news
with 54 per cent saying disenchantment
begins to set in during the first six months.
To help improve talent acquisition in
their organizations, HR professionals said
their top three investments for this year
will be in:
■■ Social media management;
■■ Onboarding programs; and
■■ Employment websites.
BEAT RECESSION WITH
INTERNAL TRAINING
Companies that invest more in internal
training for their staff recover faster from
economic turmoil, according to a new
study.
The research, carried out by the Moore
School of Business at the University of
South Carolina, also found that selective
staffing boosted productivity and profit
in pre-recession periods, and also helped
firms to recover more quickly following a
downturn.
Professor Robert Ployhart in collabora-tion
with Youngsang Ray Kim found that
effectively managing HR allowed flexi-bility
and adaptability within a range of
economic conditions. Firms that imple-mented
hiring freezes and cut back on
training during recession were found to
have taken longer to recover.
The study examined the effects of staff-ing
and training on firm productivity and
profit growth before, during and after the
Great Recession (December 2007 to June
2009) in more than 350 firms.
“Larger firms were hit harder by the re-cession
because they tended to have more
profitability – hence, when markets con-tracted,
they had more room to fall,” said
Ployhart. “Nothing insightful there, but
the interesting thing is that if you only
look at the period when the recession hit
and profits fell, one would have the im-pression
that talent was unrelated or even
negatively related to profit. Yet this short-term
view obscured the bigger picture,
which is that better hiring and training ac-tually
helped firms recover.
“Companies should realise that even
when the economy is uncertain or even
turning negative, you shouldn’t stop in-vesting
in people.”
Road_2014 vF HRPro:Road vFinal.qxd 12/08/2014 10:54 AM Page 1
Find the
open road
At Sherrard Kuzz we work with
our clients to anticipate and
avoid the issues that can stand
in the way of business success.
Whether it’s a well drafted
employment contract, timely
supervisor training or focused
workplace policy, preparing for
your tomorrow is our today.
It’s how we help our clients
find the open road.
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COMPANIES THAT INVEST MORE IN INTERNAL
TRAINING FOR THEIR STAFF RECOVER FASTER FROM
ECONOMIC TURMOIL, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY.
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ OCTOBER 2014 ❚ 11