How will you cope in the crisis?

You might expect big banks caught in the financial meltdown to be at least downbeat, if not in actual despair. But the information head at one has this to say: “While we have been at the eye of the storm, we are currently in ‘business as usual’ mode. In fact, now that our position has been solidified, we feel the current market is laden with opportunities and that we are in a strong position to capitalise on the market conditions.”

However, those opportunities are likely to be accompanied by some pain. As another information boss at another major bank says: “The recent upheavals in the financial system have led everyone to examine their future income and subsequently to try to increase this by cutting costs. We are also struggling with changes in the business ­ a move to focusing on the restructuring of companies ­ and their impact on research needs.”

Which is where information professionals come in ­ or should do.

The reality is acknowledged by one bank information head: “There is no great track record of organisations turning to their information specialists when times are tough. We need to continue to move up the value chain, providing less data and more analysis. But are we, as a group of professionals, suitably skilled to do that?”

In a recent article for the Special Libraries Association, consultant Sylvia James writes: “Business information research and the skills and experience that go with it are not seen by corporate management as essential when times get tough in the economic cycle. The one thing information professionals can do is work to understand the aspects of such a complex financial situation and source the specific data that is required for their organisations to prepare strategies and plans to ride out the storm.”

Equipping the business in this way with all it needs to tackle the crisis could end up being a career saver for information professionals.

As Francis Muzzu of CILIP’s Infomatch recruitment consultancy says: “Never before has it been more important to prove the worth of the information professional. If you cannot prove that you are intrinsic to the profitability of an organisation, you will be perceived as a luxury, and therefore potentially expendable.”

There can be little doubt he is right. An information head at a major financial institution says: “Anyone who has worked in the financial sector for more than a decade will undoubtedly have previously worked through a period of uncertainty about their firm and their employment prospects. So to some extent I’ve seen it all before. The scale of the crisis may be unprecedented, but the personal insecurity is cyclical.”

Just another challenge
Independent information professional Annabel Colley is confident that information professionals are up to the task. “We’ve dealt with disintermediation, the commoditisation of information, outsourcing, and taking the long view,” she says. “We will deal with this too.”

Jill Fenton of Fenton Research, who will be presenting at Online 2008 on the topic of financial market turmoil and useful sources of information, says: “Some companies may move to a cautious short-term risk and investment strategy: hold tight, and put a freeze on recruitment and new project investment. Others may decide now is the time to take heed, act and assess their position within the market.”

Another independent, Martin Ainsworth, says: “Inevitably there are going to be pressures to reduce the spend on data, and possibly headcount, although in financial services the larger business research functions have been offshored, so any job losses will probably not hit the UK.”

One banking information head even contends that the downturn could see a lot of products being pulled back to the information centre. “Cost-conscious organisations may challenge the premise that tools should be deployed deskside, given the incremental licensing costs and escalating content charges that accrue as a result of giving unfettered access to knowledge workers who lack the skills to use these tools effectively.”

And there could be other opportunities in unexpected places. “Here at CBL we are offering a large number of free events, and the demand for most of them is overwhelming,” says Goretti Considine, head of the Corporation of London’s City Business Library.

Neil Infield of the British Library’s Business and Intellectual Property Centre is hopeful that many of those made redundant will want to start their own business, resulting in more customers for him.

“The lack of loans from banks must be a short-term phenomenon as this is what banks do as their principal business,” he adds.

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