Layoffs, Downsizing are all terms synonymous with problems for candidates/employees. That’s a common belief. However, one seems to forget that it leaves an equal impact on the employer. Human Resources must iron out the troubles or difficulties that arise once the workforce has been diminished through terminations or layoffs. Consequently, the question may arise of how Companies can maintain a positive image while also ensuring that downsizing does not cause stress to employees.
Ms Neha Sahi, Senior Director of human resources at Trell, addressed this issue during an episode of #Human’sOfHiring with Hirect India. She has experience working with well-known companies such as zest money, Avail Finance, and Trell. In this online event hosted by Hirect, Neha outlines a comprehensive roadmap by providing a comprehensive overview of what can be done to streamline hiring strategies while downsizing.
Tweaking Hiring Strategies When Downsizing
By sharing her views on this, Neha Sahi confirms that changes are inevitable to a company’s hiring strategies when downsizing. She adds that most people do not understand the psyche behind a company trying to hire while reducing, and they are likely to receive a lot of criticism for the same.
Downsizing is uncomfortable for everyone, whether employees, human resources professionals, or founders. Human resources must manage downsized employees while keeping potential hires motivated during such times. As a result, the company’s sellability, USPs, and approach to existing employees have to change. Messages and conversations with potential employees also change. It’s important to manage many things while ensuring that nobody feels dissuaded or disappointed. Therefore, strategies, policies, approaches, and plans vary over time.
Efficient Strategy to Attract Talents to a Company that is Downsizing
Meanwhile, regarding the efficient hiring strategy to adopt, Neha Sahi mentions that companies usually only hire for critical roles when they are downsizing. Hence, the talent they attract is for particular departments or teams not impacted by the downsizing. The companies rely on these teams to generate revenue and keep their finances afloat, and in the future, they can help their company bounce back.
A company’s messaging about hiring for a particular role has to be more precise and clear if it is going through a downsizing. There is a marked difference in the sellability of each role in such circumstances. A candidate is unsure whether the company is a good fit because of too much uncertainty attached to it. As a result, it would take more conversations to convince new talent to join the company.
To attract these candidates, allow them to interact with the company’s retained employees. The charm and experience of human resources can also play an essential role in ensuring that good talent joins the company despite such circumstances.
Tips to Ensure the Safety of Retained Employees
While leading the discussion to tips on ensuring the safety of retained employees, Neha reasserts that keeping all of the company’s employees happy, motivated, and engaged with strict budgetary constraints is challenging. However, there is always hope, and retaining employees informed and in constant communication with them is an excellent way to make employees feel like their presence in the organisation matters. It is also crucial for HR professionals and upper management to monitor the professional well-being of their employees. Keeping employees motivated and instilling faith in the process and the company is critical.
As a result, constant clear communication between employees, human resource professionals, and management is critical to making employees feel safe, without which the likelihood of them leaving increases.
Ensuring Balanced Redistribution of Responsibilities Among Employees
Finally, talking about ensuring balanced redistribution of responsibilities among employees, the speaker adds that as a direct result of downsizing, the distribution of work will compound on every employee. However, most companies reduce the number of projects and tasks during downsizing. The number of brands in the company’s panels is smaller, but the collaboration and coordination are greater. Human resources and management should make an effort to understand the level of stress on individual employees and provide them with all the assistance they require. Hiring interns would be a cost-effective way to reduce workload, and they could prove efficient if adequately trained.
Advice to Young HR Professionals
She concludes the event with some advice for Young HR Professionals who are facing a very different time today, following the pandemic, with many changes occurring, a recession on the horizon, and companies letting go. All these have put a lot of pressure on these professionals. She believes HRs should keep their eyes and ears open and learn from all the experiences and what is happening around them. HRs must collaborate with the outside world while implementing changes within their companies. So, they need to be very proactive in everything around them. It is also essential to be honest and transparent with the employees if the company faces any problems. Human Resources will need support from the management and the employees. Ensure that people have the support and resources they need. Generally, just be more empathetic and be aware of the times.
