Hiring good people in a recession can be tough, especially if you're talking about IT staff.
This year is predicted to see the bottoming out of the recession. Since we can't really know what's in store, most of us start the year with apprehension about our profits, growth and costs. Our natural reaction in a downturn is to go over the minutiae of our businesses, seeking opportunities to cut costs, cull deadwood, streamline, improve our customer service and more.
Inevitably our staff comes under pressure as they feel the internal office culture change. We put them under the same scrutiny as any other asset or aspect of our business. When they walk out of the door each night in these recessionary times, we probably ask ourselves: What do they do? Can they do it more efficiently? Can their line managers or I help them achieve more - for the company, and in their careers? Do I need them at all?
The IT sector isn't recession-proof but it is holding up well, for now, which means that the most talented among its ranks are going to assess their employers' commitment to them. Right now, you might need your IT staff more than they need you; but you may not have realised that yet.
While this may be the perfect time for your business to review its internal affairs (teams, departmental flexibility, costs and productivity...), you should not necessarily slash headcount for the sake of it. When business picks up, you may find it hard to recruit, incentivise remaining staff and win new clients if you've damaged your corporate image with excessive negativity and cut-backs. Today, your approach to your IT staff should be about training, motivating and planning to grow their talent, not just cutting out the deadwood.
The term in vogue today is not human resource management but talent management. Accenture recently published a paper entitled: Talent Management: You Must Dig Deep To Find the Right People For Any Business. Searching for and retaining talent is not as easy in a recession as you might think. And top IT people might be even harder to find.
It easy to see why demand is outstripping supply in these professions, and Malta's job market has resonance with the recruitment picture across the pond. Good sales people are like gold dust in a recession as we need to keep out there, reminding clients of our offer; and good IT staff are vital as we need to innovate, keep IT systems going, work them harder to crunch valuable customer data, and eke ROI out of our IT investments.
What is certain is that handling IT recruitment is going to take a lot more skill and time in a recession than in a boom. And that's probably not what most of us would have predicted.
• Dr Gatt is founder and director of Icon, a Maltese software applications product company specialising in web solutions and electronic marketing materials development.
This year is predicted to see the bottoming out of the recession. Since we can't really know what's in store, most of us start the year with apprehension about our profits, growth and costs. Our natural reaction in a downturn is to go over the minutiae of our businesses, seeking opportunities to cut costs, cull deadwood, streamline, improve our customer service and more.
Inevitably our staff comes under pressure as they feel the internal office culture change. We put them under the same scrutiny as any other asset or aspect of our business. When they walk out of the door each night in these recessionary times, we probably ask ourselves: What do they do? Can they do it more efficiently? Can their line managers or I help them achieve more - for the company, and in their careers? Do I need them at all?
The IT sector isn't recession-proof but it is holding up well, for now, which means that the most talented among its ranks are going to assess their employers' commitment to them. Right now, you might need your IT staff more than they need you; but you may not have realised that yet.
While this may be the perfect time for your business to review its internal affairs (teams, departmental flexibility, costs and productivity...), you should not necessarily slash headcount for the sake of it. When business picks up, you may find it hard to recruit, incentivise remaining staff and win new clients if you've damaged your corporate image with excessive negativity and cut-backs. Today, your approach to your IT staff should be about training, motivating and planning to grow their talent, not just cutting out the deadwood.
The term in vogue today is not human resource management but talent management. Accenture recently published a paper entitled: Talent Management: You Must Dig Deep To Find the Right People For Any Business. Searching for and retaining talent is not as easy in a recession as you might think. And top IT people might be even harder to find.
It easy to see why demand is outstripping supply in these professions, and Malta's job market has resonance with the recruitment picture across the pond. Good sales people are like gold dust in a recession as we need to keep out there, reminding clients of our offer; and good IT staff are vital as we need to innovate, keep IT systems going, work them harder to crunch valuable customer data, and eke ROI out of our IT investments.
What is certain is that handling IT recruitment is going to take a lot more skill and time in a recession than in a boom. And that's probably not what most of us would have predicted.
• Dr Gatt is founder and director of Icon, a Maltese software applications product company specialising in web solutions and electronic marketing materials development.