There are many mistakes managers often make during financial crises, including 7 of the most serious. To steer the business in the face of thousands of job losses and bankruptcies every day, managers often focus on cutting costs and neglect other things such as building a team of employees and developing customer relationships. This is a big mistake because employees and customers are the basic support that helps businesses overcome the crisis. Consulting and Recruitment Company Robert Half International (USA) conducted a customer survey and found 30 mistakes that managers often make during a crisis, of which the following 7 mistakes are the most serious.
1. Thinking that employees should not know the truth: If you often “forget” to share with your employees about the business situation, now is a good time to start. Being open and honest about the impact of the crisis on the company will help employees feel more responsible and responsible for their work. You can discuss with them how they overcame difficulties in the past and how they are coping in the present.
2. Assuming employees should be happy because they still have jobs: While many employees are secretly happy about it, it doesn’t mean they don’t need praise and encouragement, especially the best ones. Their excellence needs to be recognized because “a piece of cake in the village is better than a basket in the kitchen corner”.
3. Blame the board of directors: Often the department head is the one who has to break the bad news to the employees. And to gain their sympathy, they will add a subtle sentence: “Unfortunately, if I had the power to make the decision…”. This should not be said, because it implies that you disagree with the board of directors and it will make the employees anxious. It is better to inform them about the change and the reason for it.
4. Not engaging employees in developing customer relationships: Encourage employees to think about how they can contribute to the company's business goals. If possible, involve employees in finding new orders. Through employees, you can strengthen relationships with existing customers or reach new customers.
5. Give the labeler the impossible task: After downsizing to save money, the remaining employees often have to do the work of 2 or 3 people. If you force them to do everything in this situation, you are putting them in an impossible situation, because not everyone is Tom Cruise. So if this happens, help employees identify the most important tasks that need to be done, which can be outsourced, and which tasks do not need to be done right away.
6. Not caring about customer service: It is in times of crisis that good customer service becomes important. You need to train your staff to improve their knowledge and develop the necessary style so as not to lose your existing customers. A team of knowledgeable, dynamic and committed employees are your “golden goose” in times of difficulty. They will bring customers and profits to your business.
7. Not daring to develop new products: If you see a new product or service that has potential, don’t wait until the crisis is over. After careful calculation and accepting some risk, if it still seems attractive, then you should invest. It is the new product or service that will help you capture the market and surpass your competitors in the meantime.
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