"Is There a Silver Lining in the Great Recession?"

Prepared by: Gordon Woodfall, CEO & Founder

So many organizations have felt the implications of the Great Recession, whether small or large. To align their shrinking revenue streams with costs, most restructurings included the typical "downsizing" of direct labor and overhead. Through out the United States, especially in New England, much of the direct labor has already been shipped to low cost regions, and the remaining infrastructures are comprised of the indirect areas, so often viewed as the area of "non-value" in the eyes of the customer.

Organizations that dealt with this restructuring and downsizing as a strategic organization initiative, most likely thought through the implications of the reduction of the workforce, looked beyond the current critical issues, and leveraged this as a Silver Lining in the cloud of darkness to re-position itself for the long term.

For those organizations who merely reacted as they were in the "survival mode" most likely did not or has not looked at this as a strategic initiative. The question: "Is it too late"?

Although most organizations are still in a panic mode, waiting for the so called recovery, so they can get back to the previous Status Quo State....will have a very long wait. The economy has done things this cycle that we have not seen before, since the Great Depression. So an organization has two choices:

Take a Wait and See and Hope or... Seize the Day, and Reposition Itself by Creating Sustainable Change within the Organization.

The energy that is created by change is existing within the restructured organization. So how does one harness this energy and redirect it to positive outcomes?

Creating sustainable change within an organization, no matter if in service, healthcare, financial services, non-profit, or manufacturing require the same fundamental approach.

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