If it's Thursday, this must be Paris
From our daily conversations with global companies, they are cautious to say that while things aren’t necessariy looking rosy – they are definitely less worse. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, if it isn’t actually the end of la crise, at least it's looking like the beginning of the end. But there’s no immediate danger of being injured by flying champagne corks just yet.
What this means is that the natural leaders and top talent are more and more in demand. After all anyone can steer a ship when skies are blue, but when the storm comes, that’s when you find out the difference between talk and action. Cometh the hour cometh the (wo)man.
The chances are the talent is going to come from within your company – this is no time to be taking recruitment risks. We think this will change the nature of global assignments from long three year stints of guidance to shorter periods, even months, of fire fighting. Highly talented and inspirational leaders will be parachuted in to get things back on track. Some of it will be unpleasant, the euphemism restructuring will be heard a lot. But one thing’s for sure careers are going to be made.
The companies that come through the Darwinian effects of recession are going to be leaner, fitter and ready to capitalise on the brave new dawn. And when they do they won’t forget their heroes – in fact, if they’ve any sense, the heroes won’t let them forget. Given there’s no cash around at the moment, the rewards will be offered in share options, pensions and achievement bonuses – great ways to accumulate capital outside the day to day burn rate of the wage slave.
On the day of the victory parade, the view from the balcony is going to be superb. So if an almost impossible travel itinerary hasn’t just landed on your desk then maybe you should be knocking on your bosses door and demanding to be sent to Atlanta or Azerbaijan, or wherever the action is – it could be your big chance. If you are looking at the world tour then (ex)pat yourself on the back, oh and call Hessel – we’ll make sure all your expense management runs like clockwork so you can get on with the job as soon as you’ve landed.