Although there has been a great deal of gloom and doom being reported on the news when it comes to unemployment, the New York Times recently ran a story proving that not all businesses are cutting back on their employees during these difficult economic times. In fact, some are taking some innovative steps to keep their employees on the payroll while also preparing them for the expected upturn in business that should occur when the economy gets back on its feet.

Take Paige Arnof-Fenn, for example. Although Arnof-Fenn has not closed any deals within her strategic marketing firm since November of last year, she has chosen to keep all of your 45 contractors on board. During this time, she has gone on what she is referring to as a “listening tour,” which has involved spending time with her clients over a cup of coffee, lunch, dinner or a few drinks. By bringing some of her contractors with her on these “tours,” she has been able to gain a greater understanding of her clients’ needs and has even signed on ten new clients as a result. It also gave her a better idea of how to meet her clients’ needs while still staying within their current budgets.

“It was clear that people wanted things on short money,” Arnof-Fenn said in the New York Times article. “So, we’ve been offering more workshops and modules that can be done on budgets half or a quarter of the size of what clients were paying before.”

Arnof-Fenn isn’t the only one who is finding innovative ways to keep her employees occupied. Dan Stryffeler, who is the president of Red Seal Electric in Cleveland, Ohio, decided to start a book club among his sales force when he saw a 30% reduction in business this year. Not only does this help fill up the day for his employees, he is also carefully selecting books that compliment the company’s customer service training. In this way, Stryffeler hopes his team will be even better prepared for an upswing when it occurs.

“I wanted to keep them engaged during the lapses, and I didn’t want to cut hours, because you never known when a customer is going to call,” commented Stryffeler in the New York Times article. He goes on to say that “People want to feel productive, and an employee that has six hours of work in an eight-hour day doesn’t feel that way.”

Dr. Beatrice Harris, who is a psychologist and managing partner with Harris, Rothenberg International in Manhattan, couldn’t agree more.

“The first thing an employee feels is freaked out if they don’t have something to do,” said Harris in the New York Times article. “Everyone wants to see their value.”

Nance Rosen, who is the chief executive of Pegasus Media World in Los Angeles, has also found a way to occupy her employee’s time while showing them that they are of value – she gave them three weeks of paid time off when she hit a lull in business. Rather than keeping them occupied with busywork, she decided that giving her employees some rest and relaxation would help them feel more relaxed and be better prepared when an upswing in business strikes.

“I hope my employees sleep, work out or just see their family and friends,” commented Rosen in the New York Times article. “I pay them not to come in because a tsunami of work will hit again soon and they have to be recharged.”

Yet other employers are using the downtime to take advantage of internship opportunities that will help them gain new skills while also forming relationships with potentially new clients. Others are putting together innovative networking organizations that help bring business leaders together to formulate new plans for their businesses and to find ways to work together.

Unfortunately, this trend is not being seen with all companies. Rather, the innovative thinking seems to be seen more with smaller companies than with Fortune 500 companies employing thousands of people. For those smaller companies that do take this approach, however, the hope is that there willingness to stick by their employees will pay off in the long-run and keep them better prepared for an economic turnaround.