Business cycles were always uncertain, but the frequency with which they have been changing in the last few years has left employers in a quandary. How do you plan for organizational growth in the face of uncertainty? Investing in employees for future business is a risk, one that may not pay off in an adverse business scenario. At the same time, companies are coming increasingly under fire for their hiring and retrenchment policies, with former employees effectively using social media to make themselves heard.
Uncertainty is an element of doing business, and most companies can do little to mitigate the risk involved. However, directly transferring that risk onto employees via hire-and-fire policies has its own implications. Companies and especially HR professionals are desperately looking at ways to keep hiring lean while ensuring they do not fall short when a business surge hits, since only companies best suited to navigate uncertainty will survive.
One of the key solutions has always been to promote internally. Many companies have made this a motto, ensuring they have enough in-house bench strength to ramp up business as and when required. However, the challenge here lies in the fact that employees could remain under-utilized while the growth is waiting to happen, and may seek fresh opportunities elsewhere.
On the other side of the equation, companies have been tightening exit norms to include mandatory cooling off periods and financial penalties, before letting employees join competing businesses. Some have even gone ahead with non-compete clauses to ensure there is no poaching of employees by competing firms. This again is a short-sighted approach h to resolving the issue and restricts employee options, thereby increasing their resentment against the firm.
In order to achieve a balance between employer and employee concerns, HR teams need to figure out the organizational growth chart and prepare employees for roles beyond their immediate definition. While investment in additional skilling can seem like an upfront cost, having the bench strength to tackle an issue when the time comes is critical. This could be through the company’s own expenses or encouraging employees to reskill via partial or full subsidies.
Redundancy hiring is a costly affair, and companies do not have the luxury of keeping highly-paid resources idle. Another way to go about reskilling could therefore be increasing job rotations between multiple roles to let employees learn more about other departments and opportunities in the company, possibly through inter-departmental projects or new product initiatives.
Last but not the least of course is the approach to hiring. Knowing the potential uncertainty of a role, communicating it effectively to potential hires and ensuring that potential employees see this challenge as an opportunity to showcase their adaptability and resilience will not only help the company be seen as an honest employer but also one that offers employees opportunities for growth.