Often the main concerns are not so much around the message itself but more the thought of delivering the news. Whilst the current climate means that most people are clear as to reasons why a company may be considering restructuring or redundancy they can still be emotive conversations that are open to misinterpretation or hostile feelings. 

 

 

What three things can you do to support your managers during this time? 

 

 

 

 

 

Rightsizing is a proactive activity and should be a constant part of managing an organisation. By adjusting an organisation like this can make it the most efficient, effective, competitive and profitable that it can be. 

 

20% of companies are planning redundancies this summer despite the furlough scheme and over half of employees are worried about losing their job. 

 

Three key questions to ask before you start assessing your workforce are: 

 

Next, look at where you are now and what talent do you have within, what areas you may need to upskill or what new skills should you be looking to bring into the organisation. 

 

Look first to your business-critical positions which will help with the long-term success of the business. All the furloughed employees –can you manage without any of them? Identify your high potential employees – these are the ones who embrace and embody the culture of the organisation, can flex and adapt and perform at a high level in their current positions. 

 

Make sure your communication is clear. Some people who were furloughed from the outset have been off work for 3 months and for them time in the work place has stood. They may expect to return to exactly the same way of working as pre-lockdown and will certainly not understand exactly how the business and your way of working may have changed. Take time to explain what “business as usual” now looks like the changes that have been implemented and why these changes have happened. A clear redefinition of their role responsibilities will also help them to understand “now” as well as focussing on health & safety and any new policies and procedures you may have introduced. 

 

 

 

When lockdown first happened all of our vacancies disappeared overnight. Clients that we were running active campaigns for as their outsourced recruitment department asked that we hang fire for a while…which we did. We had nothing. 

 

We spent six weeks looking at our marketing activity and posting regularly across social media. We are lucky as we knew that we could weather this storm so was able to look at offering rewrites of job descriptions for free and to train up the Emerald Starfish team for sunnier days. We looked at the new world of working remotely and realised that actually recruitment is mainly a remote activity anyway so we could embrace the processes that we had already got in place. 

 

 

 

 

Job offers are usually made over the phone, candidates are used to receiving the news that they have been successful over the phone and managers are used to doing this not fact to face. However, during lockdown how can you ensure that the job offer is received with as much impact as if you had met the candidate and were building on that initial face to face interaction? 

 

 

 

 

Let the candidates know during the recruitment process when you will let them know and keep to the timelines. It is a big non-verbal clue that you think that they are the best person for the job and you are excited to have them on board if you offer within 24 hours. The message isn’t quite the same a week later! 

 

Therefore, onboarding remotely needs to be just as effective as face to face. What can you do to ensure that this happens? 

 

 

 

 

It may seem abnormal or unusual at the moment, but video interviewing and remote recruitment will become part of the “normal” recruitment and selection process. At the moment video interviews can seem like a scary prospect for both candidates and the recruiting managers too. 

 

 

 

 

Now is a great time to assess your workforce and look at the talent that you have within your organisation. 

 

As you move forward into the rest of the year you will be clear in terms of what talent you have as well as where you need to upskill, or where there are some competencies you may need to bring into the company. 

 

It is likely that many companies will not look or operate the same when we return to the new normal after Lockdown and the Corona Crisis, but what steps can you go through currently to ensure that you retain your talent and yet shape your business for tomorrow?