Responding to Organizational Impacts
The Great Recession
T. H. Easter Consulting was founded in the middle of the largest financial recession since the Great Depression. Timing, as they say, is everything! The global financial crisis exacerbated long-term trends including rising student debt and stagnant wages leaving the public with a sense that the system is broken.
Under the guidance of our founder, Terri Hartwell Easter, this downturn offered an opportunity to establish our identity as leaders of change, even in the midst of great difficulty. Our first major work involved assisting law firms in transitioning attorneys out of their firms to meet the fiscal constraints imposed by a dramatic decrease in billings. Terri and the team led multiple engagements to help firms manage the cultural anxiety that resulted from downsizing, as well as coaching the outgoing lawyers through the transition to new employment opportunities and in some cases placing them in new careers. The firm was able to offer executive coaching, transition coaching and executive placement services to these individuals, providing them a level of support that has translated into lasting relationships.
The Fallout
$16T
total net worth loss of
American households
10%
peak
unemployment
57%
S&P 500
Index loss
Navigating Change
At a macro level, the Great Recession created a society-wide crisis of confidence in our institutions that has only worsened over time. At the organizational level, though this is only clear in retrospect, this was the beginning of a sea change in the nature of work, as Millennials began joining the workforce and technology was revolutionizing the way we live. It also was a harbinger of the leadership deficit that was to come.