Preparing For A Recession

By Rick Dacri, Dacri & Associates LLC

The economy is tanking. Everyone is talking recession. The question now seems to be how bad it will be. The Feds are scrambling. Economists are sending lots of different signals—none that are good. And business people are in survival mode.

While headlines focus on the U.S. economy, the rest of us struggle with running our businesses with all this news. Costs are increasing while, for many, sales are declining. Budget cuts on the state level are hammering human service providers. What’s an employer to do? Here are six strategies designed to both protect your business and to position you to weather the storm:

1. Protect your best employees: During these times, employees too are in a survival mode. They worry about their jobs. As a result, they become vulnerable to being poached by a competitor. Remember, in spite of the news, many organizations are doing well and are even expanding. They want and need good employees—your good employees. Take care of your stars. Talk to them frequently. Provide them with constant reassurances. Make sure their needs from a job, career and personal perspective are met. During tough times, you can’t afford to lose a high performer.

2. Double your supervisory training efforts: Many organizations pull back on their training when business is slow. They use this line item to reduce costs. Big mistake. Training is not a cost. It is an investment that pays immediate and long term returns. Management skills are learned. Skill development requires ongoing training, coaching, and a wide variety of work experiences. Now more than ever, you need your supervisors doing the right things. Well trained supervisors can take on more responsibilities, supervise more people, and produce better results. In fact, training for your entire workforce should be the norm. It just makes sense.

3. Make your expectations crystal clear: Never assume your employees know what they should be doing. You and your managers must be emphasizing what needs to be done and how it should be done. It’s one thing to discuss customer service, it’s quite another to highlight how to deal with an irate customer. And don’t forget to have clear accountability systems in place. Be clear about what actions and results are acceptable and which are not acceptable. Do this up front and you will avoid many problems and you will find your employees are performing to your standards. Remember, you get what you tolerate.

4. Refocus your performance management initiatives: When conducting your appraisals, emphasize employee development with a focus on the future. Too often we dwell on past mistakes. Unfortunately, we cannot change the past but we can impact the present and future. Work on growing your people. Help them to be successful today and to prepare for tomorrow’s challenges. When you accentuate the positive and provide employees a clear path to the future, they become more engaged, highly productive, and focused on your business needs.

5. Eliminate “show-up” pay: Just coming to work is not enough. Your pay program should reward productivity, service, and quality. During these times, you cannot afford underperformers. Take care of your producers. Drop this egalitarian notion that everyone should get the same pay. That fosters mediocrity. Pay for results. Pay focuses people like a laser—make sure it is rewarding the right things.

6. Communicate constantly: Timely, frequent, ongoing communication is a must. Keep your employees updated on the state of the business and focused on your corporate goals. Emphasize problem solving over blame; innovation over the status quo; and collaboration over going it alone. Remind people about why you’re in business. Make sure they see and understand the big picture.

No one wants a depressed economy. But, recessions do not have to mean hard times. While others recoil over the bad news, you can take advantage and move your organization forward. Use this as an opportunity. By shoring up your organization’s structure and bolstering your workforce, you can enjoy the good times sooner.

Rick Dacri is a human resource consultant, featured speaker at regional and national conferences, and author of the book “Uncomplicating Management: Focus On Your Stars & Your Company Will Soar.” Since 1995 his firm, Dacri & Associates has helped organizations improve individual and organizational performance. Rick connects with people in a positive and challenging way to offer practical solutions. He can be reached at 207-967-0837, or via email at rick@dacri.com