This is the 3rd part of a 3 part series blog where I provide insight on how businesses and organizations can move forward quickly after a debilitating recession to regain profitability and retain their top performing employees.
Research collected from the past 3 recessions by the Harvard Business Review showed that only 9% of businesses come out of a recession stronger than ever. This means that 91% of businesses failed, were acquired, or merely limped along. This blog provides solutions to increasing post recession survival rates by looking at “What is Possible.”
While the economy is still experiencing slower than usual growth, high unemployment rates, a struggling global economy, and strapped financial options, many organizations and businesses are setting their sights on the future. They are seeking to maximize their labor pool, position themselves for organizational change championed by employees, beef up their training and communication programs, and bring sales and profits back to pre-recession growth rates.
Instead of emerging from this recession looking at the “glass half-empty,” progressive companies have realized the old way of doing business has become extinct and that their glass is actually still “half full.” Forward-thinking organizations are reinventing themselves, redefining their business cultures, and rebuilding collaborative relationships and alliances with employees as well as partners, investors, and vendors.
To wrap this blog series up, let’s take a look at “what is possible” after a recession delivers a devastating reality check to organizations. Here are five “must-have” components to be addressed by organizations and businesses looking to thrive beyond the current recession.
Build Collaborative Relationships and Engagement
Build strong business relationships and they will come….this includes customers, vendors, business alliances, partners, and employees. Collaborative, cooperative relationships create:
- repeat investment in your business and products
- business loyalty for life
- empowered work environments that engage, attract, and retain talented employees.
- Improved employee productivity, morale, and customer satisfaction
Encourage Positive Communications
Establish productive meetings – it’s possible…really! Open the communication lines so they filter down to all employees to avoid confusion regarding projects and company purpose. Defeat incivility in the workplace. A recent report found that 96% of people in the United Stateshave experienced incivility in the workplace and 75% of them were dissatisfied with the way their companies handled the situation, yet only 9% of them reported the incident. By encouraging positive and open communications in the workplace organizations stand to:
- solve problems, make decisions, gain participation, establish effective training development, develop new products and services, improve processes and procedures – all through effective meeting and communication strategies.
- improve the organization’s bottom line and build respect for its leaders
- reduce harmful judging by employees, lack of trust, and lack of respect
- reduce office gossip, back-stabbing, and rumors that take employees off task
Capitalize on Human Performance
Here we’re talking about hiring the best candidates for organizations and retaining top employees. When organizations place a higher importance on individual performance and behavior, they stand to:
- improve personal performance and team performance
- easily identify individuals with greater performance potential
- have a better understanding of a company’s culture, the profile of the ideal candidate, and of successful on-boarding of candidates.
- combat high turnover among employees
- widen their employment net and attract the right potential leadership team
- improve productivity, experience less absenteeism, and less chaos
Improve Performance through Training
Training was sorely lacking in this current recession and many managers were left to manage “on the fly.” Employees also did not have the skills to effectively “sell” their company branding by handling customer fears and objections. Increase training programs and organizations give leaders and employees the tools to:
- effectively sell. Most people, no matter the job title, have trouble handling their potential client/prospects’ fears, questions, or objections. The ability to learn the art of handling objections can literally double or triple a company’s profits within a year.
- A study of fortune 1000 companies have assessed a huge leadership preparation gap occurred during the recent recession when no training was conducted. Provide leadership training tools and an organization increases collaboration, productivity, and profits among all employees.
Thrive with Employee Embraced Change
Organizations that are transparent have employees that champion change and help the company thrive. Change includes everything from “life happens” events to the proper handling of social media. Having a strategic plan to cope with change gives an organization the agility to:
- harness the power of social media to elevate the company, employees, and executives to new levels of engagement
- create a social media policy that increases retention and attracts more highly qualified job candidates
- focus on an organization’s purpose to engage employees as life happens to them and the company itself.
- capitalize on unexpected changes to promote possibilities, desired changes, and growth in the company
- engage employees who drive the results. Change doesn’t have to take years of hide-stripping effort when employees are catalyzed, empowered, engaged, and accountable.
- ignite the human drive to achieve and champion change at all levels of operation. It creates a robust and engaged work environment where trust and cooperation thrive.
Finding a way through a recession is wrought with perils and dismal survival statistics for most businesses. However, companies equipped with the knowledge and tools to quickly and efficiently regroup are posed to charge out of the recession gates.
Join me and other industry thought-leaders for a break through telephone conference-based training summit coming December 2012.
“Engagement, Retention & Growth: 10 Strategic Solutions for Sustainable Corporate Expansion and Retention.”
We expand on and provide the steps to overcome the challenges, find a way through the recession storm, and the possibilities that await each organization as they go from surviving to thriving. Register now for this information-packed summit and save 30% before November 1.
Copyright TIGERS Success Series by Dianne Crampton
About Dianne Crampton
Dianne is a veteran team development and change management consultant who licenses and certifies human resource professionals and organizational development specialists in TIGERS proprietary resources. She has helped leaders build teams of committed and engaged employees for over 20 years. She specializes in mergers and large scale change efforts where high performing team dynamics and work environment cooperation are the desired outcome.
