The world of work has transformed dramatically over the past three years.

Remote and hybrid work environments post pandemic combined with emerging trends such as the Great Resignation and quiet quitting are creating unprecedented challenges for organisations and the way they manage their workforce.

The new workplace revolution

The Great Resignation – where employees left their jobs following the post-pandemic ‘return to normal’ – was sparked by employees re-evaluating their careers . As industries closed down during the early stages of the pandemic, many workers lost their jobs. A lucky few were able to retain employment, and in some cases – especially in the technology sector – actually thrive despite the ongoing uncertainty and disruption.

Free from lengthy commutes and noisy offices, pandemic-era productivity spiked, with finding that employees were more productive during the lockdowns.

However, the intensity of work during that time arguably took its toll on employees. When restrictions lifted and companies started calling employees back to the office, huge numbers opted to retain the new-found work-life balance they enjoyed, with a record number of resignations occurred during the latter stages of 2020.

Many of those that stayed in their positions, burnt out from the intense work and social pressure caused by the pandemic and its ripple effects, then engaged in so-called quiet quitting.

Quiet quitting is perhaps one of the most alarming trends in that it reveals a deep-seated disillusionment with the status quo and a powerful desire among employees to redefine the boundaries of their careers.

One Gallup study revealed that . In fact, at one point found that 40% of the global workforce were considering quitting their jobs within a three to six-month period.

Co-creating workplaces that work

Amid this workplace instability and global economic downturn is a very real need for companies to return to high levels of productivity and innovation.

To achieve this, organisations have to find common ground with employees and an effective way to retain top talent.

The bad news is there’s no guidebook for how companies should go about this. Creating a new world of work will require courage, collaboration and clear communication with employees at all levels.

This is likely to demand a complete redrawing of some traditional workplace boundaries, namely:

1 Workplace duties

One of the benefits that employees enjoyed during the pandemic’s work-from-home phase is that they were less likely to be assigned tasks that had nothing to do with their core job. In an office environment, employees run the risk of getting pulled in to support work that falls outside their own job responsibility. This can lead to longer working hours, stress and even burnout.

While there can be upside for employees taking on extra responsibility as a way of learning or expanding their network, companies need to be realistic about expectations and keep the balance between productivity and creating an unhealthy workplace. A recognition system for those who go the extra mile is also helpful in creating some reward.

2 Cultural alignment

One of the more insidious consequences of the work-from-home era has been a misalignment between employees and the organisational culture. While this holds especially true for new employees that joined the business during lockdown, even long-standing employees will have experienced some disengagement with the broader company vision.

The effect is a lower level of engagement with non-core tasks, such as attending company events or participating in team-building activities. In extreme cases this misalignment has left some employees entirely unwilling to return to the office.

There is no easy fix for this. Companies will need to work with employees to reframe their vision and culture fit for the new world of work. Employees in turn will need to acknowledge that, in order to achieve broader organisational goals and drive the business forward, some compromises must be made.

3 Vision to reality

The past few years have exposed some of the inherent duplicity in how organisations attract and motivate staff versus what their actual focus is. While creating healthy work environments with more focus on employee wellbeing is top of mind, this must be balanced with the need to generate growing profits, to fulfil shareholder commitments and to compete effectively in tough economic conditions.

Companies need to be clear with employees on their vision and values. There is a fine line to be walked between people, purpose and profit which is ultimately linked to shareholder value. Creating the right balance between these three will likely help to attract and retain the best talent for each environment.

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Two years ago, corporate fixation on time was profound: employees were meant to be at the office at a designated time, and expected to utilise the time at the office as productively as possible. The thought of employees working from anywhere – or more importantly at any time – was not entertained beyond the occasionally-granted privilege.

The switch to remote work during the pandemic has exposed this obsession with time and place as a fallacy. Professionals, untethered from the office and working without the hands-on guidance of management, showed that greater workplace flexibility could not only work, but in some cases exceed older work models.

Since then the world of work has undergone a seismic shift away from inputs – adhering to time, completing tasks, ticking boxes – to outputs, which focus simply on completing tasks successfully and achieving the desired outcomes for the business.

