Top tips for business in the recession

Jo Ouston, founder of management development company Jo Ousten & Co. gives FMWF’s Vicki Owen her tips for dealing with the recession.

Having lived through several recessions, whilst working in a variety of professions, Jo Ouston is not unfamiliar with the destruction and emotional stress that an economic downturn can cause.

Throughout her career she has gained experience from a range of sectors including work in banks, charities, a university faculty office, and a law firm before she joined the Institute of Career Guidance in 1982, and then set up her own management development company in 1990.

Jo recalls: ‘In the recession of the 80s, BT were shrinking enormously. They were laying off ten or twenty thousand at a time. It was really dramatic. I remember I rang the head of learning and development just after one of the big slashes and he said he was sitting surrounded by empty desks and ringing phones.

‘He said it looked like the Mary Celeste. People had just got up and left their files on their desks and walked away. The trauma for the people left behind at times like these is unbelievable. There will be examples of this going on and it is very traumatic. We have to think about how it is going to be handled, and what people are going to do about it.’

She tells FMWF: ‘Over the years, in this and in other downturns, I have seen the reactions and discussed the problems with many clients, both organisations losing turnover and individuals confronting career crises. If the winners have one thing in common it is this: they have kept their heads, reviewed every facet of the situation, and dealt with the problem across a wide front.

Remembering the economic downturn of the 80s, Jo adds: ‘There was very little around about adult careers and career change because it hadn’t really been a big issue. People took jobs for 30 yrs. They joined ICI and stayed for life. That was the way it was done.

‘People were suddenly being put out of jobs that had never even looked for a job before. They joined at 18 and suddenly were turfed out after 80 years. It was really unchartered territory and noone knew how to deal with it.’ But today, she feels people should draw from the lessons that have been learnt in previous uncertain times. Here are her tips for succeeding in the recession:

Overcoming fear
Fear is natural, but it shuts down rational thought. Understanding emotional pressure is the first step to getting clear of fear.

The biggest theme coming up at the moment is fear-driven concerns. When people get afraid, the fight-or-flight mechanism kicks in. It is a behavioural animal instinct which people do without even knowing. They pull in their personal space and insulate themselves from what is outside.

For example, if someone is in grief they will be very closed off. The most obvious way that you may notice this is if they make very little eye contact. In businesses which are on the downturn or where employees have an aggressive manager, certain symptoms that go with this closed-off state may appear.

Employees can feel very defeated and experience low energy levels, eye contact may be difficult to maintain and you may get the feeling that someone is looking at you but not really engaging with you.

The by-product of this is that people do not work so well together. Employees can become very territorial about their work and be far less co-operative, for example not picking up someone else’s phone when it is ringing.

Clients or customers will be able to notice this very insulated behaviour on the phone and it is a very destructive thing.

Being noticed and making yourself heard

One thing people can do is to think more about their personal presence.

I was doing a presentation for the Home Office once and a software director made me walk a length of the auditorium before we started, because he said: ‘If you know physically how far it is from here to the window, your voice will reach out and know instinctively how far it has got to go.’ You know subconsciously. You lift the pitch and range of your voice to fill the space.

But if someone is very shy or nervous, or they go into a meeting where they’re petrified, they will produce a little voice. I get phone-calls from people saying ‘I need my voice to be stronger in meetings’, and I normally say: ‘If you were committed to your voice reaching, it would reach.’ I always say to women: ‘If your child was heading for the main road and a car was coming, your voice would automatically carry. You would be amazed how far your voice would carry if there was an urgency in you achieving that.’

It is about intention. If you intend to be heard, you will be heard. If you don’t, you won’t. Even gesture can help your physicality fill the space you give it, and it provokes a reaction in other people.

Leadership is essential

I say leadership is absolutely essential in this kind of situation. That means not leading from behind a closed door and being frightfully strategic, but being out there and being involved in getting everyone engaged with one another.

You’ve got to crack this closed-space thing and contrive situations where people have got to engage with one another: for example project teams and things that are cross functional. Even if it’s cleaning out the filing system, you’ve got to make constructive use of time that is more collective and not individual. You have to get rid of feelings of isolation.

