Adaptability determines business continuity post-Covid-19

MARCH 11, 2021, marks one year since the World Health Organisation (WHO) characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic. The pandemic has sent the global economy into one of its worst recessions ever and it is not yet clear when it will fully recover.

The downturn will test the ability of companies to adapt to an unpredictable business environment. Companies that are agile are more able to adapt to new ways of working and serving customers, and new technologies to improve productivity and efficiency, and to stay ahead of the competition.

Modern office life has become a broad workplace cultures and styles, with people working in the office, at home and around the clock. Social distancing is one of the effective means of containing the spread of the virus, and more companies have shifted their employees to working at home.

They, however, need to find a balance between what worked before the pandemic and what needs to change in the workplace in the new normal. For the new remote working norms to be successful, companies will need to focus on forming teams that can work remotely and perform assigned tasks that can be efficiently executed away from the office.

Meetings and discussions will mostly be held through virtual means and managers will need to ensure that employees have the tools and support they need to seamlessly transition to remote working. However, remote working is more than equipment and Internet connectivity.

Working remotely, employees can feel disconnected from their organisations and may not be as engaged as they would be in an office environment. So, companies need to establish a remote work policy that may include who can work from home, expectations for performance and deliverables, and expenses to cover.

The pandemic has created a shift in consumption patterns and this might have significant impacts on customer engagement and purchasing behaviour. Before Covid-19, most shoppers made purchasing decisions in the store, based on what they saw on display, touched, smelled, and compared brands on the shelves.

Although this still remains important for traditional shoppers, the pandemic has accelerated the shift towards online shopping and the trend is likely to have lasting effects for brands. Expectations for the digital experience will continue to increase.

Online shoppers demand convenience, accuracy, responsiveness, empathy, and, more importantly, trust. Companies need to prepare not only for the rise in digital transactions, but also for the future of digital engagement.

Companies, particularly in the retail industry, need to create agility within their workforce to transition from brick-and-mortar to selling online. Traditional customer sales and support operating models will significantly change to adapt to an online business model. This will require workforce with e-commerce skills for the business model to succeed.

The speed at which companies deploy e-commerce capabilities will determine their advantage and business continuity. The pandemic has caused companies, particularly the service industry, to accelerate their digital transformation of their operations to meet customer demand, stay relevant and competitive.

Companies need to be agile and build their IT infrastructure and capabilities, including IT teams, to quickly pivot from traditional processes to digital methods and processes to ensure business continuity. Investment in ICT, such as cloud infrastructure, can empower businesses to access remotely critical applications with built-in data security, reduce cost of ownership, and provide agility and scalability when needs arise.

Other disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will arguably play a major role in a post-pandemic world and shape the business landscape. Traditional industries, such as mining, energy, manufacturing, and food processing, have embraced AI tools, such as robotics, to continue routine production processes.

As customers look for non-and-low contact ways to interact with businesses and service providers, many companies in the service industry, such as the food and beverages sector, have digitalised their internal processes, as well as their products and services.

The democratisation of AI and ML tools is beneficial, particularly for small- and medium-scale enterprises as technical infrastructure has increasingly become standardised and AI capabilities in robotic and data science and business intelligence are being developed.

The implementation of emerging technologies enables companies to reduce unscheduled downtime, reduce maintenance costs, operate with agility, respond to customer needs and remain competitive.

Companies that are agile and can adapt quickly to new and uncertain market conditions will successfully weather the crisis and will better position themselves in navigating a post-pandemic future.