A recession – and we can formally call it that now – is a challenge for any business. Everyone is under the spot light and People Management as a business function is no different. Every practice, process and policy is questioned. And, franky, I love this. It’s a great stress test and evolutionary force. Survival of the fittest is increasingly apposite. More than ever we’re questioning where we focus resource, time and spend. It gives everyone a crash course in commercial awareness - what is bottom line impact? Where’s the absolute business case?
Refreshingly, at FreshMinds, this hasn’t meant that we strip everything down to its bare bones by sacrificing our strategic people management and development. Rather, we become increasingly sure that what we are doing is right and that we can present the clear case for it to all our stakeholders. From an employer brand viewpoint, it’s meant really concentrating on our values: “Excellence”, “Freshness”, “Collaboration” and certainly “Integrity”. Are we doing the right things, morally and ethically as well as legally? We talk a lot internally about the sunshine test. How would employees or clients view our decision making if they were privy to it at all stages. Part of my role is to champion and assure that our top management is sticking to this. It is and has to be at the heart of our employer brand development.
Additionally, our tactical improvements are very much centered around “big bang, small buck”. I’ve always believed in clear, significant return on investment. But as I’ve said, the spotlight is perhaps a little brighter right now, and actually it’s a great way of driving innovation, efficiency and progress.
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About the author
Ben is Head of People at FreshMinds and has been responsible for over 120 new hires as well as helping FreshMinds to win “Best Agency to Work For” in the Research Excellence and Effectiveness Awards in 2006 and become Investors in People accredited. In his spare time Ben is also an accomplished sportsman, with a track record of success as a rugby player, marathon runner and triathlon competitor.
on Feb 23rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
The big question when we have to get rid of our people is - are we choosing the right one? The simple answer is that we keep the employee who gives the greatest contribution to the company. Therefore, we have to have a way to objectively measure this. I have been using Personavita (www.personavita.com) to have my employees report on their contributions. Then their co-workers validate this. So, when the time comes I have months / years of contributions and can make a much more educated, object decision.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
[...] People management in a recession [...]