How to manage your employees during recession period

An year ago there was no fear of recession among people and the main worry for all those IT people were to find the right equity fund or a share to invest their salary and bonuses. Now the tables have turned and the people are worried about their job, worried about their investments and worried about their future. Economy is in turmoil, no bonus and salary is not enough to meet sky rocketing costs.

Many employees have big financial commitments for every month in the form of loans, credit cards etc. To add fuel to fire, the constant threat of layoffs hangs in the air like a ghost. Is there anything else required to make an employee depressed?

When the ups and downs in the economy are quiet natural, people normally tend to forget that reality when economy show a downward trend, but at the same time they enjoy upward trend to any extend.

During recession rather than leaving employees to handle their worries by their own means companies can extend their hands in helping employees to tackle the situation. There are few ways by which organizations can keep their employees motivated, like offering right rewards, internal brand positioning and displaying leadership initiatives.

Cut down expenses for parties and vending machines, concentrate more on training resources. This is one of the best mechanisms for retaining employees. Training need not be expensive, concentrate on value of the training. Training should be conducted in such a way so that employees should feel that they are gaining something very important. By providing training in advanced technologies, companies improve their chances in tough competitive markets and can win new projects. It will help companies to find new clients and there by increasing revenue.

Companies should concentrate more on their best talents during the time of recession as due to lack of increase in salary, they may tend to jump for small gains. To avoid this talk to these employees with empathy, make them understand that this recession is only a temporary phenomenon, things will change soon and company will roll back to its normal smooth functioning. Let employees know about the prospects of staying with the company in long term.

Shifting focus away from recession is a good way to relieve people off from the stress and pain. Shift focus to future plans and kind of prospect, company can provide to its employees. Always guide people with energy and enthusiasm. Talks between employees and management should be motivating, should add a sense of security and integrity in the hearts of employees. Inform them about challenging future projects.

Try to provide increments and positive appraisals to right people. In situations where few people are to be laid off, make sure company pass clear and unambiguous explanations to all employees. Provide incentives in the form of insurance policies, health insurance, retirement benefits etc.

Communication is the key factor especially during recession to keep employees motivated. During recession time all gossip mongers come up with different kind of annoying or disturbing news every day. They create stories with their imagination and most of the time which doesn’t have much to do with reality. Tackling such people is a difficult task. Best possible way to handle this situation is to explain company’s stand clearly to employees. When poorly managed communication or lack of it can breed ill will, bad feelings and a lot of negative feelings within the organization.

Recession period is always a testing time, but it is also a chance for organizations to prove its leadership qualities and consolidate its talent base when other companies are falling apart.

Discipline your habits to accomplish better results

I have noticed many technology based employees finding it very difficult to finish their work in time. In spite of working 12-16 hours per day, most of them fail to achieve expected results. This article is an effort to find a solution to this issue. There are few techniques which can help you to accomplish your goals in time.

One most important thing to remember is to stay focused and organized. Disorganized people come under great stress and pressure. They lag behind schedules and may have to spend extra time to catch up. Unsystematic approach to work makes it difficult to focus on the task at hand, making them prone to errors and poor quality work.

You will be surprised how simple planning and disciplined work habits can help you to stay on top of your job and enable you to achieve more in less time.

Planning your day effectively is one of the most important parts of planning. Sometime people with weekly or monthly work schedules might feel that planning for the day is a waste of time and energy, but in reality it will help you to achieve goals in an effective way. Have a day planner, which will help you to organize your day’s time in a more effective way.

Have a TODO list for each day and towards the end of the day check which task you have achieved and what is pending. You will come to know how much time you have spent on each work and thus give an insight on how you spend the day. This information can give chance for a self retrospect on your mode of work. A TODO list can improve the quality of your work and focus on work as you are well aware what all to be achieved for the day. This way you wont’ be surprised to see the deadlines approaching in the last minute.

Being time conscious is very important and it is the most difficult thing to achieve as well. Definitely there will be distractions which will continue to interrupt you, but setting realistic form of time schedule can help a lot. While setting time schedule always take into account of unavoidable disturbances that may interrupt your work schedule.

Concentrate more on difficult tasks and complete them first, this will help you to run through easier tasks faster and complete work as per schedule. Avoid chatting, browsing or reading emails during work hours. Keep separate time for all these tasks. Prioritizing items in the TODO list in the order of their importance will be very helpful. When priorities changes, renumber the items again, setting reminders and time limit that you may need to complete each task will be a good ready reference that can guide you through the day.

In a professional environment, the ability to manage deadlines and meet emergencies is integral to your success. Always set reasonable deadlines and remember when negotiating for deadlines, it is always better to under-promise and over deliver. Once a deadline schedule for the project is created, stick to it. Break big projects into smaller modules and schedule it and complete each module in stipulated time frame.

In all projects there will be a lot of unproductive meetings which waste both your time and your company’s money. Schedule meetings where there is an absolute need for it, and attend meetings only if they are really necessary and server your purpose.

Prepare for the meetings well in advance. Exhibiting professionalism and discipline in meetings is the best way to manage time and impress the team. To increase your chances of success in your career you should have good communication skills, discipline, focus, and bring order into your work habits. Effective work habits can increase your productivity and help you to deliver consistently.