With industry giants stumbling and falling down all around, many organizations and companies are quite rightly scared of how the crisis might affect them as well. The credit crunch and its accompanying effects on the economy mean that people and businesses alike are much more hesitant to spend and invest their hard-earned money. This leads to decreased sales, revenues, and profits, making it necessary to put in place many different austerity measures. However, an important realization that should be obvious but is usually obscured by panic and worry is that it is vital to control HR performance in financial recession.

That is, controlling HR performance means making sure that the HR department performs its duties better and more consistently than ever. In times of crisis, every organization, to some extent, has to fall back on its people and rely on the built-up strength of its internal relationships. These internal ties will only hold strong enough through the crisis with the unceasing support of the human resources department.

One obvious duty that HR department has to fulfill is to keep morale and employee mood as high as possible, in the face of discouraging news and economic forecasts. This should be accomplished by fostering communication within the organization. For example, meetings should not be lessened during times of crisis, but instead increased, because they provide venues for personnel to talk with their peers and superiors about their concerns. Psychologists and HR consultants should prepare themselves for the tough time ahead dealing with different personalities, from dejected executives to depressed secretaries. Extensive communication in the form of meetings and widely circulating memos will help to make everyone realize that they are part of one organization. This will also help them realize that they should try their best to help everyone else make it through these tough times.

Another related and equally important HR goal is to retain employees, especially the top performers, the best people. Crises are notorious for greatly increasing inter-organization mobility, or, that is, making employees consider their employment options elsewhere. What is often worse is that the people at the top with more credentials and qualifications under their belt are also in the best position to choose other jobs. Thus, human resources should focus on retaining these top employees by being transparent and keeping them updated on all the company’s developments. Keeping them in the loop, so to speak, will let them see how hard the organization is striving to maintain performance and integrity, even during the tough period of recession.

Of course, transparency and communication would work to the organization’s detriment without a solid business plan to back it up. Management and the various departments should work together to draft a unified, sensible strategy for weathering the crisis with minimal loss. But to implement this plan and keep everyone working well together, it is essential to control HR performance in financial recession. People are an organization’s most important assets during periods of crisis, and its policies and decisions should certainly reflect that fact.