There is no question that the economy is in a downward spiral. Leaders need to distribute custom-made parachutes across the business and pull the right cords to ensure a smooth landing.

The economic downturn, no matter the industry you are in, is no longer a prediction. Business leaders and key decision makers are well and truly living this situation right now.

Reading the latest economic reports, we are all in this for a minimum of 12-18 months. The moment the pinch is felt in the home is the instant business knows the tough times are everywhere. Add to that, we live in a 24-hour information cycle. When news breaks, people know it, and economic news breaks every day on the hour. Even if your company's revenues have held up, your employees know there's trouble and they're nervous.

It's time now to act practically... everyone knows, and employees want to know what their leaders are doing to set the organisation up for a smooth landing.

The essential elements or chords that leaders need to be pulling on behalf of their organisation to navigate a smooth landing during this bumpy economic downturn include:

1. Communication - internally and externally

There is no telling what lies ahead in the next several months - with the exception of it's not going to get any easier quickly.

The best thing leaders can do is communicate and connect with your people immediately with the plan and what they can do. They may be nervous but they also want to know they can help, and how.

How you share that message is as important as the message itself - what is it you want your people to think, feel and do? How do you share the message in a compelling and creative way so that the message sticks and appropriate action is taken?

The secondary element of communication is ensuring you are communicating your strategy and product/service message the market effectively.

2. Coaching strong performers to retain them

Coaching becomes even more critical during times of change and crisis, when people are feeling uncertain and anxious about the future. Coaching helps people to develop their ability, knowledgeand confidence to improve their performance and/or achieve their potential.

3. Strengthening and developing your teams

In challenging economic and financial times a classic knee-jerk reaction in suffering businesses is to control costs by cutting the "soft stuff" - principally HR or professional development programs. The paradox is that these very times require staff who are engaged, supported, committed and able to perform at their best. The other common reaction is "the freeze", which essentially
means the same number of people to perform a growing amount of work.

The foundation stone for a high performance yet supportive culture is quality teams. High performance executive teams will ensure the strategy is agile and responsive while simultaneously role modelling effective leadership and shaping the culture.

High performance work teams will ensure seamless, efficient execution of the strategy and will become the single most important tool for retaining and motivating the invaluable people that you can't afford to lose.

4. Accountability

The current challenging market conditions have increased the need to ensure that everything that you do produces results. It is in the tough times that the most astute leaders set their companies up for future success. Ensuring that you build a culture of accountability - one that continually produces the goals that your organisation sets - is one of the wisest decisions that you can make.

In an accountability culture, employees develop the confidence to develop plans that they know they can execute. They have the mindset, language and skills to effectively negotiate agreements, assess and manage the risks associated with delivering on those promises and being accountable as well as holding others to account in managing the consequences (both positive and negative) of the outcomes delivered.

The most effective leaders are able to see opportunities that others can't. The decisions that you make now will determine the short and long term results that you create in the future. To support leaders during this time, Mettle has developed a cost effective 4-cord parachute program for leaders and their teams. The program has been built on the understanding that business and leaders need to see tangible results quickly. Refer to www.mettle.com.au for details of the program, which can be delivered in-house to your people.

Craig McCallum is the general manager marketing & corporate services at Mettle. For more information phone (02) 9964 9511