HR

There is no more tangible manifestation of the economic downturn than mass redundancies and unemployment. As millions of people around the world face up to this fear, the role of Human Resources inside organisations becomes ever more important. All organisations are the sum of their people, but in times of crisis, the effectiveness of HR strategies can make all the difference between success and failure.

There are multiple, and at first glance potentially conflicting, priorities for companies in the current environment. In the short term, realising necessary cost efficiencies and raising performance and productivity whilst maintaining employee engagement provides a very real focus in which HR has a major role to play. But the recession is not just about maintaining profitability, organisations that look forward see not only opportunity to implement  innovative business practices and cultural change to differentiate themselves in a tougher market place, but are actively gearing up for the upturn.

HR always needs to balance a tactical versus strategic focus and this is all the more critical in this business environment. The temptation for many senior executives in times of economic trouble is to slash at headcount in order to cut payroll costs. But reactive redundancies may only provide a short term fix and can leave the organisation exposed to further problems in the longer term when the economy improves and opportunities return, but the talent pool and resources are not there to meet them.

Organisations need to be conscious of the morale of their employees. In times of fear, uncertainty and doubt, employees need to be focused on delivering the best results for the organisation, not on worrying about their own job security. Is your staff able to work in a way that brings out the best from them? Smart Working strategies can optimise the work environment to maximise employee and business cost benefits and enhance productivity. Almost every organisation has room for improvement.

The current global crisis is an opportunity to focus on making sure that your operations are as efficient and effective as possible. It is a time for Performance Management programmes to be put in place or refreshed to ensure that all employees are delivering to their full potential. This can create a culture which is flexible and responsive to customer needs and focused on improvement. Ensuring that you are structured for success and  that your operating model is as effective as possible in delivering business priorities will also deliver significant cost and productivity benefits.

Organisations seeking to maximise their operational capabilities need to factor in the people element in order to match the capability of the workforce with business requirements.  By examining Human Capital Measurement strategies organisations can understand and optimise the relationships between investment strategy, people management and business performance.  

An economic downturn is also a time to strengthen your talent pool and more effectively manage the talent already within the organisation for optimal business performance. Are you identifying and developing the next generation of leaders and encouraging top talent to remain and thrive within your organisation? Are your reward strategies driving a high performance culture? Do you have a strong employer brand to both attract good talent as well as increase retention in a highly competitive market and challenging economic conditions?

The challenge for all organisations is to ensure that employees are aligned to the business strategy in order to survive in an unpredictable economic climate. Capgemini has the HR practitioners, skills and expertise to assist clients in achieving this.

Our HR capabilities include: