Best Advice: 'There are hidden opportunities in every crisis,' says Red Hat's Marjet Andriesse

What was the problem you were grappling with? 

I am reminded of the 2008 financial crisis. I had just been appointed General Manager of staffing firm Randstad for Eastern Europe. It was a tough time as most companies had to restructure their operations to survive and for us, it wasn’t any different.

Whom did you approach for advice and why? 

Most optimists say “never waste a good crisis” and so keeping that in mind, I proactively reached out to our customers to discuss how we could support them in managing this crisis because it affected the whole economy. And in the same vein, I also reached out to our employees and openly shared with them the company’s business situation and the new growth strategy to move forward; and I invited them to take part in the transformation journey.

What was the advice you received? 

Our employees and customers appreciated this openness and show of trust, and said that there is never a silver bullet to tackle a crisis. What one must do is look for the hidden opportunities that exist in every crisis, and remain positive. Their view was that the ability to adapt, review the best possible options, and take risks can help in changing a negative outcome to a positive one.

How effective was it in resolving the problem? 

We took this advice to heart, unearthed new opportunities, and worked our way through the crisis. Even though the road to business recovery was long, we bounced back after a year of hard work, perseverance and great team-work. We earned a high level of trust with our employees and customers, which was very rewarding.