With the economy showing signs of recovery, it is absolutely critical that organisations are fighting fit and prepared for the future. Businesses need to get a clear view of their new surroundings and reframe their thinking to ensure the future is a healthy and secure.

Carrying on doing what has always worked well in the past may have been a useful strategy up to now, but in the new economy this is simply not going to work. Many organisations have had to take drastic measures just to survive the recession and, as they raise their heads above the parapet, are finding that life will never be the same again.

When we launched Indigo Assessment our plan was to focus on providing high quality, no nonsense fixed fee assessment services delivered by a team of highly experienced chartered Business Psychologists. What we have found though is a business community crying out for help to understand how to best tackle their new surroundings.

This means taking a good hard look at the market you are in and exploring what has changed and what that means to the way it operates. Understanding what people you have in the business now, the people that you are going to need moving forward and how to meet the challenges you are facing and how to overcome them.

We have been working with a number of organisations to help them ‘vision the future’ so that they can plan ahead and put in place clear benchmarks for people requirements moving forward. This has helped them to take stock of the talent they currently have in the business and ensure they have a clear pipeline of talent to reach their future goals and beyond.

My Top 5 Tips for Survival:

1.  Explore the future: Use visionary interviews to explore where the challenges that your organisation is likely to face in the coming years, how will the business need to change to meet these challenges.
   

2.  Know your people: Carry out audits of the people you have in the business. Have you got the talent required to sustain the business moving forward
   

3.  Plan Plan Plan: Make sure you have a clear idea of who your future leaders are in the business.  Spot them early and make sure you retain them.
   

4.  Keep it fresh: Make sure your competencies are up to date and reflect the new circumstances you find yourself in. Competencies should be reviewed and refreshed every 2-3 years to ensure they are still reflective of the business goals and strategy.
   

5.  Keep it simple: When you put in place competencies or indeed any HR processes keep them simple.  We don’t believe in style over substance here at Indigo Assessment; competencies should be straightforward and easy to use. If you over complicate things, people just won’t use them