaways: Additional Tips for Effective Bench Management
As we know, it is important for all firms to manage their people on the bench to maintain profitability. Here are a few additional tips for effective bench management:
- Keep benched employees engaged with short-term internal projects that add value while refining their skills for future roles.
- Firms can encourage knowledge-sharing sessions and mentorship programs where experienced employees can guide those on the bench to make them future-ready.
- It is essential to motivate employees on the bench to participate in certification programs and take up industry research to enhance their expertise and keep them competitive.
- Managers can create project simulations that will contain scenarios and real-world issues that help benched employees to learn and prepare for upcoming assignments.
- Lastly, firms must implement rotation programs that will move employees across different roles and projects to expand their skill sets and minimize idle time.
So, how are you turning the bench time into an opportunity for growth and readiness?
The Glossary
Read More: Glossary of Resource Workforce Planning, Scheduling and Management
