Leading in a Recession

FutureSense HR

As we continue to re-envision our future, the biggest question is, what’s next? What should we expect as it relates to our businesses? How should we coach and lead our staff now, and as things progress? Furthermore, how do we support so many of our staff who have never experienced work in a recession? 

Having survived the dot.com burst in 2000-2001, the impact of the September 11 attacks, and the Great Recession of 2008, I have learned how to adjust, examine expenditures, and leverage staff through tumultuous times. I know that with some reevaluation and planning, we can survive and even succeed. 

What should be included in your strategic plan as we face the new workforce and a strained economy? Outlined here are items to consider as we reopen in a recession and lead accordingly:

Expenditures – What do you consider cutting first? I recommend pulling up your current budget and cutting anywhere and any way possible. Most of you have already done some of this and made tough decisions. Successfully navigating this will require additional, sometimes harder, decisions. We don’t know what is coming down the road, so save our pennies where we can. Also, contemplate these ideas as you review your budget:

Space – How many of your employees can and will be able to continue to work remotely for the long haul? Do you need all of your space? Furthermore, do you need to provide snacks, coffee, and other free items? These are nice to have, but it is better to prioritize human capital than space and coffee. You even find the savings allow you to provide a budget for employees to buy their snacks at a discount as vendors also adjust their models.

Marketing and Advertising - It is imperative you review advertising and marketing line items. In this day and age with digital media at the forefront, pivoting the focus to social and digital marketing and advertising will not only reduce expenditures but will allow you to reach new audiences. Define the intent for this spending. Be creative, think out of the box. Even consider an app for your clients’ convenience. Ask for employees’ suggestions – you never know what the next brilliant idea might be. 

Professional Memberships – Life is going to continue to center around some version of socially distancing. Knowing this, many memberships groups are transitioning to Zoom and tele-learning. Make sure you utilize these expenditures properly. Does Joe in the next office need five memberships? Many of these memberships and groups are necessary for business and personal development. Each warrants a discussion with your staff to determine the return on investment (ROI) for themselves and the organization. 

Bonuses and Merit Increases – Do what you can to communicate bonuses and merit increase expectations now. We need to rally together and be as straightforward as possible. Most employees expect some impact on their incentives. Saying the hard part aloud helps to take the strain off your mind and theirs. Transparency with your team is key. If you cannot manage bonuses and merit increases for the foreseeable future, be direct with the staff. The goal is to keep everyone, but the reality may require some unfortunate sacrifices.

Training – This is a time to rethink training and development. Training is key to an employee’s professional development, team building, and overall culture. Start by quickly transitioning to Zoom, whiteboards, tele-learning, and more. Re-evaluate these expenditures and make sure you have the appropriate partners to do it. If you expect to be ramping up soon, this short lull may be an opportunity to get ahead of the competition and suppressed demand for your products and services.

Time Off - Ask for volunteers to take time off? This will help remove or reduce the PTO liability from the bottom line. If it is a slow period, this will make sure you don’t lose any productively. Craft your communications carefully. Frame this as a way to help people keep their jobs as you plan for an expanded future.

 After you have taken the time to reassess your budget, what is next? 

Leveraging the staff’s true talents – Assess and unleash your staff’s talent. There are always untapped skills, and this is the time to explore how to utilize them efficiently. As training and development gain new focus, create ownership grids, request staff volunteers for different projects, and look into professional talent assessment solutions. 

Supporting and Coaching Staff – Whether or not your employees have experienced a recession, support and coaching are a requirement for future success. Be available to your staff. It will take time and is worth the investment. Help people get over their fears and look forward. There are many adjustments required to work remotely successfully. Understanding new expectations and how to measure performance are just a beginning. You will see people increase the investment of their efforts and talents in your organization as you increase your support and coaching of them.

Now that you have started to get your staff on track, what is next?  

Partnerships – Reach out to each of your partners. Find out how they are doing and what is on the horizon for them. Provide ideas on how to best work together as each of your businesses grows over the next several months. Communicating your mutual success as a focus is key and may lead to something unexpectedly great. 

Mergers and Acquisitions – Due to these current economic conditions and stock market swings, companies will consider consolidations and expansions. Be open to these conversations, whether you are doing the buying or considering being bought or acquired.

Focusing Revenue – The first task is to ensure your core revenue, and more importantly, profit sources are supported. Those “cool projects” and passionately loved ideas will need to wait for a while. Strategically cut around the heart of your organization. This may mean ending an old product or service that clients love, but provides you with no real value. This may mean reassigning innovative and imaginative people to more tactical roles where their cost and expertise can be better justified. Make sure you have your foundation set then look to a different vision. 

Diversifying Revenue – With your foundation set, the most critical step is to look at your future business differently – with clear eyes. Consider throwing out the current budget and the strategic plan and determine where you have opportunities to diversify revenue fairly quickly. This is the time to consider all options and ideas. Get staff involved and use their individual and combined genius to define where this will take your business. 

We can all meet these challenges. We have done so before and will undoubtedly be challenged again. FutureSense HR is excited to help you forge ahead regardless of the economy. We will bridge the gaps in your resources through outsourcing support, OnCall expertise, or strategic guidance on the expansion of any of the ideas above. Call us today to discuss these topics, get assistance with your workforce strategy, or if you simply need to talk to an executive coach. 

 We are here to help. Contact us today at info@futuresense.com or 888-336-0909