Human Resources Issues for Senior Management
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/605961
CANADIAN HR STRATEGY/15 "The organizations that do the best post-recovery are not just the ones that focus on operational ef ciency, they're the ones that also think about strategic investment." There are de nitely individuals available on the market who wouldn't otherwise be available, says Angle. "Ruling out strategic hiring decisions in an economic down- turn is not a good idea. You want to make sure that you're con- sistently getting the best people available in the market, and it may in fact be a time that people who otherwise would not be available are available." It's about employers identifying the critical and pivotal roles needed to maintain stability and competitive advantage, says McNelly. "It is the opportune time absolutely to really re ect on the organization's succession planning model, on their current tal- ent and really to determine whether they need to make chang- es even now. They may nd that they want to go back to the talent pool that's out there and identify some of those high per- formers that may have been unilaterally cut." This can also be a good time to focus on training and devel- opment, says McNelly. "When an organization's engaging in workforce reductions that are quite drastic, where you have more than 10 per cent of the workforce being reduced, that's a time that you really need to focus on T&D for the existing employees," he says. "T&D is critical to an employee's engagement because if they feel like they're being asked to do more with less, and then not get paid more for it, their engagement will go down… and their productivity decreases." Employee engagement cannot be forgotten in all of this, says Plotnick. "(It's about) that sense of 'We're all in this together, we're all feeling the pinch, we're all rolling up our sleeves and doing something about it, including the top of the house, and we're doing everything we can to preserve jobs, preserve talent, po- sition ourselves — do all that kind of stuff.' And the more you do that in the good times, the more goodwill you have in the bad times." And leadership should step up, focusing on fairness and transparency, she says. "This is not the time for the CEO in particular and other leaders to be holed up, it's the time for them to be visible and out there and communicating with people." Make sure to remember to thank teams for what they're do- ing, recognizing their efforts, and to acknowledge it's a tough situation and there could potentially be an impact on their earn- ings through variable pay plans, or whatever the case might be, says Angle. It's about creating a "we" environment and framing it so people understand there's still long-term opportunity in the organization and this is a blip, she says. "Strategically communicate within the organization and communicate if there's investment being made elsewhere, or 'Here's the measures that we're taking to get us from this spot to that spot' and 'Here's how we think this is going to help us in the future.'" time period, how long will that be?'" OTHER COST-CUTTING MEASURES Other cost-cutting measures include reductions in compensa- tion, perks and incentives, says McNelly. "You would see typically a 10 to 15 per cent premium on sala- ries in Alberta versus equitable positions across other sectors and other countries — that's gone, so that premium is no longer there anymore," he says. "We are still on the higher end of compensation for some of these specialized elds in oil and gas, but the jobs aren't there as prevalent as they were before. So while there may be a premium, you're not going to see those high incentives, high perquisites, high bonuses, time-off provisions, things like that — you're going to see those go away." Across-the-board pay cuts or salary freezes could cause top performers to look elsewhere, so it's about being strategic and making sure you understand the impact of every deci- sion, says Angle. "Are you willing to lose the top 10 per cent of your workforce based on this?" Instead of freezing salaries, employers could consider freez- ing matches, she says, to "get a little bit more creative where it's not going to be as immediate as a hit or (employees are) not going to see the hit every single paycheque." Employers might also consider cuts to bene ts, such as health-care, vacation or pension plans but, again, it pays to be careful, says Angle. "Bene ts coverage is something that people feel person- ally connected to, so it's personal for all of the employees. So I would say you have to do some pretty in-depth review of who ultimately this would impact and how important those individ- uals are to your organization." Another budgetary measure often used is increased hiring of part-time or contract workers. But that approach is debatable, says Plotnick. "From a cost savings perspective, clearly it works. From a so- cietal perspective, if you want to take the broader perspective, is it a good thing for people to have no safety nets, to have no bene ts, to have no permanent employment?" she says. "You also have to be careful about the contract worker who's looking at somebody who's doing the exact same kind of work that they are, and the message that sends." Having two part-time employees can be more expensive than having a full-time one because increasing headcount also increases the administrative cost of managing those employees and, potentially, the bene ts given out, says McNelly. "You never have the same level of ef ciency and perfor- mance out of two part-time employees versus one full-time employee who is likely to be more competent in the role be- cause they have the experience within the role." TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A DOWNTURN However, a downturn can be a good time for strategic hiring, says Plotnick. FEATURE/Talent management