Dos and don’ts… in a downturn

What should the role of HR be in a recession? Should the profession forget the past 10 years and revert to the safe territory of “hirer and firer”, assembling assessment criteria and writing redundancy cheques? Or is now the opportunity to demonstrate that HR acts as a true business partner, delivering real value in difficult times?

Different actions are needed to deliver great HR service, both as the recession starts to affect an organisation and once the full impact of the recession is felt. For many organisations the visible signs include deteriorating sales forecasts, declining revenue growth and customers seeking to renegotiate contracts. The danger for HR is that increased pressure to do something radical leads to poorly conceived actions. These can drive morale to an all-time low, prompting top talent to desert the organisation as soon as the recovery starts.