As I write this, the sky outside is as bleary and dark as the economic situation right now. Everywhere you go, people are talking about job sacks, dwindling profits and a general fear that this may be the worst recession that anybody has seen in a really long time. How did we get into this mess? How did 2008 manage to start with such high confidence, only for us to end up crashing into a fiery pit?

While people have started to look for scapegoats and people to blame (people who took out mortgage loans they could not afford, Henry Paulson, Alan Greenspan, Republican policies, the list goes on), the consensus is the same. The lack of checks and balances, overwhelming greed and the notion of invincibility were the roadsigns that lead to irresponsible dealings on Wall Street.

And as former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan once said, “I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interest of organisations, specifically banks, is such that they were best capable of protecting shareholders and equity in the firms.”

As legislators and the industry call for more checks and balances and even caps on salaries of bankers, it seems as though responsibility is making a comeback. As CEOs step down to account for their company’s losses and bad strategies, and calls for watchdogs come into play, as HR practitioners, where do we fit in with the word ‘responsibility’?

At the recent Conference on Fair Employment Practices, the word ‘responsibility’ was the catchphrase at one of the panel discussions which was represented by members of the various government workforce agencies.

One of the keypoints emphasised by the panel was that the government, with its roll-out of new measures such as SPUR and Jobs Credit Scheme, is trying to encourage employers to retain as many people as they can during this hard times. Realistically, they conceded, companies may still need to slash their manpower to remain viable in times of reduced demand.

And that is where HR can shoulder some responsibility. If companies need to retrench employees, they should be clear and transparent and communicate with staff on the reasons why the company has to retrench people. It should be clear on the reasons why employees are being laid-off, and not discriminate against them merely for their age, gender or disabilities. Organisations should also provide outplacement services and other job-hunting facilities for employees so as to help them get back up on their feet.

The time when retrenched workers find themselves suddenly locked out of their offices with no severance packages is long over. People will talk, and Singaporeans being what we are, we will complain. And with the speed of the internet, a bad reputation will spread like wildfire and is harder to make a comeback from.

So the question remains: Are you ready to shoulder that responsibility?

The time when retrenched workers find themselves suddenly locked out of their offices with no severance packages is long over.

Lisa Cheong

Editor

lisac@humanresourcesonline.net