The room was in the conference world’s standard layout, the euphemistically named ‘cabaret style’ so that we could periodically break from the plenary proceedings into small groups to discuss pertinent issues. The first challenge was, I think, presented primarily as an ice-breaker so that we could get the measure of one another and limber up for the more focused and intense issues that the day would bring. The question, general though it was, was by no means an unimportant one. It went along the following lines – what can HR do to make a contribution to organisational success as we enter a recession?

I am sure you have been in a similar situation, it is the start of a day together; no one knows anyone else; and, having been given our orders, we all turn inwards and glance around the circle, quickly trying to weigh up whether to start the ball rolling or to allow someone else to make the first move. On this particular occasion, it was apparent to the rest of us that one of us, a man of almost as many years as the writer, was intent upon getting in first.

His body language sent a clear signal that he was about to launch forth and there was little that was likely to prevent him from having the first word. He hesitated a moment to give me a knowing look, as if to say, you’ll understand what I am about to say. But I didn’t!

His message was straight forward and unambiguous. I wouldn’t do anything, he said; there’s no point until we reach the bottom; only then is it worth taking some actions for the recovery; otherwise our efforts would be wasted. The reactions around the table ranged from bemused to incredulous – I was at the latter end of the scale.

I asked him, if he were on board a small yacht at sea and a violent storm blew up, whether he thought the best chances of survival lay in taking his hands off the tiller and leaving the boat to fend for itself in the elements; or in steering into the wind and the waves, battening down the hatches and making the boat as watertight as possible. I know which I would do!

My message for surviving – and prospering – in the downturn is simple. You may not be able to control the external elements, and they may seem to be overwhelmingly intimidating, but you can certainly control yourself and be nimble in reacting to the circumstances you find yourself in.

So, DO SOMETHING while others around you react to the situation by doing nothing. That way you will be the winner.

More about managing in the downturn is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

The Sunday Times reported the employees at the companies that appear on the Best Companies to Work For list:

“Employee engagement remained steady at 71%. Workers are still as committed and motivated as they were and some even more so. Although people are worried about job security they are not blaming their company for it. There will be winners and losers and, five years from now, the top 100 lists will be dominated by companies that have not just maintained but improved their employee engagement in difficult times.”

This tells me these companies have mastered the art of communicating necessary messages to employees while also inspiring and motivating employees.

Modern Survey is reporting the same results – employee engagement remaining relatively high because employees now feel fortunate to have their jobs instead of feeling entitled to their jobs.

“At least for the time being, these results suggest that the majority of employees are motivated to do their part to help the organisations they work for survive the current economic crisis. Those organisations that neglect their employees by failing to provide recognition or developmental opportunities risk losing people as the economy improves and other opportunities present themselves.”

It’s this final point that is most critical to understand. Even if you are showing increased or stable employee engagement levels during this recession, you must not become complacent in your employee appreciation tactics. Your people are your greatest competitive advantage. To position yourself strongly for success today and in the upturn, ensure your employees clearly understand how much you value their efforts and appreciate their contributions.

What’s the average engagement level in your organisation?

Provided by HR Zone

What’s Your Engagement Level at Work? is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

But some of the functions attached to sales – advertising and marketing, for example, might see their budgets cut.

Neither can a company survive without people, but the headcount almost always comes under scrutiny when business takes a dive. This usually means redundancies that not only damage morale, but divert human resources staff away from their focus of building a company’s talent base.

Job cuts, however, are usually only the start. Often finance chiefs will be seeking economies elsewhere in areas such as recruitment and training. Managers will be under pressure to leave some vacancies unfilled. Other areas of HR spending may also be affected. Employee satisfaction surveys, assistance programmes and human capital measuring could all be scrapped in budget cuts.

It’s difficult for chief executives to appreciate the long term consequences of such interventions when they have been charged with ensuring the survival of the enterprise.

Measuring, in particular, gains strength through long term analysis and comparability. How can a company know whether its management has improved year-on-year if it cannot compare employee satisfaction survey responses over time?

A reduction in training will make its impact felt in falling quality, poor decision making and future inertia. In the same way, a freeze on entry level recruitment will deprive the business of a specific age cohort moving through the ranks, leaving shortfalls in key positions sometimes years in to the future.

