It’s amazing how quickly things can change.
With the calamitous shock to the stock market and business leaders like Bill Gates predicting that unemployment “may peak at more than nine percent,” the prospects of easy job finding have all but vanished overnight.
And with that has come a sudden change in business priorities and an altered outlook among employees.
What a difference a year makes
The results of engagement surveys were obsessed over and programs were rolled out designed to ensure employees did not roam.
In times like these, cost cutting becomes the name of the game. And the easiest way to reduce cost is to reduce headcount while simultaneously freezing the number of new hires.
As employers “pull in their horns,” so too do employees. Survival becomes paramount, trepidation about pursuing outside options grows and career advancement takes a backseat to job security.
But employees paralyzed by dread is not a formula for moving business forward.
Evolved employers know that people really are their most important asset and that retaining them through fear rarely leads to increased productivity or business success. While cutting staff may be necessary and running lean an imperative, maintaining employee engagement is now more important than ever.
So while the reality of finding jobs in the current workplace has changed, the need for engaged and committed employees has not.
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