We are encountering challenging markets and business environments globally. One would not have normally expected the impact to be this big when all this started with the housing market collapse in the US.

When business environments get tough, focus on costs become the highest priority for everyone. It is really important to ensure though that the messages regarding value for talent do not get diluted.

I wanted to share my three key points for managers, leaders and HR to keep in mind while tackling difficult external environment scenarios. Many of these come from multiple sources that I’ve read and have thought about.

1. High clarity and increased frequency in communication
This falls on the top of my list because the level of uncertainty among employees is very high generally during tough times. Lack of high quality communication esp. with the talent population that’s critical for an organisation’s success could result in the loss of key talent. This in effect weakens an organisation’s capability to execute when it’s badly needed and there’s no time to lose. Being realistic and frank about the challenges but at the same time, engaging the talent by laying out and drawing the picture of a promising future beyond the tough times will help to build commitment and trust.

2. Understanding talent priorities
Any organisation will need to clearly prioritise where to focus on with limited resources. The key here is not to forget that at the end of the day it is the right talent that helps organisations grow. Even though short term survival rightfully gets high priority, it’s also important not to take away key talent investments for the future. Availability of a high quality talent pipeline could result in finding alternative success options for the business and provide a major advantage over competitors when the markets start to rebound.

3. Clearly being aware of the key talent population and increasing the touch points.
Understanding who does and will have the highest impact on the organisation’s future (in terms of competencies and strategy execution) is critical. It is equally important to increase the touch points and therefore ensure that the organisation does not lose the right talent for reasons that could be avoided.

These observations and thoughts for the recruiting funtion seem to be obvious but work pressure and multiple demands prevent these from happening consistently. I believe they could seriously affect a company’s image and be a differentiator in today’s competitive global talent market.

1. First impressions – Recruiters are the first points of contact for most candidates. Candidates form strong first opinions about the culture, work environment, professionalism etc. of an organization based on their initial interactions and conversations with the recruiters. The behaviors exhibited by the recruiters are critical in defining those impressions. The ability to build trust by being authentic is also an important factor. Recruiters therefore play a critical role in managing a candidate’s decisions about an organization and determine the quality of talent entering an organization.

2. Responsiveness – Setting expectations regarding timeframes for responses and being consistent about them are really important. Many times, this could be dependent on hiring managers. It would still be important for a candidate to be consistently updated.

3. Closure – Closing a recruiting process for a candidate by treating him/her with respect, even when he/she is not found to be a fit for the job is a huge step in the process. This can be ensured through consistent behaviors and actions from start to end, irrespective of the final decision. At the end of the day, any candidate can be an existing or potential future employee, customer, investor or community member. They could also communicate with and influence decisions of other talented candidates.

4. Respecting diversity and cultural sensitivity – Recruiters can become increasingly involved with a global workforce. This could only become more common as the labor pools in the US and Europe fall. Cultural sensitivity and respecting diversity is an extremely important topic to be aware of while interacting with candidates from different cultures. This can be clearly portrayed through actions that make a candidate feel welcome.