Survival of the Fittest

If we haven’t had enough change in the workforce and economy over the last two years, brace yourselves for yet more change in the coming 6-18 months. Currently we’re dealing with a shortage of quality labor, but soon, should the expected recession hit us, we could soon be dealing with a stagnant economy and a glut of employees. How you prepare for these potential changes will certainly be all about, survival of the fittest.

Survival during tough times depends on becoming not just a good employer, but a great employer. The best employers will create workplaces where the best employees want to work, where productivity flourishes and profits flow, despite potentially lower revenue.

Here are five areas you should focus on:

Better Pay

Maybe the obvious choice but be careful not to lock yourself into higher pay just in case things turn really bad. Instead, consider implementing a monthly or quarterly performance bonus plan, where employees are encouraged to be productive and are rewarded for their efforts. Employee pay is something that will need to be considered for the coming year, as the new pay equity law comes into play

Implement Perks

Perks are usually inexpensive and create a great culture that can help incentivize employees to stay with you, even through challenging times. Meaningful perks could include trips or fancy car rentals, favorite coffee house runs, mobile car washes or onsite massages. You may already be holding luncheons and periodic celebrations. If so, don’t stop! If not, it’s a good time to start.

Flexible Work Policies

Make sure your policies surrounding hours, schedules and flex time support a good work-life balance. Focus on results from your employees and try to avoid micromanaging. Especially when you have to boost production with fewer employees. Be sensitive to moms or dads with kids who are trying to shuffle school, holiday parties, vacations, and sick kids at home. Remember always, we should work to live, not live to work.

Remote Employees

COVID most undoubtedly ushered in the era of remote employees, many employees are still working from home. Especially with gas prices going through the roof and employees quiet quitting because of burn out, offering remote work for specific positions in the right circumstance might work well. There are things to consider with remote workers, such as team communication, productivity monitoring and keeping camaraderie in place, but it’s possible.

Culture

Building a culture that adapts to the times is critical to keeping your crew motivated and engaged. Your company culture is ever more important in today’s world with so many changes and outside forces affecting every employee. Be sure to define, express and live out your culture. If you have not defined your culture, work with the employees to create an outline of what’s important and what sort of concepts are going to define your culture.

Conclusion

One thing that you can always count on is change. As an HR company in the midst of the 2008 recession, we were able to witness companies that failed, and companies that succeeded. In practically every instance of success the one common factor was that the business put their people first and kept production at optimum levels.

Your HR partners at Infinium are here to help, don’t hesitate to contact us if we can assist.