Today’s guest blogger is Dana Duran, the director of vhr, HR Solutions from vcfo. Dana and her team of experienced HR professionals work with companies of all sizes to strategize and implement human resources strategies and solutions. She can be reached at 512-450-6560 or dduran@vcfo.com.

In today’s recessionary economy, many business owners and leaders are focused on near-term tactics that will enable them to survive the current market turbulence. But what if we could instead leverage these strategies to create lasting results, not just temporary survival tactics? What lessons can today’s business leader take to ensure their company is positioned for long-term success, in any economy?

In recent times many companies have been forced – for varying reasons – to streamline some, if not all aspects of their business operations. Whether it’s reduced tools and resources or reduced staff, companies are operating in a much leaner environment than they likely were 12-18 months ago.

Accountability is critical to the success of these new, more streamlined operations – and should be considered critical to the long-term success of any organization, in any economy. The following are some key areas to consider implementing or enhancing your company’s accountability strategies.

Redesigning compensation structures to achieve more performance-driven vs. entitlement rewards systems: From an internal contribution perspective not all employees are created equal. Savvy employers know that entitlement must be replaced with objective, quantifiable performance-based compensation and rewards systems. This means more closely aligning corporate business objectives with employee goals and linking their compensation to their achievement of measurable performance criteria.

Focusing on core competencies: In an up economy, companies often staff-up large support or other ancillary departments or add highly compensated staff members in areas which are non-core to their business. It’s time to evaluate how critical these functions are to the overall operation of your company both now and in the future. Consider whether or not your business requires these functions on a full-time basis or if you can shift them to a part-time or outsourced solution.

Eliminating low-contributing employees: All too often employers hold on to employees who have long-since ceased to be effective in their role. While they may do this for a variety of reasons (fear, inertia, misguided loyalty, etc.), a recessionary economy forces leaders to evaluate the performance of every member of the team – replacing excuses with accountability.

Backsourcing or renegotiating work previously handled by more costly vendors: Whether you engaged with an outsourced firm when you anticipated a higher volume of business transactions driving additional marketing, advertising, staffing, IT or personnel support, make certain that what you’re paying for, what you’re getting and what you actually need are presently matching up. If they’re not, consider bringing those functions back in-house or, at a minimum look into your options for re-negotiating your existing contracts to bring them more in line with your current requirements. Business needs constantly change and therefore business leaders must constantly evaluate the value-add of any vendor relationship and be ready to implement change when it’s called for.

Yes, accountability is key, and it behooves business leaders to ensure that accountability is maintained, regardless of prevailing market conditions. If every cloud has a silver lining then every downturn has its upside as well. Implementing streamlining and accountability measures and holding true to them even when the economy makes its ultimate recovery will prove to be a highly-effective strategy not just for weathering the current economic crisis but for ensuring long-term business success.