Tuesday, October 12, 2010

HR strategies in recessionary times

The recession is forcing companies to train their guns on employees- the biggest and greatest asset of a company. To put it short, it is like killing the goose that lays golden eggs. Poor farsightedness and lack of empathetic approach is forcing the companies, their HR managers, to act in a panic stricken manner.

First of all, two simple questions:

Is recession the end of all? Isn’t it the optimal time to do some soul searching, to break the rules and form new ones that are better tailored to meet the situation and overcome; even build on it?

In fact recession is nothing new to this world. It is how you cope with it that makes you a survivor or a perished. The first query is why there is recession at all. Like it is with every complex queries it has a simple answer- Human Greed! It may sound silly. But it is what every defaulter, banks and even the Governments who are hit by recession are swearing by.

To get rid of greed and complacency is no mean task.

The recession came as a jolting earth quake. In one day it toppled the entire world. The result was the loss not only of money and income but also of other vital human attributes like optimism and sense of security. In fact the loss incurred in terms of monetary value can be replenished. But the key to it is to restore the loss of good faith in the company and the entire system of capitalism which is a daunting and challenging task. To make it happen the HR managers have to carry out the humongous task of protecting, inspiring and motivating the entire staff.

“I never knew it was coming”

Yes, only a few predicted the sub prime crisis and the ensuing recession. They were a minority and were charged with pessimism. The fairies of capitalism were in their safe havens of private jets and seven star hotels planning their next holiday. They took the markets for granted and had to pay dearly.

Now?

Now that we are in recession let’s stop the situation from deteriorating further. How can it be done? By firing the staffs who are performing at below par levels ( which is what is happening) and re-distributing tasks to the ‘efficient’ ones? NO.

First and foremost, if the performance of a staff is below par it points to the inefficiency of the management at the top level. If some one is an under- performer he would not have been hired in the first place at all! He would not have been trained or retained!

Running business is like running an army. The soldiers in there have no choice, but to win. Similarly a business firm should survive at all costs. It should keep on winning. Of course there would be set backs. But as some one said, in a war it’s not imperative that you should win all the battles.

This piece of reality should not be lost on the HR managers. Even if someone under- performs, it is not that he has lost the war, but only a battle. If he has stood with the company during the ups and downs, now it is the company’s turn to stand by him, to protect him. And the key to motivation is the action of support (not words). Because if you just summon those under performers and tell them what the position of the company is, what it is going through and how it’s still trying to protect them it is very easy that the opposite idea is driven home. They may feel threatened and may even press the panic button. This will send the alarm bells ringing across the company and possibly a total break down of the system. In a few months the company would collapse, not out of recession, but out of a mis-communication.

So, what are those steps to be taken to motivate the entire staff and pull them out of the slump?

1. Don’t speak to your staff about recession! All The employees are over loaded with the info on recession and its impacts either from mass media or by word of mouth. The R word is the last thing that they want to hear from their management. Here the management is supposed to bear the total pressure of recession.

2. Cut the salary and perks enjoyed by the management cadre! The CEO can think of showing up for work in simple dress commuting on a bicycle rather than in safari suit and Benz! This would send clear signals to employees at the lower rung. They will be aware of recession in its most simplest terms. Yet they won’t panic since their benefits are kept intact. In such a situation there would be no asking of perks or pampering. This simple single act can release tons of energy and optimism into the veins of employees. They may even opt for voluntary pay cuts. These new waves of energy and enthusiasm will help to bridge a new bond between the employees and management and what more, it will even shoot up the productivity.

3. Reset the targets! When the productivity heads north and the employee morale goes up there is one simple thing left to do. Perch up the targets. There would be voluntary offers from the part of employees to work overtime. But before that the management should ensure the managers would sleep less and eat less and work harder and harder. Being in the driver’s seat is not always a cushioning experience.

One thing is clear: Unless there is focused and sacrificial initiative from the management cadre, it would be difficult to tide over the current crisis.

As published in: http://www.saching.com/Article/Three-Simple-Strategies-to-Curtail-Recession---By-Rakesh-Neelakandan/1809

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