Pandemic influences aside, the world of work is also undergoing huge changes due to the growing impact of next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence and a rethink of how workers and technology combine for greater effect.

Understanding Work 4.0

In Europe, the future of work is being discussed under the umbrella term Work 4.0, referencing the influence of Industry 4.0 and widespread digitalisation.

This follows on from the birth of industrial society and the emergence of the first worker organisations (Work 1.0), the start of mass production and rise of welfare states in the 19th century (Work 2.0), and the emergence of globalisation and digitalisation since the 1970s (Work 3.0).

Work 4.0 is characterised by greater collaboration and cooperation, increased use of digital technologies and, importantly, a rise in flexible work arrangements.

It sees organisations blend together human expertise and digital technologies to create more productive workforces, improve monitoring and training of workers, augmenting workforce capabilities with new technologies, and automating mundane and low-value tasks.

At its core, though, the transition to Work 4.0 will involve much of what we are dealing with now: understanding and enabling a new model of work, and ensuring employees have the support they need to smoothly transition to new forms of work.

Tips for transitioning to a new way of work

It is important to understand that these are uncharted waters and there’s no universal playbook for success. Organisations also simply don’t have the luxury of slowing down to make careful changes.

Developing new work models is akin to trying to change the tyres and service the engine of a car traveling at 120 km/h on the highway. Companies still need to meet sales targets, drive revenue, transform operations and stay on top of all the other changes confronting them.

That said, here are some guidelines that can help business leaders as they reimagine their workplace models:

Firstly, set the intention. Develop a compelling vision for the new world of work in your organisation and get everyone on board. You don’t want employees to each work according to their own version of the new world of work, as everyone will be pulling in different directions – to the detriment of themselves and the organisation.

Secondly, prioritise collaboration over control. The old command-and-control managerial approach cannot work effectively when employees are all working from different locations. Understand that the role of managers has changed and that the main priority is to get every employee to collaborate effectively and all work toward shared, clearly defined outcomes.

Next, build flexibility into the work model from the outset. Our new world of work requires different employees with varying skill sets and expectations to work from different locations, at different times. Company leaders will need to create flexible structures that enable employees to work effectively and quickly change approach if the current way is no longer sufficient.

Finally, create a safe space that is not overly punishing of mistakes. Every company will need to find their ideal workplace model through trial and error. If mistakes are punished, employees may disengage from the process and revert to old ways of work, which will invariably be detrimental to the business as the environment in which they operate has changed dramatically. Ensure there is a safe space where mistakes are met with constructive guidance and support, not punishment.

For the first time in memory, companies have no clear sense of what the end-goal of a changing workplace should look like. There is no manual to guide HR and business leaders, and the road ahead is bumpy and littered with hurdles.

By prioritising collaboration and creating space for experimentation and inevitable mistakes, companies and their employees can co-create a new way of work – one that works for everyone.

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But the past year has not been without its lessons. Our work with customers across Africa and the world has revealed several vital learnings and provide a glimpse into what we can expect in the year ahead.

My predictions for the year ahead include:

Prediction 1: Digital transformation will continue (but with new rules)

Last year moved the value of digital technologies to the top of every business leader’s agenda. Those organisations that had already invested in digital transformation could adapt more quickly and with greater resilience to the changes forced on us by the pandemic.

In 2021, organisations continued their digital transformation efforts, with remote and hybrid work models as well as digital customer engagement high on African enterprises’ agendas.

In 2022, organisations will ramp up their investments into digital technologies, but with one significant change: the days of large, lengthy, difficult and costly technology implementations are largely over. In their place is a new, more accountable model of engagement between organisations and their technology partners.

Technology providers will need to shift attention away from pure quarterly sales targets to a longer-term view of sales and performance. Customer engagements should focus less on products and features, and more on developing a deeper understanding of each customer’s challenges and building trust over the longer term.

This change will put pressure on tech providers and their implementation partners, as it requires fundamental changes to their operating models as well as new skillsets.

