It's time to inspire

I was at an event the other day with a group of media representatives and F&B professionals. It was a pleasant day, a lovely venue and the food was good — yet it took all of five minutes for conversation to turn to that depressingly recurrent topic: the global economic climate.

The downturn is unavoidable at the moment. At first it was a morbid kind of fascination with the global decline, but now the timbre of this well-worn conversational topic has changed. And the reason for this is that people are nervous.

After years of growth, the Middle East is proving that it is not infallible. This is unsurprising; a lull was inevitable after such a boom and with western economies taking a beating, it is understandable that the aftershocks will resonate over here.

Nevertheless, people are wary of what this means for the industry — and more particularly, for them. As overheads are cut and belts tightened, so workers are being made redundant. This is the unfortunate effect of a financial downturn; people do lose their jobs. The real test is how you as an employer deal with this and how you let it affect you, your business and your employees.

Groups of people are tricky to manage; they gossip, speculate and are prone to exaggeration. As such, it is very likely that every single one of your employees has considered that perhaps they are next for the chop.

Now — and this is where your management skills will be tested — it is time to inspire your workforce and boost morale. Pay rises may seem like the most obvious way of boosting employee satisfaction, but this is not the only way (or even the one that promotes most loyalty).

Look over your key staff retention measures; people want to feel secure, valued, like they have a career path. Strengthen the bond between your employees with group outings for everyone, including management. Meet with employees individually and revisit their career progression plans, perhaps discussing what training they could take in future. Look outside the office — is their transport reliable, are there social events organised, is the accommodation up to scratch?

Look after your workforce: motivate and inspire them and they will reward you by giving 110%.

As an employer, it is important to recognise when the bottom line is about people rather than figures.