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Ashwin Shirali is the regional director, human resources, Accor Hotels, India

With the above background, the steps to hire well during recession should keep in mind the following:

Anticipate the need: Conduct an ongoing proactive analysis of future needs. The smarter organisations stock up on employees not only for the period of downturn but also keep a ‘buffer stock’ to help tide them over when the good times are back.

Determine relevant skills and experience: What employers need to seek out is not pure domain knowledge, but the ability to lead from the front, make the most of little, hunger for knowledge, enthusiasm, and desire to learn. The top leadership needs to be impeccable and strong, as they are the ones who have to deliver all the more in these rough times.

Develop the talent pool: Now is the time to network aggressively and develop a large unconventional pool including ex employees, internal references, involve the right external partners, consider employees in remote offices, consultants, suppliers, customers, and so on.

Encourage multi-skilling: Having a narrow and segmented approach to job fitment can result in under employment and hence lay-offs in bad times. A multi-tasking and multi-skilling approach that develops employees to cater to diverse requirements at the work place can not only add hugely to efficiencies, but also make an organisation lean and mean with no knee jerk reactions required in recessionary times.

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Find the perfect fit: Since a lot of companies make the mistake of firing during a recession, there is a larger amount of good talent looking for jobs. Have your best practices in place in terms of quality reference checks and well trained interviewers, as this is a great time to find top performers who will help bring your company to the next level, rather than trying to fill holes that were left from downsizing. You have to learn not to hire candidates who are not aligned with the values and culture of the company, and who merely consider your company as a stop gap.

Integrate the new recruit: Describe the job realistically and employ a total rewards approach as you cannot afford to be bullish on the compensation. Use veteran top performers as mentors to guide the new entrant and have him/her giving results as soon as possible.

Recruitment and performance audit: Flush out below-average performers as soon as possible post hire, and identify and reward the interviewers who have brought in talent that has proved itself.

With such a proactive hiring process, companies can not only acquire the best talent but retain their outstanding talent and not lose them to competition. In short, hiring in a recession is all about getting the hires of your choice who fit the company business and organisational needs, and treating them with respect regardless of the environmental factors prevailing.

Ashwin Shiral is the regional director, human resources, Accor Hotels, India