Often the bearer of bad news, human resources employees can be the most feared and loathed people at a company.
And, for the last few years, thanks to a crippled housing market, a debilitated job market and financial woes, they have had their work cut out for themselves. The United States seemed like it was on an economical journey to recovery, but it appears the road remains pretty bumpy. Though the unemployment rate dipped to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent in May, most was due to the hundreds of thousands of people who weren't counted because they simply gave up looking for work.
Wall Street interpreted the numbers as a big letdown, a sign that the recovery, if not derailed, is at least stalling. The Dow Jones industrial average sank from the opening bell and tumbled 323.31 points, its third worst slide of the year. The index closed below 10,000 for the second time in two weeks. Tough economic times make it difficult for everyone.
Jerry Reynolds, vice president of human resources for Hunt Valley, Maryland-based WebbMason, admitted the last few years haven't been easy. The recession forced the company to tighten its belt by raising medical insurance premiums, and reducing 401(K) contributions.
"Employee morale is always an issue when employees are facing financial difficulties that impact their families," Reynolds said. "... We have also seen a large increase in the number of 401(k) loans and hardship withdrawals. We have had to freeze wages and take a pay cut, stopped our 401(k) match, suspended raises and bonuses and cut expenses where we could."
Employees' pockets weren't the only ones that felt the pinch.
Besides the compensation restraints, Reynolds said the company took several steps to watch its spending and improve its revenues.
"We paid particular attention to expenses related to overtime, travel, entertainment and capital expenditures," he noted. "Primarily, if it didn't impact sales we would seriously consider holding off on the expense."
But, WebbMason did try its best to keep morale high during the tough times.
"Keeping employees 'happy' is an ongoing leadership objective regardless of the economy," Reynolds explained. "We just have to be better at it and remain focused on it during these times. Keeping employees engaged, more frequent one-on-one discussions to see how they are doing, more frequent recognition and praise for good performance."
To keep employees in the loop, WebbMason company president-hosted quarterly state of the company meetings where current fiscal conditions were discussed, as well as plans to trim expenses and maximize revenues.
"This was our 20th anniversary year and throughout the year we sent out a bulletin recapping a segment of the company's history and had a $200 raffle for the lucky employee," Reynolds noted.
The company also worked to bring fun to the work day. Reynolds said employees were asked to create a manager-free, fun committee. An activity included a luau that encouraged employees to wear Hawaiian attire and a cookout was held on company grounds.
Reynolds continued, "We have had a few company-sponsored happy hours when things seemed a little down. [And] we continued our tradition of taking employees and customers to opening day for the baseball season."
Regardless, WebbMason is looking forward to the new challenges it will face when the country rebuilds its economy.
"Some of the challenges are the kind we love to have," Reynolds stated. "[Like] returning salaries to their original values, restoring the 3 percent safe harbor 401(k) company contribution, awarding bonuses to those who contribute to make us successful [and] staffing up to meet the challenges of a growing customer base."
Another obstacle that WebbMason is aware of and keeping tabs on is finding the best possible job candidates as the job pool continues to deepen.
"We understand that employees who have joined us in the past 24 months have not seen WebbMason as it was for the previous 18 years averaging 15 [percent] to 20 percent growth year after year. They may be looking for jobs and the good ones will find them," he admitted. "We are paying particular attention to this. With the printing industry seriously feeling this poor economy, we have been able to find many viable candidates for future positions as we expand."
Reynolds has some high hopes for the future.
"While many of our customers drew back in their spending over the past 18 to 24 months, they are starting to come back," he said. "We have also been very aggressive in our pursuit of new customers during this time and it has paid off. We have partnered with several new customers of regional and national recognition and this will help us to continue to grow as we have in the past."