Uncertainty and testing times……….and the learning process

No matter which country you are in or which industry you are part of its uncertainty and testing times all around. Whether it’s the US economy in the debt trap or our own India facing slower than expected growth in terms of GDP, these are times where confidence is low and financial results are not so great…

For someone like me who started their career after the economic boom in India, downturn was not something one thought of…India was booming and jobs and pay were great. I suspect its still the same but its just that there is so much uncertainty that everyone is going slow on hiring and candidates ability to negotiate has come down to a certain extent due to the lower number of jobs up there for them to apply.

I remember a time when I was working with consulting and services firm when a European manager on a assignment to India asked the India HR team how they would face a economic downturn. There was pin drop silence in the team and I guess that’s because many of us in that room did not ever hear of what a downturn was or how it would be to operate in a situation like that. I am glad now that 4 years later, I am going through these testing and uncertain times as this is going to help me and my team learn that there are business cycles and what we as HR can do and how we do what we do has to change to support the situation the business is in.

Bad times teach us a lot and what you learn through this experience is what matters when you look back a few years down the line and reminisce.