While no one can truly know the future, it’s a leader’s job to look over the horizon to guide the team forward. For HR leadership, this can mean helping management with strategy and personnel with administrative tasks, constantly pivoting from the long view to an immediate need.

Here are three ways HR leaders can orient themselves to make the right decisions at every step. These pillars may be especially valuable in the coming year as the business climate enters a period of uncertainty. Here’s how to keep a steady hand on the rudder of your organization:     

1. Hire with Care

HR tends to engage most directly with every other department in the hiring process. This is also the occasion when the company is placing its biggest bet on the future – at least from an HR standpoint – by bringing on the people who will help get you there. If you are operating in a shifting economy, you need to retain as much flexibility as possible and avoid boxing yourself in with niche roles.

For example, if the company is facing potential IT constraints, it may not be able to support previous work-from-home initiatives. That, in turn, may impact your ability to recruit for specialized skills if local resources aren’t sufficient. If you can’t get the people you need right now, consider contracting for those jobs until the company is more certain of its needs and knows it can support those roles.

If a generalist could fill a position as well as a specialist, consider the generalist first. Such a hire will give you more flexibility, at least at the department level, to address needs as they arise. You can then revisit your talent mix when you have a better sense of where the business and your market is headed.

Download “Adapting to Change: HR and Leadership in a Shifting Economy”

2. Mind the Bottom Line

The greatest threat posed by a shifting economy is financial shortfall. HR tends to work from a budget forecast. But HR leadership should approach decision-making during uncertain times with a scarcity mentality, and be prepared for budgets to scale back or evaporate completely if business takes a negative turn.

Just as you can’t take the forecast as given, you shouldn’t blindly accept existing HR expenses as set in stone. Hopefully, you already perform an annual audit of your benefits costs, training expenses, and other operational outlays. Consider more frequent, targeted reviews of those expenditures to spot negative trends early or to identify potential savings.

Sometimes you need to spend money to save money. Investment in technology can be such a case, like more sophisticated time-tracking systems or training platforms. Such expenses can be handled through subscriptions, so the operating costs can be scaled up or down depending on business needs. The incremental expense for such systems can be more than offset by increased productivity or cost savings from greater efficiency.  

3. Plan for The Future

Such a forward-looking approach is important for every decision, and even more so in a shifting economy. But also open yourself to proactive initiatives that will pay their biggest dividends when the business environment is more predictable. This isn’t necessarily contrary to the “scarcity mentality” referenced earlier.

Look for ways to address multiple issues simultaneously when solving near-term challenges. For example, if you need to modernize your payroll platform, this may be the opportunity to include an employee portal. It will provide self-service access to payroll and tax information, reducing demands on HR, and increasing employee satisfaction with greater engagement.

Such forward movement can go a long way toward inspiring employee confidence in the business and making your company a beacon of stability in an otherwise shifting economy.        

Handling the Changes with VensureHR

Sometimes, even HR needs an extra set of hands, and uncertainty in the business climate can be such a time. Partnership with a PEO can be just the help you need. In addition to taking a lot of the day-to-day headaches off your plate and lowering the costs of benefits and business insurance, a PEO can supply you with the technology you need for maximum HR efficiency.

Most importantly, an experienced PEO can be a strategic partner to help navigate even the most uncertain of times.

To learn more about what the current economy means for HR leaders, download a copy of “Adapting to Change: HR and Leadership in a Shifting Economy” And to get help addressing these challenges, schedule a no-cost business evaluation from VensureHR today.