Doing Business in the Post Covid World

Majority of Indian businesses believe that better workforce management can increase productivity & cut costs by 15%

Now that the COVID lockdowns are receding, businesses are looking at gaining the ground lost during the last few months. Companies now are looking at ways to align themselves strategically with their employees better to increase positive outcomes. Good workforce management plays a big part in achieving this successfully. Here are some of the major trends that will shape the future of work in the post COVID era:

Remote Work

Thanks to COVID, work from home has become mainstream. Not only businesses but educational institutes and goverment ministries have also adapted to work remotely. This situation will likely last for some more time in the future. People no longer need to be physically present in the same location do to work. Companies are also discovering that with the correct processes, remote teams perform at par, or even better than those in the office.

Employees are happy with the option too. A majority of employees have reported increase in job satisfaction and happiness over being able to work from home. Employee happiness increases productivity as well. This study indicates that employees are 13% more productive when they are happy with their workplace arrangements.

Technology to support remote work is also available in plenty. With this technology becoming more and more common, the hurdles to remote work are fast disappearing. It’s only a matter of time before remote work becomes mainstream.

The Digitization of Work

Software is eating the world. The world as we see it today cannot function without software and the technology to run it. From mobile phones, internet to medical devices and robots, technology has pervaded into every industry.

As such, small and medium businesses too, are looking favorably upon digitization, mainly to cut costs and improve productivity. The biggest challenge for them is to get their workforce into a digital mindset. Gone are the days of paper and even excel sheets. In a rapidly moving world, where speed and data are equally important, adapting digital processes is a must.

With businesses staring at changing markets and uncertain future, it is important to invest in the right software to increase the efficiency, cut costs and scale faster.

Gig Economy

Companies like Uber have opened up a new avenue for work, which supported through technology and has a relatively low barrier to entry. This gig economy has helped millions of people get a second job and pay off their debts, or simply upgrade their lifestyle.

This gig paradigm has affected the new and traditional organisations alike. In the services sector, a strict organization chart is slowly being replaces by small, project-based teams. 75% of Generation Z employees would be interested in having multiple roles in their place of employment.

For the more traditional businesses, more and more employees are seen to sign on as contractors and then move on to the next ‘gig’ after their contract is up.

A Scalable Workforce

One of the effects of the gig economy and the market shakeup due to COVID will be a scalable workforce. A scalable staff allows a business to adapt to market & financial changes quickly and efficiently, carry less baggage and become profitable faster.

With remote work available, hiring external talent has become easy and businesses get a larger talent pool to hire from. Likewise, people are able to access a larger number of jobs, since location is no longer an issue.

How to prepare for the future of work

Employees need to redraw their career paths. Gone are the days when the career path of an employee was drawn at a single company, with the objective only being the next promotions. Employees need to prepare for various challenges and opportunities at multiple companies, honing their skills at every chance they get.

With technology starting to automate certain jobs, employees need to learn skills to complement such technology. With automation, employees have a greater opportunity to innovate and test and implement creative ideas and initiatives.

Employers need to rethink hiring and recruiting new employees. Assesment based on not just qualifications, but also emotional intelligence, critical thinking, creativity, innovation and problem solving traits, and ability to use technology effectively.

Businesses need to train their workforce to adapt a digital mindset, and start transforming traditional processes to digital processes. They need to create an environment where they are able to effectively analyze data generated by such digital processes. Proper analysis of such data helps to identify problem areas and growth areas. Such data driven businesses are able to grow faster and make bigger profits.

The workforce as we know it is rapidly changing, and so are the ways to manage it. COVID has disrupted the market as never before. To turn this pandemic into an opportunity, businesses need to adapt new technologies and new processes.

Update May 2021

A further continuation of this subject can be found here