During high times, the best of the best are quickly snapped up by businesses which can pay higher salaries and which command their loyalty.
Often these employees are kept by those corporations even through recessions; they are that valuable.
Take Advantage of the Times
However, recessions bring a chance for employee hiring for small businesses. Recession employment allows small businesses to hire quality employees within an untapped market.
Many eligible young workers have trouble finding employment during a recession, and this labor pool is one that is simply unavailable to small businesses during boom times, when most young workers are immediately snapped up.
Hiring young workers and being able to take a pick of the crop is something that simply cannot be done by small business during boom times. Hiring bright, energetic, and loyal young employees during a recession means your business has a better chance of riding the hard times out, as these hires will reward you with loyalty.
Moreover, you will have a chance to instill a work ethic in these workers that will serve both them and your business well when the economy gets rolling again.
Their efforts will help you build a strong customer base, while the fact that you took them in when times were hard will be remembered when everyone is hiring again.
Avoiding Common Mistakes
One mistake that a lot of businesses, both large and small, make during recessions is treating their employees as if they were expendable.
We have all seen this mentality in the work place before; an employer makes no secret of the fact that she or he is getting dozens of resumes in each week, and can easily replace any worker at any time.
This is detrimental to a business in several different ways. First of all, it is just plain bad for morale.
Even when times are desperate, people can only take threats so often. While they might not quit outright, odds are that there are some things that will happen as an expression of their frustration with these tactics.
The result could be loss of customers.
Poor management through threats can also impact your customer base just through word of mouth. Remember that all employees have family and friends, and odds are good that these are the people who will use your business even during a recession, because that is where someone they know works.
If a business has a reputation of treating employees poorly, this important customer base will likely look elsewhere.
Remember as you hire and work with new employees during a recession that an employer market does not mean you need to hold a job over your employees’ heads.
Times will change again, and you want to make sure you keep the good people you found while they had to look for you.
There’s no better time to hire good employees than during a recession, and no better way to ensure that your company keeps moving forward when the economy does.
