RIDING OUT THE ECONOMIC STORM
- mobilising employee engagement

Business confidence can be fickle, almost bipolar in nature - euphoria during
good times and deep depression during bad! During good times employees are
regarded as vital to business success, as assets to be invested in.
During bad times it is easy to fall into the trap of regarding employees as a cost
and therefore an opportunity to quickly react to reduced fortunes by culling them.
Many companies having traveled this road discover that, when the good times
return, they are short of delivery capacity and there are other consequences as
well, namely, surviving employees are likely to continue to feel insecure, looking
out for more stable employment and prospective employees will not easily
gravitate to an employer who may be regarded as fickle.
DRG Outsourcing recommends that enterprises who consider themselves
threatened by economic circumstances to not communicate "doom and gloom"
messages to their employees. This will simply cause people to focus on survival
behaviour/ agendas and in so doing become dysfunctional, that is, disengaged
from the job at hand.
Far better is for them to really engage employees in the challenges that face the
business, to involve them in the discovery of solutions - to deliver beyond
expectations. Focus on the "We" - we are faced with particular circumstances, we
will manage them (not respond to them) and we will get through these times and
circumstances - together, just as entrepreneurs do.
In this scenario, when economic circumstances become more conducive to
growth, the enterprise will be very well positioned in terms of competitive
advantage through can do delivery capacity.
In more difficult times enterprises are urged to redouble their efforts at what we
call Performance Leadership (as opposed to Performance Management - via a
system). The objective is to create a spirit of entrepreneurship throughout the
enterprise so that, especially in these times, competitive advantage is assured, to
be used to advantage.
The DRG Performance Leadership Process ensures that employees become
highly engaged in the enterprise, through becoming very clear on the Purpose of
their work, understanding the dynamics of the business and how each role is
pivotal to achievement of enterprise objectives. In constrained economic
circumstances, organisations remain just that - inwardly focused, whereas
enterprises think on their collective feet, ride out the storm and emerge even
stronger for the experience! The question is: are you an organisation - likely to
revert to type when feeling threatened, or an enterprise - capitalising on
adversity?
 -

   Kim Odell kim@ep.co.za

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