Recession Management Mistakes

This isn't the first recession our industry has fought it's way through and won't be the last.  Most will hunker down, let some overhead go and ride it out until the money starts flowing again.

But, this is the time, I've seen most of the management mistakes about deciding which staff must go and which will stay.  If you've had a metrics tracker and have been sharing the data with the staff, chances are good, your bottom feeders will "fire" themselves.  No surprises.  That's the way it is suppose to work.

Too many times, I've seen downturns used to get rid of the wrong people.  You must be looking at the total work and total costs associated with each staff person.  You may have a lower end person that doesn't cost you much, but provides some valuable assets to your company.  Or, you may have a high flying   that has been pulling down some big commissions, but is really just maintaining a long time client that would give you all their business anyway.

Think about who  you want on staff when things turn around.  That time usually requires the strongest cold callers and business developers.  On the recruiting side, you want to "steady Eddies" that know how to keep in contact with the top candidates, even when they don't have a current opportunity they fit.

Which ever way you go, as a owner and/or senior manager, make sure you look into the data and your impressions first hand and not take rumors or feelings as too strong of indicator.  It's a critical time in the evolution of your company, be sure!