Every situation has pros and cons, and that goes for economic cycles as well. One of the big "pros" of a recession is that you tend to see a sharp downturn in voluntary turnover. An employee who is a bit frustrated with their job isn't likely to go searching when they know they are lucky to have a job to begin with.
In short - dissatisfied workers are a bit like a time bomb - ready to go off as soon as jobs become plentiful again.
So what are you doing to retain your best and brightest?
Organizationally, this is a great time to put together some employee satisfaction surveys and see what issues are frustrating your workforce.
As individual managers, this is a great time to begin talking to your staff about their career goals, and how they can plan for a satisfying future at the company.
If you've been doing these things all along - that is great. If not, light a fire under yourself. It won't be too long before the recruiters start calling again, and you don't want your best people to jump ship when you need them most.
Just something to think about!
Very good point. The nice thing is though that a recession provides a great incentive for people to change. I was reading a piece by Dan Ariely that supported this point of view so now is as good a time as any to get started.
Posted by: Adi @ The Management Blog | October 01, 2009 at 03:40 AM