“ For years these people are our lunch buddies…..but the moment they are selected for separation they become criminals in our eyes and we want to escort them out on the very same day of notification. I tell my managers we don't hire criminals so show some respect for those who are selected for separation”
(Shared by a participant in a recent thought leadership workshop).
An economic crisis has an in-built advantage. Just like the over flooding rivers of the African plains, economic crisis can be life-rejuvenating. It can bring forth new life, new hope. It is the ultimate differentiator of who can swim and who ‘thought’ he can swim. It is the ultimate arbitrator of who is preaching what he is practicing and who is preaching what he himself is not ready to practice. The proof of the pudding is in the crisis!
More than ever, today we need leaders who have the integrity and wherewithal to manage our organizations. We need leaders who can truly lead us out of the burning house. Superstar CEOs and celebrity managers who sashayed around with their PR and media consultants will be called upon to show their true mettle…to Lead. The integrity of those who preached honesty will be severely tested. The lofty service oriented mission statements of companies will be put to the ultimate test of profit vs service. The often repeated ‘my people are my greatest asset’ dictum will be up for a close scrutiny. Actually, now would be the best time to do a ‘Employer of Choice’ survey.
As I have said many times before, it is indeed a prerogative of an organization to reduce its head count or divest a subsidiary or close down an entire plant. But, how it goes about doing it will determine its future survival. How an organization treats an employee that has been made redundant will determine the morale, productivity and loyalty of those are staying behind. As my Country Manager said recently, “ For every one staff that we ask to leave, 50 others are left behind due to our negligence”. It will affect the organization’s future ability to attract talents and its ability to hang on to its existing talents when the good times return.
Managers and business leaders too will be put to a test. It is easy to engage in a rhetoric about integrity, empathy, team work, service orientation and such but much harder to exhibit these qualities when your back is to the wall. How many businesses that have cleverly branded them selves as ‘people oriented’ are willing to share in the people’s burden?
Ultimately, bad times brings out the true character of both an individual and an entire organization. Employees want to know whether they are indeed ‘the most valuable asset of an organization’ and consumers want to know whether the companies they are dealing with are indeed ‘caring’ and conscious of their ‘social responsibility’.
Maybe this crisis will bring forth new champions….true champions.
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