Written by Carl Freelove, Marketing Manager, Big fish Recruitment

By now we all are on intimate terms with the credit crunch (or credit crisis as some financial papers are now calling it).  And the recent findings of the latest Q3 Bellwether report made for unpleasant reading, indicating that marketing budgets have been revised down by record levels and that business confidence is at its lowest level since the survey began!

However, Big fish were pleased to learn that the ‘State of The Nation’ survey by The Drum magazine, which surveyed more than 200 businesses and agencies from the marketing community outside London, paints an altogether more positive picture.

The findings of the survey show that few companies are planning to downsize, with 60.7% aiming to retain their current size and 27.5% looking to grow and increase head count over the next 6 months.

In fact, despite all the news of businesses slashing headcount to ride the storm, the resounding feeling felt by many respondents to the survey was “cut costs, not people”. After all, when it comes to generating real value and bottom-line return, it’s the people who will help businesses to capitalise on new opportunities and grow with the economy as the financial climate hots back up (hopefully sooner rather than later).

So if business owners and employers within the marketing industry need talent more than ever, then perhaps it’s a crucial time to examine how the ‘crunch’ is affecting staff as well as the bottom line! After all, with the economy seemingly in the doldrums, it’s all too easy for staff to fall into the same trap as they reassess their career situation!

In a tougher economic environment, retention strategies become more important, and while the old cliché that happy employees are more productive certainly rings true, what can you do to get your workforce fully on side for the benefit of the company’s business?

Well, you can do a lot. As specialists in marketing recruitment, we advise clients on a range of strategies to reduce churn and improve retention. But you won’t be surprised to learn that we believe whole-heartedly that the process begins with finding the right person.

That’s why we spend so much time at the outset focusing on the candidate’s personality, style, aspirations and potential, to make sure that these match the needs of the business. But as many of our clients will agree, it’s worth the effort.

But even when you’ve found the right person, you need to keep them engaged and other than throwing cash at the problem, how can you incentivise your staff to stick around? Big fish have put together the following strategies:

1. Knowledge share. Engage in informal meetings, training, mentoring and team building.
2. Incentivise from the top down. Give line managers responsibility for the turnover of staff in their teams.
3. Don’t sacrifice career progression. Often the first thing to go when times get tough, keep promoting your best people and rewarding success or watch them look elsewhere.
4. Give back. Offer positive feedback. Highlight and reward good work or special talents.
5. Be flexible. People’s lives will continue to change in a recession. Try and accommodate flexible working and individual needs of employees within the company.  Flexible working and work-life balance can improve motivation and productivity.
6. Develop non-financial rewards that will alleviate the financial pressure for employees – e.g. retail shopping vouchers, gym membership, subsidised public transport etc
7. Offer job security. The slightest whiff that their job is at stake and even the most loyal employee will start to look at their options.
8. For more information and strategies on employee engagement, make sure you also read our other article by employer branding strategist, Krishna De.

So to conclude, as long as people feel they are developing and moving forwards professionally, they will be more than just faithful employees. They’ll be brand ambassadors and the strongest advocates of your business to customers, agency clients and other potential employees – even in tough economic times.

Best wishes

Carl Freelove
Marketing Manger
Big fish Recruitment