But leaders should look after themselves too

There is so much anxiety out there. People are anxious about losing their jobs or their partners being put out of work. People are trying to combat something that is being reinforced negatively every moment of the day: on the radio, on TV, from their friends or in the news. It puts huge pressure on the leader.

Therefore leaders have to be careful to look after themselves. If they have any kind of conscience they will be so busy looking after others that they may forget about themselves and get very tired. Leaders may forget about methods of stress release for themselves, or their own priorities such as looking after the family, and they may begin to get edgy. It is crucial to focus on time management and energy – and at times like this – some emotional energy must be conserved, as so much is used in inspiring other people.

Don’t lose your integrity

Be tough without losing integrity. It’s the one quality that can’t be parked and recovered later. People sometimes compromise themselves. You can devalue what you do by, for example, beginning to charge high expenses as a way of getting more out of a client. I know that’s how a lot of people work, but I think it is better to be transparent and keep hold of your ethical compass.

Getting the most out of your staff

Avoid the ‘lifeboat’ mentality – the idea that rescue will come from outside. Evaluate what you have. Audit the skills and talent on board, and direct them to their most effective use. Don’t slash and burn but do operate intelligent thrift. For example you can control training costs by more use of mentoring and skills transfer.

You may allow your staff to take more ownership and expect them to be accountable. I expect quite a lot out of my staff. I expect them to feel accountable for things which actually may be a bit advanced. I’d never bite their heads off if it went wrong because I’d always think first ‘Well, was that reasonable?’

I do tend to push people to take a lot of responsibility. Occasionally someone will not be able to do what I ask of them, but 90 per cent of the time they can. You’ve got to make the decision to take a chance and know that you may have to pick up a few bits along the way, watch, intervene, or give a bit of extra help. But it is the way people learn and it stimulates them.

It is even more beneficial in this sort of climate where companies may have fewer employees and need them to do more. It is also an opportunity for them to develop if you play it right.

But you have to be clear that it is not just you putting extra work on them and taking advantage of the fact that they are too scared of losing their job to turn it down. It has to be a constructive opportunity to learn something different. That is how I built my career. People just gave me things to do and I did them.

Difficulties for relationships

I think there are some really difficult issues. There’s no question about it, to be a successful business woman you have to be self-actualized, self-determining and self-driven. That is one hell of a luxury but it is very scary if you are in a relationship where your partner has known you as an employee and then you set up your own business.

Previously you were obeying the rules and suddenly a big weight is taken off your head and you are making your own decisions and judgements.

When someone is putting all the hours god gave them into their business (because they have to), and making new friends that, perhaps, their partner has nothing in common with, it makes it very difficult for the relationship to survive. Changing a life pattern is a very threatening thing to do.

My husband used to say: ‘Don’t you see this won’t work?’ and I didn’t understand what he meant, because I thought he meant the business wouldn’t work. I was so fixed on the business that I didn’t realise he meant the marriage. He never explained, but I look back, now that we are divorced, and I think ‘Well, he did tell me’. Women need to be prepared for all outcomes when setting up a business.

Other tips

- Conditions may be tough but the personal qualities that made the business or the career succeed in the first place are still there. Bank on them. They are your gold-standard.
- Trust creativity. Recession is the shadow of the past. Innovation is the way to make the future different, not just by product innovation but by new ways of doing things to reflect new circumstances.
- The immediate context can overwhelm. Relating to a wider stage, adjusting to a longer time-scale, can reveal other options and opportunities.
- Recognise the battles you can win. Cut your losses on the others. It will come right.

www.joouston.co.uk

Tags: Business Advice, business icon, consultant, interview, Jo Ouston, Launching in a recession, leadership, management development, Managing staff, public speaking, recession, redundancy, small business, sme, stress, tips, Vicki Owen, work-life balance

Posted by Vicki Owen on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 10:51 am.

Filed under Ask an Expert, Business Icons, Careers, Health, Lifestyle, News, SMEs, Tagged as: , Business Advice, business icon, consultant, interview, Jo Ouston, Launching in a recession, leadership, management development, Managing staff, public speaking, recession, redundancy, small business, sme, stress, tips, Vicki Owen, work-life balance.