Strategy for Surviving Economic Crisis
Posted on Wed, Sep 09, 2009 @ 09:26 AM
By Vaughan Harry, Corporate Director Of Industrial Sales
As the recession continues, many companies have faced and will continue to face an economy like they have never experienced before. Industry has been one of the hardest hit sectors of business and the outlook for recovery from economists is rather varied. The one consistent forecast seems to be that “decent” recovery will not be this year and everything after that is questionable.
Most organizations are faced with the toughest challenges they ever have experienced. Those that are able to adapt and welcome change, seem to be well positioned to survive the crisis. Innovation is key to not only surviving the recession, but being able to do well financially while in the depths of a downturn.
I have experienced many companies struggling with all of the above, while trying to remain viable in their specific market. The five most common struggles that I have seen within environmental departments in industrial settings are as follows;
-Budget cuts – commonly environmental, health and safety functions of an organization are seen purely as cost centers and can be targeted areas for drastic cost reduction
-Staff reductions – their has been increased emphasis on companies reducing their headcount and investigating their ability to outsource positions
-Review waste management practices
-Alternate treatment technologies – cheaper versus greener? Many companies have needed to look at treatment options they have not considered in the past, while striving to be environmentally responsible. This is a delicate balance, but we have seen many companies succeed with both budgetary constraints while minimizing their impact to the environment.
-Safety – while so much emphasis has been placed on the bottom line, some companies have struggled with their safety programs.
I believe that those environmental, health and safety professionals that can proactively think about their programs listed above and possible changes that need to be made, will position themselves and their companies well for short term survival and long term success. In many cases, the thought of re-engineering programs and the pain associated is the only barrier to implementing change.