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Over the past years, the Washington, D.C. job market has been pretty close to full employment, and it was not uncommon for companies to simply hire people to have bodies filling seats. However, with the current economy’s state, this is not the case and many companies will be able to take advantage of this economic downturn. During recessions, the quality of professionals hired rises. In times like these when many companies are downsizing, the pool of highly educated and motivated professionals increases greatly as these individuals being to consider jobs outside their previous employers or industries that they may not have during a good economy.
Now is when smaller companies and those with poor reputations that often times have a difficult time attracting top-talent can look to hire a “rock-star” that they would never be able hire in a booming market. This individual can have a huge impact on an organization. In many cases, hiring talented people in a downturn will be the sole determining factor that separates these companies from their competitors. Although many companies argue falsity of this theory claiming that once the market takes the turn for the better, that “rock-star” individual will immediately look for other opportunities, the truth is that the impact this single individual can have on the company over only a few years is far greater than the risk the company may take hiring this person.
During market downturns, should also realize that now is the perfect time not only to upgrade to individuals with better talent, but also to engage existing staff members, as well as redesign roles. The McKinsey Quarterly states that, “As deteriorating performance forces increasingly aggressive head count reductions, it’s easy to lose valuable contributors inadvertently, damage morale or the company’s external reputation among potential employees, or drop the ball on important training and staff-development programs,” however, instead of making this mistake, by emphasizing talent in cost-cutting efforts, employers should focus on value they offer current and potential employees which should allow them to position themselves for strong growth when economic conditions recover.
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