A happy New Year to you.
I don’t say this lightly, for there are plenty of reasons to be happy. This time last year I wrote of the impending recession, and it certainly turned out to be a year of cutbacks and etrenching.
However, there appears to be
light at the end of the tunnel.
Just last week the NZ Institute of
Economic Research (NZIER) was
quoted in the NBR as saying “the
outlook for 2010 is positive” and “the worst of the global fi nancial
crisis is behind us”. It expects
households and businesses to
start spending and job security to
gradually improve. However, the
NZIER continues, “the outlook is
not without headwinds” – interest
rates will rise, our exchange
rate is still too high (reducing
our export competitiveness), and the housing market may be
more restrained. (There are some
that will argue that the latter is a
good thing.)
Then yesterday, another piece of
good news landed in my inbox – this time the Hudson Report
on employment expectations,
which said that most employers
are looking to increase rather
than reduce headcount, with the
number of employers looking to
reduce headcount expected to
decrease. “It’s great to see such
a positive start to the year,” said
Marc Burrage, Hudson New
Zealand’s executive general manager. “Although there is broad
recognition that the economic
recovery will be a gradual affair,
employers are increasingly looking
for opportunities to protect
and grow their business … many
are starting to think about the
staff they need to create and capitalise on opportunities in the
year ahead.”
And therein lies the key to recovery.
How will you hold on to your top staff? As Willie van Heusden, president of CBAFF, points out in his editorial in this edition’s Trade Talk, those employees who have held on through restructurings are likely to be what he calls the ‘survivors’. They are the people who have stayed productive throughout the downturn and who companies want to keep – and almost certainly will nowbe top of the list of other businesses who are on the prowl for talent.
In just a couple of years, the
tables have turned on employers
and there are now more choices
in the job market for employees. “It’s critical that businesses examine
their strategies for attracting
and retaining top talent,” adds
Hudson’s Marc Burrage. “Additional
financial remuneration will
present challenges, so they will
need to fi nd alternative ways to
reward and recognise individualsto ensure an engaged, motivated
and productive team.”
If you only make one New Year’s
resolution this year, perhaps it
should be this one. Take care of
your most important asset – your
people.
Until next time …
Lynne Richardson, editor