As we prepare to brace the effects of Recession induced from the western world, is our countries employer base prepared to take it. When Lehman Brother’s closed shop, there was a long line awaiting their turn to withdraw cash from a popular bank’s ATM at a remote village in South India. This goes to show that the Indian employed/ employee base is fully aware of the global scenarios. This was a few months ago, now a Construction Worker, is able to relate in his own way and mentions interest rates have gone up and hence construction activities are slowing down causing concern.
In the developed world we see people resorting to undue measures to run away from the facts (suicides due to loss of jobs). While we are aware of the facts, when reality hits us, we panic. This brings up the following questions which I’ve listed below for thoughts and deliberations,
Emmanuel Justus
www.surgeforth.com
From India, Madras
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In the developed world we see people resorting to undue measures to run away from the facts (suicides due to loss of jobs). While we are aware of the facts, when reality hits us, we panic. This brings up the following questions which I’ve listed below for thoughts and deliberations,
- Are we prepared enough?
- Are we preparing our workforce enough?
- What are the organizations doing to prepare themselves?
- Is layoff the only answer to survive?
- What is the HR Community doing to prepare the organizations and the employees to sustain this difficult period?
- Well this is time for us to clean up, restructure and make our employees more responsible should I say?
Emmanuel Justus
www.surgeforth.com
From India, Madras
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This is a good topic and deserves discussion. I don't believe that we prepare well for downtimes. We bask in the success and do not look at what we need to do when things start falling apart. It reminds me of the ant and grasshopper story.
From India, Bangalore
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2From India, Bangalore
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Hi,
This is really a nice topic to discuss. Well this kind of recession has put up a question mark about the expansion strategies of the companies. During the boom period, companies focus on the increase in thier profit through expansion. But most of the time, they fail to keep a back up plan ready which they can use in case of failure of thier expansion plan. This kind of situation leads to lay off's and retrenchments which affects the workforce very badly leading to the flow of negativity among them. Hence to avoid these kinds of situation, companies should focus on the back up plans to minimize the effect of the failure of thier expansion plan on itself and on economy as a whole.
As far as current recession is concerned, well I would say that this sort of situation was not expected by most of the companies, hence neither the company nor the workforce was not prepared.
Organizations have been trying hard to save on cost. Some of the companies has opted for lay off's also. The rest has employed alternative ways of saving cost.
As far as survival is concerned, in my opinion, we need to look upon the complete picture to answer this question
Thats my view.
Keep posting
Swati
From India, Bangalore
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This is really a nice topic to discuss. Well this kind of recession has put up a question mark about the expansion strategies of the companies. During the boom period, companies focus on the increase in thier profit through expansion. But most of the time, they fail to keep a back up plan ready which they can use in case of failure of thier expansion plan. This kind of situation leads to lay off's and retrenchments which affects the workforce very badly leading to the flow of negativity among them. Hence to avoid these kinds of situation, companies should focus on the back up plans to minimize the effect of the failure of thier expansion plan on itself and on economy as a whole.
As far as current recession is concerned, well I would say that this sort of situation was not expected by most of the companies, hence neither the company nor the workforce was not prepared.
Organizations have been trying hard to save on cost. Some of the companies has opted for lay off's also. The rest has employed alternative ways of saving cost.
As far as survival is concerned, in my opinion, we need to look upon the complete picture to answer this question
Thats my view.
Keep posting
Swati
From India, Bangalore
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There are multiple approaches available for organizations to adopt in times of recession instead of just resorting to layoffs. I have summarized below some of the options.
In my previous organization, during the dot-com burst (around 2001), the top management took a salary cut of 25%, while the rest of the organization took a cut of 10%. Despite the economic necessity to let go of 5% of the workforce, the middle management proposed an additional 2.5% salary cut to ensure everyone in the organization would be carried along. This strategy proved successful, and when the market improved, the entire organization supported both line managers and senior management.
