E
mployers have gone through it before, and they'll go through it
again: An economic downturn. But this time around, Alberta is
the region being hit hardest.
So how are companies responding? And have they learned
anything from previous tough times? As is often the case, "it
depends." But there are commonalities among the approaches,
and best practices to be had.
There are really three options when it comes to dealing with
a recession, according to Andrea Plotnick, national expertise director, organizational ef-
fectiveness, at Hay Group in Toronto: Close your eyes and hope it all goes away; slash
and burn; or be strategic about the cuts and focus on post-recovery.
Not surprisingly, Plotnick is in favour of the latter, citing the late Steve Jobs' decision
to invest in research and development during a recession as CEO of Apple.
"What ended up happening was they emerged ahead of the pack and have stayed
there ever since, so they didn't lay off, they were disciplined about keeping people and
investing in people, despite the downturn," she says.
"Sometimes you need to take a little bit of a hit in the short term, recognizing it's for
the long term. But that requires, especially if you're a publicly traded organization, that
you very proactively engage the board ahead of time and you manage the message very
clearly ahead of time and you share, having some transparent processes with the board.
Really, the thought is what you do in the good times inoculates you in the bad times."
Are employers taking
the right cost-cutting steps?
Lessons
By Sarah Dobson
12/CANADIAN HR STRATEGY
from a
Lessons
from a
Lessons
Recession
Lessons
Recession
Lessons
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
