By Paul Croteau

While many business owners are so focused they don’t take much time to keep track of national or regional economic factors, guaranteed, they have certainly been sitting up and paying attention to what’s happened over the past year. With Manitoba being an exporter of goods and the Canadian dollar at par, our manufacturers are struggling. The ongoing US sub-prime mortgage issue is impacting some of our industries and the recent jump in gas prices has many of us running for cover.

The reaction to gas prices has been quick and deadly for the larger automobile and airline companies. It didn’t take them long to engage in the necessary belt tightening and cost cutting tactics. So far, thousands of employees have been laid off. Hiring freezes are being implemented and budgets for new positions are being quietly dropped. Every business, no matter where they are located, is focusing on reducing operational expenses and trying to weather this newest survival challenge. Employees too, are hunkering down and working hard hoping that the layoff notice won’t hit them.

A downturn in the economy is a good opportunity to engage in self assessment. Think about conducting an employee satisfaction survey, find out why employees like working for you. Use the positive traits in your marketing strategies, focus on attracting other like minded candidates to your organization. Use this time to repair any employee dissatisfiers, and especially work on maintaining employee security. Keep up open and honest communication and look at other opportunities such as cross training so that your employees are more flexible and can meet your needs going forward.

It is well known that employees leave organizations because of poor leadership style. So, to reduce your vulnerability from employee poaching by your competitors, and increase your competitive advantage, take this time to invest in leadership training. The most effective training is a program that is offered over a six month time frame where participants can implement what they learn following every training module. Focus on a program that offers self awareness, an understanding of how the leader builds teams and impacts on overall organizational success. Ensure the program also offers individual coaching over this timeframe.

At the same time, this stage of an economy provides a great opportunity to thoroughly examine your business vision and goals. Where are you going…what is your vision? What opportunities will let you gain competitive advantage? What are your barriers and obstacles? What leadership skills and competencies are needed to go forward? Where do you find them? How do you attract them? What do you have to offer versus your competitors?

While a downturn economy sounds like a very constrictive and unforgiving environment, believe it or not, conducting an executive search for good personnel during times like this can prove very valuable. Keep in mind that ensuring your organization has highly productive and well performing employees is critical to ongoing success. In fact, it is to your advantage to search out candidates who may want to leave a struggling firm to join your organization. In other words, a downturn in the economy can allow you to make very strategic moves from a recruitment point of view.

The best approach to executive search in a downturn environment is to utilize the services of a well respected executive search firm with extensive research capabilities. Remember, employees will hunker down during this time. Many of the highly qualified candidates will not be looking and when contacted, may be hard to convince that a move is worth their while. It takes skill and persistence to make this happen along with a multiple selection of various advertising and networking strategies.

What is a research approach to executive search all about? A research approach requires dedicated personnel who spend their time researching various organizations and mining the data from websites, newspaper advertisements and business articles to compile a list of contacts. These contacts work in your industry, are known leaders and are successful in their professions, but typically, they are happy in their current job. A research approach is essentially a social networking approach to finding potential candidates.

Contact is made with each individual, the opportunity is presented and if personally interested, documentation on the opportunity will be forwarded. If there is no interest, the search professional asks for a referral. Hundreds and hundreds of candidates are contacted, locally, regionally, nationally and even internationally. Resumes are received and stored in electronic databanks for future use.

An economic downturn is a difficult test for business and requires a leader’s undivided attention. So, while you are busy fighting fires, your search professional is busy identifying candidates who fit your organizational profile. This is the kind of teamwork needed to help your organization acquire the high performing employees who will drive your vision forward.

With reporting by 6P Marketing

Paul Croteau, B.Comm., CMA, FCMA is a member of Waterhouse Executive Search Partners, a Canada-wide executive search firm. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 204-943-0553.