Dear Claudia,

Our company is downsizing like a lot of companies right now, and I’ve recently had to lay off some of my recruiters. What can I do to keep the remaining members of my team busy and motivated until things start picking up again?

Planning but Worried

Dear PBW,

I love that you’ve even asked this question, because it says that you're a good boss; don’t stop there, though. Expand your horizon to the bigger picture, because we both know that companies do whatever is necessary to protect profits in a downturn. With that in mind, here are five things your team can do right now to make a positive impact:

Build functional expertise.
Think “internship.” Get the buy-in from functional business leaders to place your recruiters temporarily in the departments they normally recruit for. Learn your business intimately. Build org charts. Create bios for leaders and team members that can be used later to prep candidates for interviews. Get your recruiters talking together about what they are learning to broaden the knowledge base and reinforce the interconnection of each functional area to the business as a whole.

Build deep candidate pipelines.
Which parts of your business will be hurting the most for talent when the economy begins to shift? Who will start hiring first? Meet with the head of each business unit your team supports to get their current perspective, and then make it your business to know who and where those candidates are. Identify every company that uses the skill sets locally, regionally, nationally, or globally. Create a short pre-screen to simplify the initial contact, and get busy talking to candidates. Set the expectation that you just want to get to know them for future opportunities.

Own the candidate experience.
There is no better time than the present to clean the house of candidate experience, because this is what drives brand perception and early engagement – and strongly affects employee retention in the first year. What is the experience for candidates at your company? Hold a focus group. Survey your current applicants. Ask questions, and then listen. Often experience is the hostage of efficiency; strive to find the right balance between the two.

Create more efficiency.
While you’re looking at candidate experience, map your hiring process from start to finish. Can it be simpler? Can it be more user-friendly? Talk to your hiring managers and interviewers. Do they have the right information at the right time? Do they understand the back office activity that produces a hire? Look at the tools and technologies that support hiring. Are they working efficiently for you? Can you build a business case for savings or greater output by upgrading or adding tools? Do the ground work now by exploring new technologies or vendor offerings. Sometimes the best time to shop is when you don’t have a penny in your pocket.

Build strong vendor relationships.
This is another good one: get to know the third party recruiters that support your business. Make a "top 10 list" – or just make a list. You may be surprised at how many there are, and if you’re not sure where to start, ask accounting who’s been a paid fee in the past year. Then talk to your business leaders to understand their needs and preferences for recruiting support. Once you’ve done all this, set or review the vendor ground rules that work for your business. Maybe it’s time to shorten the list or negotiate better rates or service levels? Either way, get to know the external recruiters that extend the reach of your department. Intelligently select the recruiters or agencies that you want to work with, and that work best with your company.


Hiring freezes or slowdowns don’t define the effectiveness of your recruiting team, your leadership does. Have some fun with this my friend, and you’ll be amazed at what your team can accomplish while the economy struggles to improve. Good luck to you!


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In my day job, I’m the Head of Products for Improved Experience, where we help employers use feedback to measure and manage competitive advantage in hiring and retention. Learn more about us here.

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