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Using the Downturn to Maximise Talent and Position your Company for Upswing Growth

Malcolm Birkin takes a closer look at some of the dilemmas companies face in the current economic crisis; and gives us some ideas on how we can begin to position ourselves for growth in order to obtain an even bigger market share once the good times return.

by Malcolm Birkin

Given our current economic situation, there is little on offer in the SETA portfolio that is likely to be of much value either in suggesting how companies can ride out the long period of low growth, or what they could be doing to ensure that, when the good times return, they will obtain a much larger market share than they enjoyed before.

Managing people to obtain the maximum value from their skills and talent, understanding how to differentiate between good practices and the rest; assessing which mode of growth suits your company’s needs, all combine to address the essence of building a growth potential ready for the upswing. This enables companies to maximise their prospects of beating the competition when the market recovery begins.

Two types of companies
From previous experience of long downturns, we know that two types of companies emerge. There are those who simply dig in waiting for better days, and when their former customers spending power is restored, they simply expect them to return. The others are the smart ones. They know that customers do not simply return. Having been deprived of their spending power, in the future these customers will be more discerning about how they spend their money and the value they will receive. Smart companies will take advantage of this and will use the downturn as a great opportunity to position themselves to achieve a far larger share of the market when spending power returns.

Making the right choices
This exemplifies the problems that managers face today. There are so many different, and often contradictory, programmes and concepts on offer that it becomes almost impossible to decide which are good and which are bad. The end result is that many managers simply say: “I have no way of knowing which is good and which is bad, and I don’t have the time to find out, so I keep on doing what I have always been doing”. That is unfortunate because by continuing to do as they have always done, and having no interest in anything new, they condemn their companies to stagnation followed by decline.

Being able to differentiate between the many programmes on offer is a vital part of being able to move forwards. The confusion engendered by so many offerings has been cited as a reason for managers not wanting to move forwards. There is, however, a clear and concise route that shows us the good from the bad, and the lasting and proven from the many fads that come and go.

There is much that is new that we must be aware of and implement in our companies, but we should avoid selecting what is new simply because it is new, but only because it is so much better than the old. When your company has implemented the new best practices, you will enjoy a significant lead over your competitors. Due to the fact that much of the new is incompatible with the old, we cannot put off doing this for too long, or implementing the new becomes far more difficult, and in time, impossible. When we have achieved high levels of people management skills, we are well positioned for growth.

Positioning for growth: three essential actions
We hear many complaints about the lack of skills and talent, yet rarely do we manage the skills and talent we already have in the best possible way. We have to be sure that we can unleash all of the talent we have and in so doing, obtain not only far better results and unleash higher energy levels, but can obtain maximum value from our salary bills. Also, we are better placed to move into growth mode.

In essence, smart companies will embrace three essential actions. They will:

• Use the downturn to good advantage in unleashing their people’s full potential;
• Become aware of how to differentiate good, proven practices from the rest;
• Select the growth modes best suited to their needs.

Wanting to grow is admirable, but we have to assess which mode, or modes, of growth best suit each company. By implementing proven growth practices during the downturn, your company can maximise the chances of success when the market starts to move again. Only by doing so can we avoid a drop in our market share when the financial sun shines again! 

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