Gratis to the Workplace Bullying
Institute , a vignette from the Evil HR Guy - which is sort of
funny except that it illustrates the two things holding back a
recovery in this job market: Fear and Greed. Most economists,
investors or Warren Buffet will tell you that the financial markets
tend to operate in ways that don't always appear to make sense -
but you can count on the two human emotions just noted to be the
needles in the haystack, just about any time the markets perform
"irrationally". We get scared, we panic, we worry, we read
the Drudge Report, we listen to a friend who has a friend who knows
more than we do, and then we do very irrational and unintelligent
things. Like sell on the worst day possible, or buy at the
top because we are afraid we are going to be the only one left who
didn't make money in the trend du jour. Or conversely, we ignore
the "if it is too good to be true...." wisdom we learned in grade
school, and become susceptible to turning our heads, as long as we
are making money. Bernie Madoff ring a bell?
Well those exact same emotions are holding back any real
recovery in the job market. Because we are either afraid of
the Evil HR Guy - or more difficult - we are in his position.
We have survivor's guilt, and we are very afraid that if we hire
some new employees, that we may have to lay people off again - and
we just don't want to do that. It is too painful. OR we are
slowly clawing our way back to profitability, and cutting wages and
benefits, has really helped move us that direction, and the plan
looks pretty good, and we have determined that maybe this strategy
will work for just a while longer. We are essentially terrified of
making hiring mistakes, because the consequences have been so raw
and visible. So we procrastinate - recruiters will tell you
that time to hire cycles are double and triple what they have been
in the not too distant past - and the job markets feel like wading
through molasses.
Here is the truth - any hiring manager worth their salt is going
to make more mistakes in the years ahead - the trick is the overall
batting average - not perfect seasons from now on. More
truth, this is a very fragile economy, with stops and starts, and
progress and reversals, and it doesn't show any sign of changing
soon. So it is possible that we will work in companies where
there will be more restructuring, reorganization and yes- job
loss. The industrial age is not going out quietly, and we are
in the midst of massive shifts as we try to get the right workers
with the right skills in the right places - at the right
time. Waiting for the perfect time however, is a deeply
flawed plan. As we all know in the interim, our existing workers
are fried, doing more with less, less engaged and have their eyes
on the door. No one needs another survey to get that.
Accelerating the job market recovery will have to start the same
place that market recoveries start- in our heads. It doesn't
have to be grandiose - or foolish - just a willingness to recognize
that the road back to prosperity includes making targeted
investments in talent. The wisdom the Oracle of Omaha shared with
us almost ten years ago after the World Trade Center fell, is just
as valid today. Because as you know:
"Occasional outbreaks of those two super-contagious
diseases, fear and greed, will forever occur in the investment
community. The timing of these epidemics is equally unpredictable,
both as to duration and degree. Therefore we never try to
anticipate the arrival or departure of either. We simply attempt to
be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others
are fearful." - Warren Buffett, 2001.