Prediction 2: We will all be leaders in the fight against climate change

With the Earth now 1.1掳C warmer than it was in the 1800s, countries and individuals face a mammoth task in changing course and bringing the world on to a more sustainable path. The IMF estimates the cost of adapting to climate change in developing countries may reach $300bn by the end of the decade, while productivity losses due to heat stress reducing total working hours potentially leading to a global GDP cut of $2.4tn by 2030.

While it is encouraging that more business leaders are directly addressing sustainability – the topic is now 44% more common in corporate earnings calls than three years ago – what is urgently needed is action.

麻豆原创 believes nothing less than a complete reinvention of the global economy will be required to create a world that stays within the 1.5掳C threshold and so limits the damage of climate change.

Every organisation can choose to be an exemplar and drive change through exhibiting behaviours and making decisions that put sustainability front and centre, for example by becoming carbon neutral. This form of climate leadership can inspire others and pave the way to a more equitable and sustainable future.

For a lucky few, including 麻豆原创, there is also the opportunity to be enablers, through the provision of tools, technologies and services that replace outdated and harmful business practices and power the circular economy.

麻豆原创’s Climate 21 software package, for example, allows our customers to measure and analyse the CO2 emissions directly associated with individual products they offer. Similarly Ariba, the world’s largest business network with $3.75tn in annual trade, can provide greater transparency in enterprise supply chains to enable organisations to make informed decisions over which suppliers prioritise sustainability.

Prediction 3: Innovation will be crucial (but not in the way you expect)

The word ‘innovation’ usually conjures up images of the world’s most ground-breaking companies, ones that invent products and services that create entire new industries, or new solutions that transform existing industries.

However, in 2022 a different type of innovation will be required. To meet our current and future challenges and deal with ongoing uncertainty and disruption, organisations will need to embed a culture of innovation that cuts across the organisation and transforms how people think about the challenges and opportunities they face.

Organisations will need to drive innovation in how they work with their customers, in how they approach sales, in how they provide continuous support, and a myriad other ways.

Such changes will be difficult and could lead to further disruption, so business leaders will have to ensure they keep the business in balance while building trust internally and externally throughout the change process.

Prediction 4: Our technology tools will mature to give us the best of all worlds

One of the common remarks we encounter in the boardrooms of Africa’s leading enterprises is the concept of best-of-breed. Organisations rightfully want to acquire the very best technology solutions to meet their needs and drive change and efficiency throughout the business.

Increasingly, business leaders are speaking of best-of-suite, which means choosing individual components of various different technology solutions and combining them in unique ways that are designed to deliver maximum value to the business.

In 2022, expect greater integration of technology solutions from different providers. For example, 麻豆原创’s position as the leader in enterprise resource planning through our flagship S/4HANA solution makes us a natural choice for hundreds of thousands of global organisations.

In response to the demands from our customers, 麻豆原创 has invested heavily in integration to allow our customers the freedom to integrate the solutions of their choice with any of our technologies.

The post Four Predictions for Tech’s Role in Africa appeared first on 麻豆原创 Africa News Center.

Working from home has become an intrinsic part of life for many due to the pandemic. This has led to an increased need for business agility, mobile working capabilities, and end-to-end security.

鈥淭he cloud hosted version of 麻豆原创 Business One makes it easier for small and medium enterprises to function remotely, with built-in capabilities to handle diverse business needs,鈥� says聽Heinrich de Leeuw, MD, Seidor Africa.

Productivity
Employees can use this ERP solution from anywhere and at any time, just as if they were working onsite. Data can be accessed in the cloud, and accurate, comprehensive reports created. The software instantly stores all data and makes it accessible to all the relevant stakeholders.

鈥淲ith 麻豆原创 Business One, you can create an interactive and intuitive dashboard that assists in sorting out the data, monitoring cash flow, and performing multiple other tasks,鈥� adds de Leeuw.

Security
As remote working and remote connections gain greater significance, the need for secure access to remote networks is also on the rise.

