This phrase, uttered in times of crisis, as deep and prolonged as the current ones, can incite a certain personal and business immobility. But one thing is to call for prudence in the face of uncertainty and quite another is to remain completely immobile in difficult times, because of “whatever may happen” .
Based on this paralyzing attitude, no one would want to make wrong decisions, due to a lack of initiative or action; but we would not be able to move forward either. And not moving forward, whatever the time we live in – with or without a crisis – means going backwards. We must not forget those religious teachings of our childhood that told us that we can sin by thought, word, deed or omission; and the “sins of omission” are usually the most serious and have the most disastrous consequences.
Even though at times it may not be possible to have all the information possible or necessary to make decisions, it is a matter of avoiding paralysis by analysis.
In situations that we could describe as normal, that is, in chinese america data periods of prosperity, social and economic stability, full employment and sustained development, prudence must be one of the most outstanding virtues of the person responsible for the Talent Management function; in periods of uncertainty, it must be even more so, but being very attentive so as not to miss those opportunities that the crisis itself can present to us. In times of crisis, the unwanted mobility of staff can take on particularly high and uncomfortable dimensions. That is why a good Talent Manager must be a good scout, someone with a good long-term vision , a good experience , with which he must be very attentive to the possibilities of detecting and identifying that good talent that some companies do not know how to reach or end up losing, either consciously or unconsciously. And, above all, not fall into the easy trap that to improve the profit and loss account, the only solution is to reduce personnel costs.
For this very reason, innovation must be another of the good qualities to be cultivated and developed by a good people manager. Management criteria that are valid in times of prosperity may not be so in periods of crisis. New problems require new solutions. New situations, the new scale of values of the new generations, new professions, will require a capacity for innovation that was not necessary even ten years ago.
In “May 1968” (I recommend that the younger generation review that already historic event) one of the most widely spread graffiti was: “Imagination, power” ; a slogan that became a youthful slogan and that could be very relevant today. For this reason, I believe that we should not fall into the easy solution of basing employee discrimination, in a restructuring, only on economic criteria. Preserving knowledge and talent should be above the exclusive reduction of personnel costs.