Special report on the economic
crisis |
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Making the most of your workforce amid economic instability:
The current economic crisis is deeper
and broader than many of us initially
imagined it would be. Stock market
fluctuations, shrinking business and
consumer credit, job losses, and
government interventions are all
uneasy reflections of an unparalleled
global economic crisis. As the financial
impact spreads, it is clear that no one
organization will remain untouched.
Employees too are anxious and uncertain
about the future.
How can your organization respond? In tough
times, there is a natural tendency to retrench, cut
costs, and 'wait things out'. Organizations often
overlook or shy away from the growth side of the
equation. those organizations that can manage
both costs and growth -in a strategic, deliberate,
and speedy manner - will be best positioned to
ride out the downturn and energize the workforce
to drive growth for the future.
History tells us that economic downturns are
never permanent. Uncertain times call for clear and
deliberate action. Your workforce is more critical
than ever in driving the organization forward.
Here are 10 ideas to help you get started. |
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Get the right leaders in
the right place, right now
Leadership is important at all times, but becomes singularly
critical when times are rough. Right now, employees are looking
to their leaders to provide a clear direction and mobilize the
workforce.
Leaders need to be able to communicate the reality of the
business - however tough it may be but also recapture
employees' hearts and minds to take action. The leadership skills
required to manage through a downturn are different from those
required to manage during times of growth. This is particularly
critical for young Asian leaders - some of whom have not
experienced a prolonged downturn in their entire working lives.
Organizations need to understand this, and take steps to
better equip leaders (or change them) so that they have the right
leaders in place to navigate the way forward. |
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Get good advice on executive compensation
Governance is more important now than
ever. And, stock-based compensation
programs surely are not having the
motivation and reward impact that they
were intended to; although they are
placing a sharp focus on performance.
Companies need to carefully consider
changes to executive rewards during such
periods of upheaval.
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Leaders need to be able to communicate the reality
of the business - however tough it may be - but also
recapture employees' hearts and minds to take action.
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Take steps now to ensure you are rewarding
and retaining your best talent
In some ways, recruiting in Asia - and around the world just
got a lot easier. Candidates who just six weeks or six months
ago may have been unapproachable today may be within reach.
Smart organizations will be using this time of turbulence to
selectively recruit some of the very best talent.
So, top performers still require top rewards, and reassurance,
and in some cases, clear retention packages. These are the
talented people who are going to help pull your organization
through the difficult times ahead. Amid the current uncertainty,
immediate action is required to make sure your best are on board,
motivated, and focused on the things that matter.
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Find HR interventions that will have
greatest impact on business results
| In these times, it is more vital than ever that HR focuses attention on how it can impact
business performance. Structured diagnostics need to be used to analyze business
performance problems and land on the"root-cause" people issues. |
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Business case tools should be leveraged for estimating the potential benefits of taking
action against the cost of doing so. And, clean, clear processes need to be followed to
track the impact of HR interventions to ensure estimated business impacts are achieved so
that successful interventions can be replicated elsewhere in the organization and course
correction can be applied to less successful interventions. |
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Now more than ever, HR must show it can drive business
outcomes, not just deliver on programs and practices.
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Focus on HR effectiveness, not just HR costs
A singular focus on driving down HR costs
now will surely come back to bite you later.
We have seen this happen following the
Asian currency crisis, SARS, and post-9/11.
We must learn from those experiences.
Now more than ever, HR must show
it can drive business outcomes, not just
deliver on programs and practices. There
may be some need for taking targeted cost
actions, but HR will create the greatest
value by supporting the business in driving
performance and sustaining engagement. |
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Recognize recovery will be quicker for those
with high-performing, engaged workers
| Ultimately, your workforce will
be the critical determinant of
how well and how quickly you
move beyond the immediate
financial challenges. Even
amid the uncertainty, you can't
ignore the fundamentals of
what employees are seeking
in their work - supportive
managers, genuine career
opportunities, a chance to
make an impact, etc. |
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At the same time,
companies need to identify
a few targeted performance
and engagement 'interventions' to ensure your workforce is
productive and focused on the right outcomes. |
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Manage the transformation that is underway; don't
be managed by it
HR needs to help the broader organization
anticipate, prepare for, and respond to change by
creating organizational agility. That can mean
different things to different companies, but at a
minimum, HR should use this time to make sure
the workforce is nimble and ready to respond to
further changes.
Start with a robust change management and
communications plan, establish clear governance
around how decisions are made, and build jobs
and organizational structures that are scalable
and flexible. |
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Focus on the sales force - you need sales
The ability of your sales function to drive growth in this environment is
absolutely critical. Now is the time to rethink go-to-market strategies,
evaluate channel performance, assess your sales workforce, and take
some deliberate actions to refocus and reenergize the team.
Look for low cost opportunities to drive sales efficiency and
effectiveness - start by looking at how you source, organize, utilize,
develop, motivate, and reward your sales staff.
Well conceived sales force compensation practices can help drive
business success while poorly designed and executed programs can
lead to increased cost and/or a spike in sales force turnover at the
worst possible time. |
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Adopt a dynamic approach to talent
planning, because predicting is difficult
Organizations in a down economy must ensure they are retaining key talent with critical skills to
support the business. Without a more planned view of the workforce, there is no way for organizations
to know what critical roles to retain when down-sizing or re-organizing, or the cost of doing so.
The downturn also presents an opportunity for companies to grab good talent where you most
need it, often at a better price - but you have to know what critical skills you most need. Look for
opportunities to accelerate labor cost reductions via global sourcing.
At the same time, take a longer-term focus and think about where your workforce needs to be in
order to accelerate growth for the future. Put a workforce planning process in place that is enabled by
technology and allows your organization to model various scenarios so that you can be prepared and
quick to respond to changes in the environment.
Stop trying to predict the future, and instead plan for various possible futures. |
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Think about your employees' health, from
treatment and prevention perspectives
Health insurance premiums are rising substantially
year-on-year, and they have the potential to weigh
heavily on your total compensation costs so look to
review these in order to save wasted outlay.
Companies that manage sickness absence
effectively and introduce policies to promote wellness
within the organization will have higher attendance
and higher productivity.
A critical component of a high-performing
workforce is that the workforce is fit and ready to work
- from both a mental and a physical standpoint. An
unhealthy workforce will drag your company down.
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Hewitt Quarterly Asia Pacific
is made possible through the combined skills and experience of Hewitt consultants from across the Asia-Pacific region.
For further information please contact:
Hewitt Associates
2601-05 Shell Tower
Times Square
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2877-8600
Fax: (852) 2877-2701
editor-hqap@hewitt.com |
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