The recent drop in oil prices has had a huge impact on the industry in Alberta. The resulting economic downturn has caused companies large and small to lay off employees, enforce hiring freezes, or shut their doors altogether in order to increase their working capital.

While the financial benefits of reducing employee numbers is immediately apparent, the decision can have a very negative impact on the remaining employees.

The employees who remain may experience a lack of motivation, sense of instability and increased workload which can lead to burnout. These implications could be detrimental to your company long term.

When you decide to downsize:

Sometimes when the economy takes a nose dive, your only option is to downsize.

If your organization must take this route, there are several strategies that you can utilize designed to limit the negative impact on your remaining workforce.

Hiring a human resource consultant during this time can be extremely beneficial. They can help you develop and implement a downsizing strategy, offer support to your employees who are exiting the company and help you minimize the impact on your remaining staff.

Alternatively you can support your workforce by utilizing an outplacement service. Outplacement services are designed to assist the employees that are being let go due to a downsize in finding new employment.

When you implement a hiring freeze:

If you are able to weather the storm without downsizing, you may choose to implement a hiring freeze (only hire strategically for essential positions while restructuring your current workforce).

During times of economic downturn the talent pool of skilled employees greatly increases as many companies downsize. If you are in a hiring freeze during these times you run the risk of missing potential opportunities to snatch up top talent.

Smart organizations pause hiring in non-essential departments while strategically looking for top talent that will bring sought after skills or additional revenue to the company.

In order to free up your HR departments time so that they can focus on restructuring we recommend hiring a contingency-based search firm to assist you with talent searches. They can actively keep looking for top talent to fill important roles within your company and no expenses will be incurred until the candidate is screened and ready to be interviewed.

When you have project work or fluctuations of demand

A contingent workforce could be the best solution for organizations that do not have a long-term need for permanent employees, but may have a larger project coming up or an increase in workload.

This means utilizing skilled temporary workers in conjunction with your core staff when needed. Contingent workforce planning is a simple but effective way to ensure customer requirements are met when demand rises without incurring the additional costs of extra employees when times are slow.

Although Alberta’s energy sector is not booming right now, there are still ways to navigate the economic arena while maximizing potential opportunities for hiring top talent.

The above are some available options for organizations that are willing to rise above the downturn, and begin planning for the bright future of Alberta. In true Albertan fashion, take the bull by the horns and position your organization for success when the market starts bucking!

To estimate the impact that hiring can have on your company's bottom line, access TPD's Cost of Hiring Worksheet below!

This post was written by Connor Brown. He is an Account Manager on our Calgary Team. His wealth of knowledge is apparent from his extensive background in Recruitment - and Albertan roots!