Some may argue that those positions could be filled from outside. But to do so is to risk changing the culture of the organisation on which it has depended for its past success. Perhaps the culture needs to change so such injections of fresh blood may turn out to be a bonus, but should any business present itself as a hostage to fortune in this way?

If HR expects and is expected to place itself at the heart of strategy it must be making a business case now for the continuity of its most important functions.

There may be room for cuts, particularly if HR heads have been prone to adopting the latest fashion picked up at a conference or from the last management consultants they engaged.

Human resources processes should be reviewed constantly but they should be scrutinised particularly strongly at the first sign of a downturn. A review should supplant any temptation to respond with a knee jerk reaction.

If there is no choice but to respond to declining sales with cuts in production, HR heads must be at the heart of such discussions, raising longer term concerns that may not have been appreciated by colleagues. Can staff be redeployed on prospective business projects? Would there be support for collective pay cuts, trading pay for jobs or short time working? Could some training functions be better undertaken by existing employees rather than outsourced training companies?

Staff whose jobs are in jeopardy will sense and appreciate the work of those who are capable of empathy with their plight. They will welcome, also, the best endeavours of HR to keep them abreast of changing circumstances. Good communications is vital when taking decisions affecting people’s futures. One of the worst aspects of some redundancies in the past has been staff hearing the bad news through the media.

If HR can do one thing in a downturn, ahead of any other function, it is to keep one eye on the future. One day there will be an upturn. A company’s fitness to meet the demands of that upturn will be measured on the fitness of its employees.

Managing In A Downturn – Part 3 is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

Large companies, however, prefer to launch new businesses in the fatter years, closing them, sometimes, as a panic measure when markets take a dip. I know this from bitter experience. But, in spite of my reluctance to start a business within the confines of a larger enterprise, I might do so to save my job.

The temptation of managements when confronted with a need for economies is to start hacking at the workforce. Cuts always seem to be made in neat proportions – 10 per cent here or five per cent there. It’s rarely 6.25 per cent. Yet every job is precious to the individual doing that job.

Suppose, instead, an employer takes a “people last” approach to cutbacks. If companies really believe that their people are their greatest asset, they would do anything to hold on to their employees, would they not?

We have to question the sincerity of such beliefs when we see swathes of employees loosing their jobs. But desperate times call for desperate measures and redundancy hit companies would argue they had no alternative but to part with staff.

Some, such as Landrover and BMW, had built whole shifts from temporary workers for just such a contingency. The use of temporary workers in this way makes sense if companies must plan for fluctuations of demand.

But can companies afford to be so arbitrary with skilled workers. Jaguar decided it could not afford to let go of its skilled woodworkers responsible for some of the finer features and veneers in its cars. Managers found alternative work for its carpenters building furniture.

If managers can’t think of projects themselves – and they don’t have a monopoly on ideas, after all – they can seek ideas from their workforces. Suggestions schemes have been running for years. They tend to be short lived and faddish. But such schemes can extend working lifelines to creative staff with great project ideas.

This is the time that businesses should throw away fashionable theories on “core and none core” business. Some of the world’s best businesses have grown from so-called none-core sidelines.

Nokia, the mobile phone company, began life as a paper mill that switched to rubber boot production, then cabling. It’s ironic that a company, making cables should find itself a pioneer in wireless telephony, but Nokia is a business that has developed a talent for spotting and pursuing innovation.

Most companies are not good at this. Many boards of large public companies, partially divorced from the day to day running of their businesses, become focused on buying and selling. Manufacturers, to their credit, tend to remain close to their products because innovation is a continuous process. A car company cannot survive without new product in the pipeline.

Sparing funds for new projects is difficult in a recession but start ups do not always need big cash injections. Many of today’s internet businesses have been started on a shoestring. Often they require nothing more than a leap of faith.

It’s surely better to let people try something new than keeping them on the bench – the term that is applied by companies who sometimes retain workers with nothing to do. Sometime there is no alternative to redundancy but every troubled company should see it as a duty to ensure they have explored every alternative first. Employees respect that kind of response.

Managing In A Downturn is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment