How to lead your team through a recession

The past few years have had our heads spinning in so many ways. Now, despite a labor market where demand still outpaces supply, continued inflation is stoking fears that a recession may be coming. And most of us know that negative economic growth often leads to hiring freezes or layoffs.

Some leaders that we work with are revisiting 2023 plans to reexamine whether new headcounts are critical, whether significant capital expenditures can be delayed and if contracts can be renegotiated. Overall, they are proceeding with caution and feeling the pressure to deliver — or over-deliver — on key KPIs, while keeping their teams focused and optimistic.

But not all of the news is doom and gloom. “We’re still seeing hiring; we’re still seeing growth,” Insight Global CEO Bert Bean said in a recent Forbes article.

Bean continues to say that, “During a recession, all the nonsense gets stripped away. This is as true in our personal lives as it is at work. Recessions give you a great excuse to focus on the things that really matter.”

We have been through this with the pandemic and we are more resourceful and resilient than ever. This is true, especially for communicators who have been on the front lines ever since.