Key findings at a glance
HR professionals are planning for an economic downturn and
are taking steps now to prepare their organisations by considering
a reprioritisation of where the learning and development spend is
allocated.
A primary concern is to ensure that their organisation is well
placed to take advantage of opportunities when the economy gets
back on track.
Over half of the respondents are concerned about keeping key
talent - the very people that will make the organisation successful
both in the short term and in the years to come.
Experienced HR professionals who have managed budgets during
previous economic downturns offered words of warning regarding the
impact of budgetary cuts, with consequences ranging from a drop in
staff morale to the loss of high potential staff. They also offered
their insights into how an economic downturn can be successfully
navigated.
- Only 3% of HR and Learning & Development
professionals who had held budgetary responsibility during a
previous economic downturn said that cutting the budget did not
have negative consequences. The negative consequences mentioned
included "limited ability to fulfil organisational goals."
- 52% of respondents are worried about retaining
key staff during an economic downturn.
- 53% of respondents stated that the short-term
benefits of training reprioritisation and cuts will have long term
negative consequences.
- 62% of respondents expect that an economic
downturn will require them to reprioritise the type of learning and
development offered to staff. They expect that team-building and
soft skills development will be hit hardest, while technical skills
training and (perhaps surprisingly…) leadership development, will
be the least likely to be cut.