Another aspect to consider during challenging times is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of employees and realign them to roles that align with their strengths. A recent study by IBM highlighted that organizations struggle to identify the skills required for their employees amidst constant change and the need for an adaptable workforce. Instead of layoffs, organizations can focus on leveraging employees' strengths and placing them in roles that can assist the organization in navigating through the recession.
That's my two cents for the day....
Ambal
From India, Madras
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In my previous organization, during the dot-com burst (around 2001), the top management took a salary cut of 25%, while the rest of the organization took a cut of 10%. Despite the economic necessity to let go of 5% of the workforce, the middle management proposed an additional 2.5% salary cut to ensure everyone in the organization would be carried along. This strategy proved successful, and when the market improved, the entire organization supported both line managers and senior management.
Another aspect to consider during challenging times is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of employees and realign them to roles that align with their strengths. A recent study by IBM highlighted that organizations struggle to identify the skills required for their employees amidst constant change and the need for an adaptable workforce. Instead of layoffs, organizations can focus on leveraging employees' strengths and placing them in roles that can assist the organization in navigating through the recession.
That's my two cents for the day....
Ambal
From India, Madras
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Here is an expression of thought by one of our own leaders on how they had done it in the past, and I cannot agree with him more:
Go Kiss the World Of the Melt Down & IT Jobs
We in India are not expected to see the whole effect, but I believe the Western organizations and the Western workforce are much more prepared to face the downturn, as you can see from some of the articles here. I've always wondered how they prepare their workforce for this. While in India, most of the HR participation is in Separation or Cost-cutting measures.
Remember, this is an interim fix; bad times are not here to stay long, and we need to look for opportunities that arise here. The effects of these are left standing for a long time in a potential employer's mind as well! Again, are we preparing our workforce to ensure organizations are better prepared when things turn around? Yes, still looking for answers!
From India, Madras
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Go Kiss the World Of the Melt Down & IT Jobs
We in India are not expected to see the whole effect, but I believe the Western organizations and the Western workforce are much more prepared to face the downturn, as you can see from some of the articles here. I've always wondered how they prepare their workforce for this. While in India, most of the HR participation is in Separation or Cost-cutting measures.
Remember, this is an interim fix; bad times are not here to stay long, and we need to look for opportunities that arise here. The effects of these are left standing for a long time in a potential employer's mind as well! Again, are we preparing our workforce to ensure organizations are better prepared when things turn around? Yes, still looking for answers!
From India, Madras
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Emmanuel,
Thanks for posting a nice hot topic.
One of the largest companies took precautions almost 18 months back. As I understand from a few key people in that organization, the senior management has defined a few strategies based on the financial analysts' inputs. Here are a few things which I have come to know:
- Reduced international travel
- Stopped hiring and replacing (only exception cases are considered)
- Cost reduction operations
- Most of the events' costs are reduced
By taking the above actions, the company hasn't laid off anyone as of now. I feel companies should have good market and financial analysts to address such concerns. If it's a sudden disaster, then Ambal's point 1 is more effective than cutting average-performing workforce. As employees' salary costs to the company range from 60 to 70%, all eyes will be on that... :(
I can really feel the tough time for HR Managers/Heads and respective supervisors to boost the morale of employees. Hope good times will come soon.
KK
From India, Hyderabad
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Thanks for posting a nice hot topic.
One of the largest companies took precautions almost 18 months back. As I understand from a few key people in that organization, the senior management has defined a few strategies based on the financial analysts' inputs. Here are a few things which I have come to know:
- Reduced international travel
- Stopped hiring and replacing (only exception cases are considered)
- Cost reduction operations
- Most of the events' costs are reduced
By taking the above actions, the company hasn't laid off anyone as of now. I feel companies should have good market and financial analysts to address such concerns. If it's a sudden disaster, then Ambal's point 1 is more effective than cutting average-performing workforce. As employees' salary costs to the company range from 60 to 70%, all eyes will be on that... :(
I can really feel the tough time for HR Managers/Heads and respective supervisors to boost the morale of employees. Hope good times will come soon.
KK
From India, Hyderabad
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