Recession anxiety is at the top of the news every day. It's inevitable that your team and staff will be affected.
Symptoms of recession anxiety include: chronic worry about job security and financial issues. Is your business going to survive? Will you have to lay people off? Arguments, gossip, stress-related ailments, and loss of productivity due to managers and employees taking sick days can reduce your company's effectiveness at the time you need it most.
Here are some guidelines for proactive management:
. Keep information flowing. Employees who sense that management is holding out on them by witholding information tend to lose motivation. Even if the future of your business is uncertain, keep your team informed and make sure the flow of information reaches everyone in the company.
. Educate your team. Every business goes through high and low cycles. Emphasize the importance of focusing on the word "cycle" in all corporate communications. No matter how bad the news reports, a recession is only a cycle.
. Use Recession Anxiety as a motivational tool. Empower your team with incentives that reward innovative approaches to managing during tough times. Instead of letting recession anxiety run rampant, take charge by reassuring staff and management that you believe in your business...and you believe in them. Remind them you are all in this together.
. See the Big Picture. Keep everyone's eye on the goals. During times of organizational stress. it is easy to lose focus. Set short-term goals for each department and team. Help staffers keep a record of goals as they are met.
. Reward top performers. This does not require additional budget. Utilize the slower pace of business to offer time off as reward for accomplishments: an extra day off on holiday weekends or perhaps a half-day on Friday.
. Celebrate the crisis. Tough times offer invaluable opportunities for leadership and innovation. Encourage a winning mind-set among management and staff.
. Look around the corner. Years from now, your company may be able to look at the current recession as a positive experience because of how it strengthened leadership, motivational skills, and teambuilding.
(Dr. Laurie Nadel offers executive coaching and management seminars to show you how to identify key opportunities during low business cycles and/or recession.)
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