The Benefits of Cooperation
A report published by the CBI and recruitment consultants Harvey Nash shows that employers and staff are working together to protect jobs by increasing flexible working and by freezing pay and recruitment. The CBI hails this saying that one of the recession’s “most positive and striking aspects has been the commitment of many businesses and their staff to work together to try to trim costs and save jobs”. It is indeed a welcome trend, although unfortunately there are many companies and staff, who have a diametrically opposed position.
Earlier this year, both on this blog and in the Career Energy book How to Get Job In A Recession we remarked on how this recession differed from previous slowdowns because there was a real sense that companies, customers and staff were all pulling together. Sadly, things seemed to deteriorate over the ensuing weeks, with customers taking longer to pay bills and with several trades unions and employers entering into dispute. So the report comes as welcome reassurance that, as a society, we have a more mature attitude to the impact of recession than previously.
It all comes down to leadership. Those companies whose leaders are able to engage with their staff, to explain the problems that the companies are facing, to reassure them that they have their interests at heart and consequently need their buy in to wage freezes and flexible working patterns, are likely to succeed. Those leaders who have been so badly affected by the recession that they have lost their ability to lead effectively are unlikely to engage staff in the same way.
The bottom line is clear. The recession may be easing but it remains a problem for all of us. The more we can co-operate, both within and across companies, to mitigate its effects, the more secure our jobs will be and the quicker we will be able to return to normal trading conditions.
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Tags: Career Advice, Career Change, Career Energy, career management, Career Planning, careers, jobs, recession, Redundancy, unemployment
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