Clients with the wisdom to be willing to be open-minded as regards transferable skills will ultimately source the best staff. But even in these volatile times, taking a long term-view will pay dividends – aligning the needs of the business with those of the workforce can bring effective strategies to the fore. Altering the permanent/contract workforce mix, retraining, reskilling and redeploying staff to growth areas are all positive steps in uncertain times and can avoid the often considerable cost of redundancies.

As the effects of the credit crunch continue to bite, redundancies are increasingly common, particularly across the property, construction and finance sectors.  But for clients, the current economic climate can be used as an opportunity to redeploy where necessary, saving costly redundancy fees and avoiding loss of morale and the leaching of valuable experience from the business. The culture has evolved: if a department doesn’t have enough work, a change is in order, and ensuring that the muscle is not cut in order to maintain corporate knowledge is vital. By identifying transferable skills and any training and development gaps, valuable staff can be retained, ensuring that the organisation will survive, grow and prosper.

Embracing change is a valuable skill in these challenging times and the willingness to cross sectors is essential for candidates. Top achievers may find it hard to accept that they can no longer dictate the terms of their employment. But now is the time to think creatively and to use that intelligence to reshape the future. Recruitment agencies or a professionally accredited career coach or mentor can help with plans to ‘recareer’. 

Gin and golf may have to wait 

Each move will have its own unique learning curves for candidate and client alike. Despite uncertain times, there is a silver lining for early retirees or consultants as well as for seasoned managers, hardened by boom and bust, who have experienced earlier recessions and who understand how to manage risk and work-outs. It’s a sad fact that in the current crisis, gin and golf may have to be put aside for just a few more years… 

Many current business difficulties stem from employees suffering from under-skilled managers. When businesses have not traded through a recession it follows that its managers haven’t either. The problem is compounded if most of those in the organisation who could have helped to fill in the gaps and rescue the situation have been forced (voluntarily or otherwise) to take early retirement. Bring back these retirees as consultants, part-time if necessary, but come back they should and as quickly as possible. 

Retraining as an insolvency practitioner, for instance, could take several years for someone from another discipline. So an increased demand for those who have experienced the insolvencies of a decade ago makes sense – they may just be able to hit the ground running and lead the country out of recession. 

It may not be easy to predict exactly what systems will be needed in this current climate and the available range of skills is often sadly lacking.

But one thing’s for sure, a decision to bring back some ‘grey hairs’ – like the recent wise decision by the Conservative Party to bring back Ken Clarke, can only be to the good. 

As the international financial services industry continues to evolve and grow, the UK economy is in a better position at this stage than in recessions seen before. Low interest rates and inflation give the UK strong economic foundations for recovery. 

Bouncing back bigger and stronger 

A bracing shake-out of the industry will continue as the economy slows. But the need for high calibre employees means that those who get it right will bounce back bigger and stronger. Once things pick up, more companies will be formed in a thriving economy which means more competition and vulnerability for existing companies who will look for professional advice on profit improvement and working capital review. So whatever the economic circumstances there is always room for corporate recovery jobs and an accompanying demand for qualified professionals. 

Once the storm has passed, the industry will be able to go forward on much firmer foundations. 

Article written by BONNIE YUILL (commissioned by Commercial Finance People)

For any information on recruitment issues contact Prue Heron on 0845 260 2525