Thriving in the Wake of the Great Recession: Part 3 – What is Possible

By Debra Zimmer, The Expert Marketing Coach and CWCC Member

This is the 3rd part of a 3 part series blog, that began with The Challenges Ahead and A Way Through, on companies emerging from a brutal recession that the Harvard Business Review tagged as beginning in 2007.  Many businesses have failed, were acquired, or merely limped along…while a handful of businesses have emerged stronger than ever.

While the economy is still experiencing slower than usual growth, high unemployment rates, a struggling global economy, and strapped financial options, many organizations and businesses are setting their sights on the future. They are seeking to maximize their labor pool, position themselves for organizational change championed by employees, beef up their training and communication programs, and bring sales and profits back to pre-recession growth rates.

Instead of emerging from this recession looking at the “glass half-empty,” progressive companies have realized the old way of doing business has become extinct and that their glass is actually still “half full.” Forward-thinking organizations are reinventing themselves, redefining their business cultures, and rebuilding collaborative relationships and alliances with employees as well as partners, investors, and vendors.

To wrap this blog series up, let’s take a look at “what is possible” after a recession delivers a devastating reality check to organizations. Here are five “must-have” components to be addressed by organizations and businesses looking to thrive beyond the current recession.

Build Collaborative Relationships and Engagement

Build strong business relationships and they will come….this includes customers, vendors, business alliances, partners, and employees. Collaborative, cooperative relationships create:

• repeat investment in your business and products
• business loyalty for life
• empowered work environments that engage, attract, and retain talented employees.
• Improved employee productivity, morale, and customer satisfaction

Encourage Positive Communications

Establish productive meetings – it’s possible…really! Open the communication lines so they filter down to all employees to avoid confusion regarding projects and company purpose. Defeat incivility in the workplace. A recent report found that 96% of people in the United States have experienced incivility in the workplace and 75% of them were dissatisfied with the way their companies handled the situation, yet only 9% of them reported the incident. By encouraging positive and open communications in the workplace organizations stand to:

• solve problems, make decisions, gain participation, establish effective training development, develop new products and services, improve processes and procedures – all through effective meeting and communication strategies.
• improve the organization’s bottom line and build respect for its leaders
• reduce harmful judging by employees, lack of trust, and lack of respect
• reduce office gossip, back-stabbing, and rumors that take employees off task

Capitalize on Human Performances

Here we’re talking about hiring the best candidates for organizations and retaining top employees. When organizations place a higher importance on individual performance and behavior, they stand to:

• improve personal performance and  team performance
• easily identify individuals with greater performance potential
• have a better understanding of a company’s culture, the profile of the ideal candidate, and of successful on-boarding of candidates.
• combat high turnover among employees
• widen their employment net and attract the right potential leadership team
• improve productivity, experience less absenteeism, and less chaos

Improve Performance through Training

Training was sorely lacking in this current recession and many managers were left to manage “on the fly.” Employees also did not have the skills to effectively “sell” their company branding by handling customer fears and objections. Increase training programs and organizations give leaders and employees the tools to:

• effectively sell.  Most people, no matter the job title, have trouble handling their potential client/prospects’ fears, questions, or objections. The ability to learn the art of handling objections can literally double or triple a company’s profits within a year.
• A study of fortune 1000 companies have assessed a huge leadership preparation gap occurred during the recent recession when no training was conducted. Provide leadership training tools and an organization increases collaboration, productivity, and profits among all employees.

Thrive with Employee Embraced Change

Organizations that are transparent have employees that champion change and help the company thrive. Change includes everything from “life happens” events to the proper handling of social media. Having a strategic plan to cope with change gives an organization the agility to:

• harness the power of social media to elevate the company, employees, and executives to new levels of engagement
• create a social media policy that increases retention and attracts more highly qualified job candidates

• focus on an organization’s purpose to engage employees as life happens to them and the company itself.

• capitalize on unexpected changes to promote possibilities, desired changes, and growth in the company

• engage employees who drive the results. Change doesn’t have to take years of hide-stripping effort when employees are catalyzed, empowered, engaged, and accountable.
• ignite the human drive to achieve and champion change at all levels of operation. It creates a robust and engaged work environment where trust and cooperation thrive.

Finding a way through a recession is wrought with perils and dismal survival statistics for most businesses. However, companies equipped with the knowledge and tools to quickly and efficiently regroup are posed to charge out of the recession gates. Join Dianne and other industry thought leaders for a break-through conference-based training summit coming December 2012 “Engagement, Retention & Growth: 10 Strategic Solutions for Sustainable Corporate Expansion and Retention.” We expand on and provide the steps to overcome the challenges, find a way through the recession storm, and the possibilities that await each organization as they go from surviving to thriving. Register today to take advantage of a 30% discount available to CWCC members through November 30, 2012.