鈥淎n advantage of the 麻豆原创 Business One Cloud hosted version is that it allows you to scale and innovate, while maintaining a safeguarded environment,鈥� says De Leeuw. 鈥淲hen you deploy the solution, you benefit from a safe and secure cloud environment built to meet the requirements of the most security-sensitive organisations.鈥�

Reporting
麻豆原创 Business One provides a series of predefined, built-in reports for each functional area of the software. Users can focus the report on specific areas of the business and customise the output.

鈥淲hether you鈥檙e a controller, inventory manager, or CEO, you gain a clear view of the state of the business to make smart decisions,鈥� De Leeuw says. 鈥淵ou can prepare and run standard reports on your business鈥檚 data with ease, using the many reporting options available.鈥�

Mobility
Mobile working capabilities are critical in our changing world. With the mobile app for 麻豆原创 Business One, you can run your business from any location, at any time. With an iPhone or Android phone, users can access the data they need to streamline sales, handle service tickets, manage customers and contacts, view reports and more.

鈥淐loud-based technologies have made it possible for everyone to access documents anytime and anywhere,鈥� concludes De Leeuw. 鈥淩egardless of user location, we enable our customers to be fully productive while working remotely, so that they can keep pace with changing business needs.鈥�

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The past 18 months have had a transformative impact on the world of work. It is unlikely we will return to pre-pandemic work models, even if vaccination efforts are wildly successful and a safe return to the office is possible.

Organisations and employees have had a chance to experience the benefits of remote work. It is almost unthinkable that talented employees will easily volunteer a full-time return to traffic congestion, lengthy commutes and inflexible work environments.

Instead, organisations will need to build attractive employer brands and put the employee experience and employee wellbeing at their core, and then develop systems and processes to ensure employees are enabled and supported at every stage.

When done well, employee experience (EX) can be transformative for business success. Satisfied and engaged employees are proven to produce higher quality work, are more agile and productive, and can more easily be retained for longer tenures.

Great EX can drive increased revenue, superior customer experiences and a more competitive employer brand. Organisations with engaged employees enjoy 80% higher customer satisfaction and experience half the talent churn of their less engaged peers.

In fact, a recent survey of 900 global HR decision-makers found that 78% of HR managers believed EX will become one of the most important factors impacting their ability to deliver on key business objectives.

Closing the EX gap

However, in the same survey only 9% of HR decision-makers said employee needs were the top priority when setting EX strategy.

This at a time when many professionals are struggling as a result of the pressures created by the pandemic. The longer the global health crisis continues, the greater the pressure on employees in terms of their careers, their finances, their health and families.

Organisations need to have systems and processes in place to support employees at every stage of their journey, from recruitment to onboarding and into full productivity. This support should be available at a skills level – for example through learning and coaching programmes – and at a wellbeing level.

This has become more difficult as teams continue to work remotely, with most new hires largely cut off from corporate offices and engaging with their employers mostly via their work-issued devices.

There are clear steps organisations can take toward closing the EX gap, namely:

• Implementing effective listening programmes to ensure organisations understand employee sentiment and needs;
• Building and sustaining a positive workplace culture;
• Making effective learning and coaching processes and tools available; and
• Taking factors such as mobility and accessibility into account when choosing employee technology.

Building a hybrid workplace that works

How can organisations create a hybrid workplace that supports the needs of employees while driving better bottom-line business outcomes?

Firstly, business leaders need to set values that include empathy and transparency. This will provide additional support to employees even when they are cut off from the support structures that corporate offices provide, and ensure they can engage fully with their work.

Secondly, a clear and focused EX strategy driven by a skilled team and supported from the top down will help ensure the organisation continues to understand and meet employee expectations. This can lead to higher retention rates, improved productivity and better quality outcomes.

A strategy for getting regular feedback from employees regarding their experience will enable organisations to keep their finger on the pulse of employee expectations. Where EX falls short, data should point the way to which measures organisations need to implement to maintain high levels of employee engagement and satisfaction.

Using a cloud-based human capital management tool will give organisations real-time insight into the performance of their hybrid teams and help HR identify opportunities to provide additional support. Organisations that use tools such as 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors for example report 17% higher productivity, 21% higher profitability and .

