Future of Work: 5 key actions to help your business come out of COVID-19 on top.

The unprecedented spread of COVID-19 around the globe has thrown the global economy into turmoil, upending numerous industries including the tourism and travel industries. The pandemic has also created opportunities for some industries to thrive while necessitating that businesses begin strategically assessing how they can prosper and adapt during and after these hard times. Welcome to the Future of Work.

The unprecedented spread of COVID-19 around the globe has thrown the global economy into turmoil, upending numerous industries including the tourism and travel industries. The pandemic has also created opportunities for some industries to thrive while necessitating that businesses begin strategically assessing how they can prosper and adapt during and after these hard times. Welcome to the Future of Work

Some businesses are resorting to traditional business practices, often because they are familiar with these methods and tactics, and because unexpectedly having to transform one’s business at a large scale is daunting. However, this global pandemic has and will continue to redefine many business models and resorting to traditional methods can prove to be frustrating. 

Over the past few years, we have witnessed massive changes, both positive and negative. As a business leader, authentic leadership is going to be expected more often from you. It is imperative that you identify how to harness the current moment to transform your business and set it up to succeed in the future. It is inevitable that the post-pandemic world will comprise significant changes in the way we work, live, and learn. Namely, we are likely going to see major shifts from traditional workplace settings to remote work environments and from static, bureaucratic organisational structures and norms to a dynamic, flexible, and team-focused atmosphere. As these transitions occur, it is vital that leaders assess and improve their employees’ experiences, as this directly impacts the success of an organisation and the experiences of customers. The planning and actions you take now in this regard are therefore integral, as they will give you a competitive advantage and enable you to successfully transition during the upturn. 

A Case for remote working

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, physical workplaces were considered the standard in most industries. However, as COVID-19 has spread across the world, employees in many sectors and industries have learned to adapt to remote working environments, primarily in their homes. Following the pandemic, it should be possible to establish safe work environments for employees who must work from physical offices. 

However, many organisations will also take the bold step of introducing primarily remote workspaces, something that was inconceivable for many industries before. The pandemic has demonstrated that by relying on online conferencing tools, it is possible and easy for companies to excel with remote employees. In addition, the rapid shift to a remote work environment has fostered cultural changes within many organisations, often resulting in a renewed and improved sense of collegiality and connection among employees, as well as increased trust and employee empowerment. Further, this transition to remote workspaces has highlighted how much money organisations can save when not allocating significant funds towards travel budgets and office space. As organisations consider making the transition to remote work environments more permanently following the pandemic, they will find the benefits outweigh the risks. Furthermore, in order to sustain this approach organisations are encouraged to introduce new policies and norms, such as family-responsible policies, to reduce work-life conflict and increase productivity in the long run. ​​

A Case for agile decision making

The increase in trust and collegiality associated with remote working is likely to see employees emerge in a post-pandemic world as more self-confident and willing to readily take on greater responsibility and share their ideas. As a business leader you may wish to capitalise on this and consider how you can develop guidelines and/or introduce or adapt cultural norms and organisational methods that encourage employee empowerment. This process requires a thorough analysis into who you are as a business and what values you espouse. Fostering such an environment will increase employee satisfaction and in turn help you retain top talent going forward. It is fundamental that you invest in your employees and help foster a strong, value-driven culture at your company.

The correlation between employee experiences and customer satisfaction

As you work to transform your organisation in the wake of the pandemic, it is important to note that there is a direct relationship between the experiences of your employees and the experiences of your customers and in turn, the success of your business. An organisation that produces positive experiences for its employees will also produce positive experiences for its customers. Customers want to engage with organisations that have satisfied and empowered employees. 

Failure to listen to the voice of the employee will undoubtedly lead to increased levels of frustration, as well as customer churn, negative reviews, and loss in revenue. Companies that want to succeed with automation and Artifical Intelligence (AI) need to focus on harnessing the talents of the knowledge workers in your company. It is employees who play pivotal roles in how organisations develop, innovate and who will ultimately drive success. 

In addition, employees should feel empowered and encouraged to surface issues to management rather than conceal problems. The issues may be related to company processes and systems or individual challenges. 

Reduce Employee Burn Out - The Case for Omni-Channel and Personalised Customer Experiences

In order to reduce employee burn out in the future of work, organisations need to move the needle on customer experience by investing in the tools and adoption techniques available to their employees. For example, in the case of a contact centre, customer data should be unified across all channels and employees sufficiently trained to ensure that all customer interactions are seemless. This will enable employees to maintain fluid engagements with consumers, regardless of the channel used and reduce employee burn out. 

It is also advisable that you personalise your services to help create memorable customer interactions and engagements across all your channels. This will help distinguish your business and its services among employees and customers. One of the biggest challenges in this area is data quality and specifically, keeping track of all communication sent by your organisation to a customer to ensure seemless carry through of a matter. This can be achieved by bringing in experts in next generation personalisation. 

Relatedly, AI and Robatic Process Automation (RPA) tools can help boost the efficiency of and satisfaction with your business thereby reducing employee burn out. Today AI-fueled chatbots can be used to ensure that customers receive around the clock support. Chatbots and similar tools can also make use of natural language processing, which will enable you to gain deeper insight into what your customers want and need. These insights can be used to create customer journey maps and personalised engagements ensuring customers receive tailored recommendations and relevant proactive outreach. 

5 key actions to help your business come out of COVID-19 on top

As you prepare for the upturn, there are five key actions you can take to ensure your organisation succeeds in a sustainable manner: 

1. Redefine the purpose of the organisation: Employees will always value working with an organisation that has a purpose, demonstrates innovation and creativity and that inspires change. Similarly, customers will be attracted to these brands. 

2. Promote and create work flexibility in order to achieve your outcomes: Prior to the pandemic, many companies did not encourage work from home arrangements. However, this period has fostered a work-from-home experiment that has forced companies to reevaluate their positions and accept remote work environments as a valid option. 

3. Invest in your employees: This abrupt time period has demonstrated how important your employees are and how much good teamwork and collegiality can influence your business’ success. As you strategise going forward, you should place special emphasis on investing in training for your employees as well as in investing in tools that can help improve and enhance their experiences. Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools can be particularly helpful here. 

4. Focus on speed to market and reduce bureaucracy: The COVID-19 crisis has forced many businesses to reduce or eliminate boundaries. Although this process undoubtedly has had growing pains, it has enabled organisations to sidestep bureaucratic procedures, streamline processes to respond more quickly to internal needs and demonstrate dynamism. 

5. Tailor your approach: You know your business better than anyone else. While it is important to stay abreast of the trends and best practices for adapting your business during these trying times, recognise that this is not a one size fits all process. Your strategic plan needs to be based on your organisation’s unique advantages and disadvantages and address your organisation’s specific goals and objectives. 

The future of work will impact every industry in various ways. Those who have adopted modern digital technologies and lean ways of working are successfully taking the lead in adapting to the future of work. Navigating through the process of transforming your business is challenging but if done right, will be incredibly rewarding.

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