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.