A Slowdown Like No Other
We have been through slowdowns in the 20 years from our inception. Each had different characteristics, but all impacted broad manufacturing and service sectors. We have weathered each, looking for opportunity where we could find it. We are not unlike the many businesses today, seeking opportunities to weather the storm with the least disruption.
This slowdown is different; we liken it to the WWII wartime e
conomy. The transition to a war economy in WWII boosted some businesses, crippled others, while thousands of jobs were shifted to the wartime effort. Companies relying on metal, rubber or glass could not acquire the raw materials to produce products for consumers and those business leaders who could not convert to wartime production simply shuttered, letting their talent go to other businesses. When the war ended, much of the talent found themselves satisfied and stayed in place when plant production converted to a peacetime economy.
Over the years, we have helped companies to reshape and reform through talent acquisition. Recently we had a client use our services to find someone with experience building and manufacturing in a cleanroom environment to help them enter a market they felt had great potential. They needed our help to identify and land the talent so they could enter a new market. They also needed a firm skilled at building a story to convince someone to jump from a familiar industry to a new industry. We knew where these people were, and we knew how to land them.
American manufacturing has been caught with its long supply chains cut leading to extensive shortages which until now have been taken for granted. This may lead to a boom in manufacturing in the U.S. As a result, we ask these questions of business leaders and private equity groups: Which businesses or product lines could be converted to a “COVID19” wartime economy, and is the talent immediately available to help in the conversion effort?
Call it reinvention, nimbleness or flexibility, it is clear the steps taken today can help in a time of crisis and position businesses — which otherwise might shutter — to thrive in the future. We are here to help in that effort whether it is asking the needed questions, coaching talent to shift to a different environment, or finding skilled talent to help your business pivot to current opportunities.
By Tim Pappas, Jay Rosencranz, and Heather Alberti at Pappas DeLaney, LLC.
