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Out of the blue, Coronavirus disease spurred the new economic downturn. Thousands of businesses around the world have been forced to lay off staff leaving so many people stranded without work. While the COVID-19 outbreak will be studied in the future as an illness that caused panic amongst employers, some positives stories will also be written about those businesses that benefited from new opportunities that they made for themselves, helping their customers along the way.
The ranks of talented, skillful, and motivated unemployed people who are hit by a crisis situation can be actually a godsend for your business. When the economic crisis is raging outside, you can reap significant benefits of hiring new employees who will, in turn pay your trust with loyalty and hard work to help your company sailing through the storm.
In this blog entry we are trying to provide entrepreneurs and company leaders with a reminder of why acting with anticipation in times of hardship, can turn to be the right choice.
1. Gain a competitive edge over your competitors
When bad economic news cope the press headlines, it is easy for business leaders to follow the general trend and deciding to put all your planned activities in ice until better times come (including freezing new hires as first bullet point in the list).
However, in reality, laying off employees is your competitor’s loss, but for you, it’s a gain.
With more well-forged and competent people available on the labor market, you expand your access to the necessary talent to move forward your projects and BAU activities to a new level of excellence that will allow your business to cope with the bad times and ultimately, thrive.
That is arguably the most critical component of a successful business. Employee knowledge, experience, and expertise bolster the value of your company in the short term and increase its capabilities in the long run.
2. New Head-Hunting Opportunities
Perhaps you have long been trying to lure experts from competing organizations but fell short in your attempts. Well, the economic downturn is the right time to open the employee hunting season. In their eyes, your desire to hire indicates that you are firmly standing on your own feet. It is in human DNA to seek stability; therefore, employees are often willing to change their jobs even if they are sitting pretty at the moment. Let them show that they may sit even prettier in a vacant position within your company.
Chances are that these recruits become your secret weapon to get out of the crisis before your direct competitors, as they will come with plenty of relevant experience in your Industry and different ideas to boost your business.
3. Create a Sense of Stability
In terms of the down economy, it becomes critical to maintain a strong relationship with personnel.
We mentioned that stability is an important factor and the reason is because people worry about their future. In bad economic times, the possibility of them being kicked out is looming on the horizon and this undoubtedly undermines the morale of the team.
By hunting fresh talent during those times, you can convince your team as much as you like that there is no reason to be anxious but your actions speak louder than words. Nothing reassures agitated staff better than the fact that you are recruiting people rather than laying them off.
4. Increase Motivation in Your Team
When you hire while everyone else is firing, you give your rookies hope for a long happy future in your company. In return, they will bring their A-game to show their gratitude. Their motivation will go up to eleven, and when employees are motivated, they will move mountains.
An emotional upsurge will affect not only newcomers but also old-timers. Firstly, this enthusiasm becomes contagious, and can create the spark of creativity that your team will need to keep improving during the economic downturn. Secondly, recruits create competition within your team – those who do not keep up with the working pace may end up out of work. Whereas creating a fear atmosphere of losing their job is often not the right strategy, creating positive competition is healthy for a business to keep its impetus to keep up working hard.
5. Reinforce Your External Image
In times of instability and uncertainty, motivation is important not only for those you hire but also for those who hire your services, and of course, those who work for you as Suppliers.
For instance, if your Customers see that you are actively hiring new people they are in contact with, they will perceive your brand as strong leader, and reward you with additional business volumes, since in times of crisis, customers become increasingly concerned that their suppliers may not be able to serve them as well, giving the right signs might be the difference to close a new deal.
As to Suppliers, it is all about strengthening partnerships instead of breaking them. For instance, in the space of Recruitment and Human Resources Management, the suppliers and internal Human Resources team members that keep working for you throughout those times, will become your reliable henchman for many years to come.
Hiring new employees in a downturn is a great way to demonstrate you’re not closing the door on your relationship. As a big thanks in return, you can benefit from the best candidates, close attention to every requirement you set forth, and dedication to making you happy.
Are you still considering whether to engage more employees? (Fortunately) Crisis won’t last for long, we are in the best moment in history for technology innovation and living a super cycle of value creation, so now it is time to think about strengthening your HR competitive advantages right now. FUT-URE knows where to find valuable staff for your business. Do not let your competitors hook all the talents, call us now and get the best future employees while they are still available.