Lastly, adapting organisational culture to better fit the needs of employees during such a disruptive period as the ongoing pandemic has created won鈥檛 happen overnight. Organisations need to take a long-term view and focus on continuous improvement instead of one-shot fix-all solutions.

Hybrid workplaces have become the norm and are likely to continue finding favour with high-performing organisations and the talent that drives them. By building a culture of engagement that continuously tracks and aims to meet employee expectations, organisations can ensure they attract, retain and mobilise the talent they need for success.

The post Put Employee Experience, Wellbeing at Centre of Hybrid Work Strategies appeared first on 麻豆原创 Africa News Center.

Traditional ideas and assumptions about the value of remote work have always been in question. But all too often, pressing imperatives of the day had organizational leaders force HR to sideline the conversation indefinitely.

Little did we know that it would take a global pandemic to turn this line of thinking into an action plan for ensuring business continuity. Leaders are now collaborating to propose, evaluate and communicate work-from-home (WFH) policies that keep employees safe, empowered and productive.

Before the infection rate of COVID-19 reached pandemic levels, 29% of midsize companies increased or added flexible work practices, according to Oxford Economics.* Now, as measures for social distancing, sheltering in and nonessential business closures become widely adopted worldwide, these numbers are rising exponentially while companies try to keep their proverbial doors open.

When protecting employees helps ensure the survival of the business

Unfortunately, such a significant change doesn’t happen without some bumps along the way. The pressures of homeschooling children, accommodating a spouse’s schedule and attending to business needs can make life seem chaotic. From collaborating with colleagues to adopting routines that drive productivity, the workforce may find that they cannot maintain the same experience of being in the office at home. Meanwhile, employees who live alone may feel lonely and burned out after working too much out of boredom.

HR leaders can address these counter-productive realities by building a collaborative workforce community, continuing talent development and training and keeping employees up to date on plans and expectations by using the following four-step strategy.

1. Respond

First and foremost, HR can help business leaders address the immediate challenges that the crisis presents to employees. This urgent and critical move requires access to real-time data across the company to easily find where workers are located and enact preventive measures to protect their health and mental well-being. Additionally, teams need to ensure that WFH policies balance the expectation of the organization as well as fulfill the needs of the workforce. Employees need to be engaged in honest communication about their WFH experience to limit unnecessary anxiety and minimize negative impacts on productivity. This can be done by providing anonymous feedback regarding the employees experiences.

2. Lean in

Since many companies are creating WFH policies on the fly and refining it as needs arise, the near-term strategy should support the physical, emotional, mental and financial well-being of the overall workforce, including contingent and part-time employees. HR should encourage people managers to have frequent check-in meetings with their teams, ask people how they are doing and listen with empathy to build trust and psychological safety.

Maintaining an open line of communication and fostering a sense of community are paramount to maximizing productivity now and ensuring that the business continues to move forward when a recovery begins. For example, collaboration tools, such as聽, can be used to check workforce well-being with a real-time mobile experience. Leaders can ask individual employees about their safety, whether they have the right resources and information to get work done, and if they feel productive and successful.

3. Equip

Many industries are witnessing massive layoffs and furloughs. Times like this bring with it job losses, restructuring and many other difficult financial and human decisions. Leaders can help ease a much-needed transition by devising and executing training plans that upskill and retool employees to keep them employed in a new role or another area of the business. Cutting-edge technology, like聽, can help find opportunities for the displaced workforce.

With predictive analytics, HR teams can run simulations to model multiple workforce staffing scenarios. They can adjust organizational strategies based on how and where the pandemic evolves, which can shift requirements for headcount expansion or contraction as well as the economic impact of demand-and-supply changes.

4. Become resilient and elastic

Coming out of today’s crisis will inevitably create a “next normal,” leaving behind any sense of “business as normal” forever. Some employees may come back to the office full time. Others may choose to work remotely 100% of the time. A few may decide to split their time between the two options. Companies with a global presence will require operating models that are orchestrated centrally and executed locally to effectively respond to present day challenges at the local, city, or country level.

