The Recession Survival Guide – It’s “Trade-In” Time

Ok, we’re in a recession - it’s official.  So fear and panic are evident in decision-making and mostly we see people frozen in place.  Waiting to see what happens.  And not driving results.

Do you know who in your organization will get you through the downturn?  Look around.  Your top performers are still driving results, taking on new responsibilities, trying new things, improving your current processes, cutting expenses, suggesting new ideas, challenging outdated thinking, doing work on their own time, solving problems and accepting the reality of the current market without making excuses. Anybody not doing this is just wasting your salary budget.

Sadly, most performance review systems don’t really identify the people you need most, because what it took to succeed last year is not necessarily what it takes to succeed right now.   In these turbulent times, you might need more people in one department and less in another, or you might suddenly need people with very different skills.  There is nothing like a downturn to shine a bright light on your mediocre people.   So if you can’t tell who to keep and who to cut, you might be tempted to follow the herd and implement a hiring freeze, or just be sluggish in hiring (which has the same effect).   Except here is the problem.  A hiring freeze locks in place your mediocre performers and prevents any better people from getting in.    Big mistake.  

This is the time to freeze the budget, but not the people.  It’s “Trade-In Time” – when you can finally afford to replace your underperformers with winners.  I’m astonished how good the candidate pool is right now - the best in over 10 years.  Our searches are completing faster than ever, with bigger, more robust candidate pools.  Salary negotiations are going easier.  And January is going to be even better.   You can still hold the line on salaries while vastly improving the caliber of your workforce – and you’d be crazy not to take advantage of it while it lasts.  This job market is so good now you can hire a star to replace 2 mediocre people, saving money now and strongly positioning you for the recovery.

Before you get frozen in place waiting to see what happens, grab your organization chart and call me for a ”Talent Appraisal.”   It’s not a performance review, or a lengthy process.   It’s a fast, cold, clear eyed view of who will ensure your survival next year.  Call me, and I’ll tell you how it works.  And yes, you can afford it (actually, you can’t afford not to).