To Act or Not to Act: Welcome to the Recession
By Sara Mackey, Marketing Communications Specialist
Statewide Marketing Consortium of the Wisconsin Technical College System
As if the past few years in business haven’t been volatile enough, now those of us impacted by outside forces find ourselves batting down the hatches preparing for a hurricane-like recession. Just as the past few years’ accepted practices have done little to prepare us for what we’ve witnessed and experienced the past few years, the same is true for the accepted practices during a recession Contrary to popular belief, a recession is when it makes sense to invest in things that strengthen your business and build your brand equity and loyalty.
Certain business expenses, like marketing and advertising for example, might seem like low hanging fruit to be cut during a recession. Many consider a recession the worst time to cut marketing and advertising, because you want to remain top of mind when customers are ready to spend money again. Training is another investment that will almost always help the bottom line.
For example, with all the recent turmoil in hiring– and retaining—candidates, you may want to try to embrace your staff versus considering layoffs, because once the economy stabilizes, it may be difficult to get that staff back. Instead, you might want to consider cross training your employees or investing in other professional development that shows you value them and their engagement in the success of the company. In “normal” recession times, the employees may be more vulnerable to cuts, but there are many unknowns in the current job market, still under duress from the pandemic.
The more focus companies place on employees’ success, the more it will pay off in terms of reduced anxiety and attrition. Perhaps there are other areas to cut instead, maybe real estate holdings, capital purchases or inventory — for the moment anyway, without devastating the workforce which may already be vulnerable to mental health, economic and safety concerns.
Whatever you do, before you consider whether to act, and in which way, consider reaching out to the customized business service experts at your local technical college, whose collective knowledge, experience, and service is another low-cost investment. To learn more about the expertise and solutions available to you through the technical colleges, visit: https://www.wtcsystem.edu/workforce-solutions/.
This post is locked to comments.
