Preparing For An Upturn With The Right Staff

Wednesday 9 December, 2009

by Don Holley

Consumers are starting to spend money again and the banks are raising interest rates. Business is planning for an upturn in the economy and good preparation is the key to ensuring your company is at the top of the pack.

How prepared are you?

Recent studies have shown that less than one-third of organisations have invested in the development of a recovery plan that will take their business from the economic slump that has occurred over the last year through rebuilding and regrowth.
The recovery plan should include investment in a number of key areas in the business, but especially human resources initiatives. Employers could well be surprised by a spike in voluntary turnover just as they gear up for growth.
Many organisations have overestimated the level of employee engagement and, so, believe they are immune to staff turnover. Think again – not properly engaging with employees can mean that, as disgruntled employees leave for greener pastures, it takes the organisation longer to adjust as the economy recovers from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
Some key issues employers may face include:

• A return to talent scarcity
  
• Shortage of human capital
  
• Non-engaged employees leaving in greater numbers
  
• Companies ramping up their talent targeting efforts
  
• Organisational morale concerns

Employers can choose to address these issues as an opportunity for growth and development and take the time to implement a clear path for employees to work towards, which is built on teamwork, leadership, communication, knowledge utilisation and shared values.

Responding to change

Handled well, change can be a great inspiration for employees and set the business up to take on any challenge the upturn introduces.
Accepting the situation for what it is, being flexible enough to adapt to new circumstances places the organisation in the best position to take advantage of new business opportunities brought about by the upturn. Your organisation’s good work and excellent communication now will result in stakeholders buying in to your vision – and spreading the word about the strengths of the business.

Competency for change

The GFC has changed the role of human resources (HR); it has now accelerated and evolved from transaction management to change enablement.
People don’t naturally learn change - they let it happen. Building the competency to manage change, both within the human resources function and across line management, will be critical in moving forward. Some of the key competencies include:

• Being comfortable with ambiguity
  
• Creating a good implementation plan
  
• Setting the conditions for positive change
  
• Ability to use data to evaluate and adjust change
  
• Staying current with technology
  
• Seeing the whole picture
  
• Business savvy approach
  
• Resilient self-esteem

Be clear on what the organisation needs

It is easy to get sucked into the hype and rush into recruitment to ensure the business has a full complement of staff to welcome the upturn, but there is a risk, in haste, of ignoring the new IR laws – or worse still, employing and training the wrong people. Spend time planning a recruitment strategy that meets the business needs. Look for gaps in the company skill-set and fill those first in readiness for when everything picks up.
As part of this renewed recruitment strategy, clarify employee roles so each position focuses on outcomes, fits into the organisational feedback system, and outlines the employee’s involvement in future growth. Make it a priority to review all roles on a regular basis.

Defending your key people

When the market hots up again the organisation will need to look again at staff retention strategies. It’s fair to say that some companies may have taken their eye off this one over the past twelve months or so. This can be done by tailoring the value proposition for each employee, instead of offering a one-size-fits-all approach. Outline the organisation’s advantage over competitors – sell the vision to employees, as well as other key stakeholders, as they can provide the stability needed to take advantage of the growth in demand.
Develop a culture for feedback within the organisation and implement a performance management system which satisfies Generation Y staff – and the next generation who come after them. Generation Y thrives on feedback and want to check on their progress weekly, or even daily, and new strategies must be implemented to cope with this.
Other strategies to ensure business success by attracting and retaining the right people include talent planning, succession planning, talent mapping and implementing a shared services model, where processes and systems are standardised to ensure a consistent approach across the operation.
The economy is on its way back up again, so, if you haven’t already, use this time to plan recruitment to ensure the right people are in place and your organisation’s skill-set gaps are covered. Meet the new challenges of the upturn, instead of playing catch up when they happen, and your business will reap the rewards.

Source:ceoonline.com