When we accept it is not governments that drive recessions but the following, then we will be better placed to manage our companies through these recessions. And I have been through a few.

Government debt tends to rise after recessions, which is undesirable for governments when looking at government spending. It is undesirable as it is a business model for our businesses. No business wants too much debt.

1. The financial crisis, like bank liquidity, is not government-led or controlled.
2. A rise in interest rates – this is not government-led or controlled. The BOE is independent.
3. Inflation – Inflation outstrips nominal wage increases unless you are a civil servant. This is not government-led or controlled.
4. Exchange rate – The financial markets, not governments, control the exchange rates.
5. Trade war – We are always in one form of a trade war or another.
6. Fall in consumer/business confidence. Our confidence is based on 1 through 5.
7. Fiscal austerity. When governments cut spending.

 

The government's austerity is outnumbered 6-1 by matters in the hands mainly of the financial markets and consumers.

It is essential to know this in business because you can't fix a broken ankle by putting a band-aid on your finger. Or put another way, calling out the government (any government) for recessions is about as effective as barking at the moon.

We can't have it all ways round; we can’t say governments can't tell us how to live our lives and then blame governments when we live our lives blind to the effect of 1-6, and it is us, the people, that drive that.

To survive and indeed thrive in recessions, we need to do the following generics:

1. Look to where we can improve our offering inside the price we charge.
2. Be closer to our client/potential client place and know more about who is doing well and who is struggling. We can then better place the pitches we can make.
3. Be sensitive to the needs of our current clients.
4. Be prepared to diversify.
5. Be prepared to work harder.
6. Delay our ambitions for a four-day week.
7. Review our marketing.
8. Be more planned in what we do.
9. Look to where we can cut costs, and keep in mind when we cut spending, we are taking money out of the economy, which has an impact on 1-6.
10. Recognising doing a Pheonix from the flames is a business strategy for survival, not a Cardinal Sin.

In recruitment, we need to do the following specifics.

1. Support your mental health and your employees.
2. Market candidates with a value proposition pitch to employers.
3. Focus harder than ever on the team, not individual performance.
4. Tweak your recruiter's roles if need be to include or exclude tasks that boom markets can carry (i.e those that are not practicable in a recession).
5. Add more value to the employers who engage with you.
6. Find opportunities to scope creep on the niches you focus on now.
7. Allow consultants more time for research than phone bashing.
8. Review your supply chain for job advertising and make sure it really works.
9. Work all the roles you get, not just the cream of the crop.
10. Increase your marketing.

Where does your Recruitment Website fit in

1. You can market candidates easily from your website; the best news is it is cheap as chips to do so.
2. You can differentiate between clients and better recruiter features like branded microsites for those in the hunt for growth for a diversified fee.
3. Using your website better for content increases your marking for free.
4. You can have your website content automatically distributed to clients and candidates, again controlling and often optimising your marketing spend.
5. If you are overpaying for your recruitment website tech with high costs SaaS models, you can come to us for low-cost SaaS

Good luck out there, recruiters.

Got any questions or need any more advice on how your recruitment website can help? Then connect with me here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/recruitmentwebsitedesign/