We've Made it This Far — Now What?

The year is half over, we've had to make many adjustments because of everything that has been handed us with the failing economy and now we have got to get ready for whatever is next as things begin to change again! Have you given thought to how you and your HR team are going to handle more work and keep everyone on board until business actually gets stronger?

You may have trimmed the size of your workforce, expanded responsibilities for those who remained, limited or frozen pay for a while and put off any number of projects. But it is already summer and if the economic "green shoots" turn into something more — and we are beginning to be convinced that conditions are improving — it is time to start gearing up for busier times when your organization will need to be running smoothly and productively.

Reduced investments in people and programs — while necessary at the time — can't go on forever and forward leaning companies have been concerned for some time about hanging on to their best talent and keeping them engaged as the economy improves and job opportunities elsewhere become more prevalent. If there ever was a time for "re-recruiting" your best, creating development opportunities for them, supporting them in the increasing amount of work you expect them to continue to do until you can hire again — it would be now. And you need to explore a number of options and tools to create the best results for your set of circumstances.

Pay programs are going to require attention soon and for a variety of reasons ranging from overdue updates to addressing the shifts in market rates and different availabilities of talent, to giving consideration to those employees who have helped you sustain your business during these troubled times, by taking on broader responsibilities or contributing in expanded ways. Do you know what other companies in your market segment are anticipating in the way of pay programs for the balance of 2009 or may be planning for 2010? This could be important to you in terms of retaining top talent as others try to lure them away as job opportunities increase.

Even with the aforementioned availability of talent in many areas, deciding when to hire regular, full-time employees remains an unnerving exercise until recovery actually takes place and you begin to grow again. At the same time there is work that needs to get done, and if current (now fewer) staff members are required to focus on new programs or become involved in any kind of change initiative taking place across your organization (not to mention cyclical needs or seasonal upticks) then you may not have enough resources to go around.

Anticipating this, many companies and HR organizations already are using flexible staffing approaches to help in all of these areas and in fact have decided that flexible staffing is the way to accomplish work going forward. Without giving up on attracting the best talent available, turning to contracted professionals at all levels and looking at work as a series of projects to be accomplished by specific talent on an as-needed basis, not only improves flexibility and response time but also shifts the fixed-costs of regular employment relationships to variable-costs with contract professionals filling both short- and long-term needs.

Adding to your bench strength now with interim professionals to address anticipated new business levels; creating supportive workforce strategies and programs now that will help you retain, attract and increase productivity; and planning to take advantage of the cost management benefits inherent in flexible staffs, are good strategies in these "in between" times.

How people want to work is changing and how businesses plan for getting work done is evolving. Having four generations in the workplace at once is contributing to this need for reevaluating old paradigms, but there is much to learn from this recession as well that points to new standards worth considering. Flexible staffing designs can help create the blend of approaches best suited to answer specific company needs at reduced costs.

Whether you require senior, focused expertise to introduce change or manage it; interim help or leadership until direct hires can be completed; periodic or seasonal augmentations to current staffs; or just the comfort of knowing you can supplement your team's abilities to perform well — flexible staffing is a powerful tool.

So, where are you in all of this? Have you created alternative approaches to handling new levels of work when it gets here? Do you have plans that will allow you to be nimble and react quickly to put distance between you and your competition by acquiring new talent, retaining what you have and efficiently getting new work done?

Don't wait too long. After all, it is summer already.

Effective business decisions and human resource decisions go hand-in-hand. At Merit Resource Group we help our clients create this synergy by providing HR expertise to match unique company needs, and we have been doing that for 20 years. Contact us and let us put our expertise to work for you. 925-867-4400/408-501-8863.