Navigate the economic turmoil

Ensuring you have the right talent is essential to survival and success

“Economic policy uncertainty in the United States has eclipsed COVID-19 uncertainty levels, which were the highest readings on record.” (McKinsey & Company, Strategy and Corporate Finance Consultants, May 2025.)

Drivers of our current and projected economies include the spate of business closings, layoffs and bankruptcies which challenge us every day. The grave uncertainties of tariffs, taxes, interest rates and kinks in our supply chains are creeping up on all of us. As they are affecting our suppliers or customers, they will soon be impacting us.

The issues here are not new, but their magnitude and their confluence are.

How do we deal with the current issues? How do we deal with what’s next?

The common place to start for every organization is their keystone asset: the right people. There is no substitute for their experience, attentiveness and continuing adaptability. Whether assessing current or prospective employees, you can be successful.

Don’t settle for talent that’s “good enough for now.” “Now” is temporary. Mediocre talent will generate mediocre results. This talent will not be an asset, particularly when dealing with dynamic uncertainties.

Select leadership team members who will complement and extend your own skills and whose experience and talents will challenge you to be the best business leader you can be.

As your evolving leadership team takes shape, ensure that they fit with you personally, with the culture you want to build and with one another. The multiplier impact of a cohesive team, compared to a collection of individuals, is stunning.

Ensure that your talented colleagues are solidly ethical, organizationally dedicated, goal-oriented, selfless enough to get the best from one another, and self-confident enough to hire others of equal (or greater) talent.

In your hiring of the right employees, focus on each individual’s relevant and quantifiable past accomplishments, how they were achieved, under what circumstances and how they’ll fit to meet the coming demands.

Choose people of whom you’ll be proud. The value of your business, throughout its life, is impacted by the caliber of your people. They’ll be evaluated by industry communities, and by prospective investors and bankers, not to mention suppliers and customers with whom you’d like to do business.

At each stage of your company’s growth, be ready for both expected and unforeseen changes. For businesses that are succeeding, they often get larger and more complex than the founder expected to need to manage. Map out potential changes and the essential transfers of responsibilities that may be needed. Build a supportive consensus with your internal team and with your stakeholders.

Over time as businesses and the environment evolve, prepare yourself for some critical changes to your own role.

Remember that for any growing and changing business, acknowledging the need to evolve can be a most difficult step. As these needs arise, if implementation comes too easily, you may have placated yourself with a simple adjustment rather than stepping up to the need for real change.

The recipe for business endurance and success does depend on having the right people. Like your other valued assets, the right people are an investment, not an expense. And like those other assets, make this investment a prudent one. Identify up front, what is the expected return?

Whether building or bolstering your business, this challenge offers a real opportunity to ensure its future.

Emily Davis is an accomplished employee relations, labor relations, organization change leader based in Western Massachusetts. She can be contacted at Emily.R.Davis.HR@gmail.com. Stan Davis is a former business executive and founder of New England-based Standish Executive Search. He can be contacted at SDavis@standishsearch.com