Often in times of budget constraints and uncertainty, businesses make the decision to cut headcount as a quick fix to save on cost to ride out the storm, and we see this in the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC’s) Recruitment Outlook Survey showing a hiring freeze, with only 55% of businesses trying to hire in the last three months.
The reality though, is that certainty always starts to come back and the economy always starts to do better. This then leaves organisations in the position of having to prioritise recruitment, often at a cost in regards to attraction, onboarding and speed to productivity.
While government intervention is definitely necessary to support businesses during these trying times, I would encourage businesses to think medium to long term.
Find efficiencies in other places and let your employees know you are all in it together. This creates a culture of trust, transparency and, ultimately, high performance. Your employees can be the ones to help you ride out that storm and when the good times return, they are at full speed, engaged and everyone will benefit.
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