Another financial disaster is coming to an economy near you.
Will your business be able to survive the evil twin of the 2008 financial crisis? This global financial crises was bad but the next one could be far worse. Your company’s survival will likely be dependent on your people strategy, not a shareholder-centric strategy.
Chief executives who create work environments where employees are respected and treated with dignity and respect will be much better prepared for economic storms. This people-centric business philosophy is not naive, it is the secret sauce to prosperity, even during bad times. In the end, people-centric businesses also protect owners and shareholders.
Employees are our greatest asset but we’re laying you off.
The conflicting messages that emerge from boardrooms is perplexing, if not downright unethical. How can employees be important one week and on the street the next? This type of management malpractice is why Dilbert, an engineer working in a white-collar, micro-managed office, has been an enduring, successful cartoon character. Over twenty-five years after the cartoon’s inception, there continues to be no lack of workplace material to choose from.
How can executives tell employees they are important, yet at the first sign of economic trouble, pink slips and empty boxes are handed-out to unsuspecting victims? Companies like this do not instill confidence in remaining employees nor are they ready from a talent standpoint when the economy recovers.
What is your company’s reputation during tough economic times?
It is better to face the reality now before the next financial crisis happens. Did your company enlist the support of all employees, find ways to cut costs as a team, or take pay cuts across the board, including executives, to survive the storm? Or, did your executives decide to start lopping off heads, sending employees into the job market at the worst possible time, leading to extended career searches, home foreclosures and bankruptcies.
Does your company have a soul?
If you are the CEO of your company, decide today if your company has a soul. If you are an employee, take a realistic look at the soul of your company before sailing into a storm with them.
