When the economy wobbles, most leaders get nervous and pause hiring. If the “pause” is as serious as a pandemic, millions of companies are forced to let people go.
How can Topgrading help? We encourage you to be prepared – anticipate that downturns will occur and hire accordingly. In other words:
Always hire A Players who have the skills to perform in up and down markets.
If you don’t - and you find your company in trouble with too many of the “wrong” employees during a downturn - you’re already too late and in serious trouble.
Here’s the reality: every hire you make during a strong market will either drive your rebound in a downturn - or drag it down. And the margin for error? In a down market? Practically zero.
Here’s what strategic hiring looks like, all the time, so that downturns cause minimum damage:
1. Maximize ROI on Talent
You're not just filling seats - you’re investing in impact. Hire A Players who will perform in all markets. Every salary dollar must deliver results. Just because business is great today, do NOT relax your quest for A Players who will be even more important in bad times.
2. There's No Cushion for Mistakes
In a booming market, bad hires can get lost in the noise. During a downturn, they’re loud, costly, and damaging. A single hiring mistake can tank morale, stall key projects, and kill momentum. Thought of this way, try to find candidates who have already performed well in up and down markets.
3. Hire for Agility
Downturns force pivots. You need people who can change direction fast, stay calm under pressure, and solve problems without a playbook. This goes for taking advantage of opportunities in good times and scrambling to survive if there is a recession.
4. Top Talent is in Play
High performers who were untouchable before a downturn are highly marketable. “Take their temperature” frequently and don’t think you can get away with cutting their pay, as too many companies did during the pandemic. Indeed, some of our most successful clients during the pandemic raised pay for A Players.
5. Protect Your Culture
Just because a candidate was great at creating and maintaining a positive culture in good times doesn’t mean they will do so in bad times. Finding candidates who inspired a company under economic pressure could be very, very in down times. Culture-additive hires are your insurance policy.
6. Think Long-Term, Not Short-Term
Strategic hiring now isn’t about survival - it’s about setting the foundation for dominance when the market rebounds.
Build your team wisely now, with Topgrading, and you’ll be leading the pack when the market turns.
Topgrading can help you hire honest, high performers. Contact us.
Dr. Brad Smart is Founder and CEO of Topgrading, Inc. Topgrading is dedicated to helping companies of all sizes maximize the hiring of high performers. Topgrading assesses candidates for senior positions (where the costs of mis-hires are high) and trains all managers to create teams of almost all high performers. Brad has seven published books on hiring; the most recent three (the first, second, and third editions of Topgrading) were all best sellers.
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