Today, it鈥檚 COVID-19. Tomorrow, it could be a crisis stemming from global warming. No matter what happens, a contingency plan that impacts people must be elastic enough to adjust to the demands of the crisis and strong enough to minimize business disruption.

This reality will inevitably inspire innovative policies and communication plans to address a world of new habits that will likely be adopted to prevent a recurrence of the pandemic and prepare for a future crisis. Additionally, changes in the employee experience should align with regulatory requirements, competitive risks and emerging opportunities and reinforce the company’s thoughts, beliefs and goals.

How our leaders handle today’s crisis matters in the long term

Forward-thinking leaders and HR specialsts will unquestionably remain on the frontline of a business’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of them are already working long hours. In this particular crisis, HR becomes the war heroes for most companies. With the right tools and skills, we can demonstrate the flexibility, creativity and empathy needed to ensure the workforce is ready for anything during times of volatility as well as prosperity and growth.

The post Beyond Today鈥檚 Crisis: How HR Shifts The Culture Of Midsize Businesses To The 鈥淣ext Normal鈥� appeared first on 麻豆原创 Africa News Center.

Now that the economy is entering the 鈥渘ew normal鈥� characterized by a suppressed economy and the ever-looming threat of lockdowns snapping back, many professionals are re-evaluating their agendas. In the first deep-dive interview on 鈥�,鈥� SuccessFactors COO (MEE) Dr. Florian Dreifus laid out three clear priorities for HR during these challenging times:

1.聽聽聽聽 Ensure business continuity

The first wave of lockdowns caught many businesses off guard: How do you enable your workforce to work remotely from one day to another? How do you onboard new hires without meeting them? How are you supposed to sign contracts without being in the same room? The upshot of this shock therapy was that, for digitalized companies, the transition into home offices went reasonably well.

On the other hand, the weak spots in the tech stacks of many businesses have become painfully obvious: Dr. Dreifus cites the example of an HR department that saw its paper-based process of having managers sign bonus letters interrupted by the lockdown. The department was essentially forced to retrieve the letter from the house mail and resend it via external mail, leading to significant confusion and delay.

Investing in technology would not only help to avoid such awkward situations in the event of an eventual snap-back of lockdown measures. It would also prepare businesses to reap productivity benefits that will outlast the looming economic downturn.

Take remote work as an example: As Dr. Dreifus cites, many organizations will decide to keep working remotely on a larger scale even when the epidemic-related necessity has abated. According to ASUG, 40% of American 麻豆原创 users plan to work from home at least sometimes, even after the crisis, while only 7% of the American workforce previously had the option to do so, according to the聽. Clearly, remote work is here to stay. So, any investment in enabling remote work will not only safeguard your business continuity in a time of increased operational uncertainty, it will be the best preparation for the new way of working that arises from it.

2.聽聽聽聽 Listen and create trust

This is not only a period of heightened uncertainty for HR departments but also for employees. For many of them, it was a traumatic initial couple of weeks: Being sent home on a few days鈥� notice, having to work from the kitchen table with kids interrupting their Zoom calls, and not knowing whether their job would fall prey to an emergency headcount reduction soon. In a situation like this, Dr. Dreifus points out, it is important to reach out to employees and, even more importantly, make them heard inside the organization.

This is where the paradigmatic shift from human capital management (HCM) to human experience management (HXM) becomes most apparent: Instead of viewing and treating employees as assets at the disposal of the company, HR departments more and more focus on the feelings of the human beings in the business. The聽, for example, helps managers and HR departments understand the emotional situations and needs of their co-workers as they are sitting at home working.

As noted above, physically separated working situations could become the norm rather than the exception. In addition, understanding and being able to respond to the needs of talent is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage in the labor market. Those businesses that are able to bridge the spatial distance to their employees will not only be more resilient in the upcoming time of uncertainty but will also have a leg up in the resurging war for talent once the economic engine fires up again.

3.聽聽聽聽 Establish transparency

The emotional and physical well-being of employees is an extremely valuable additional data point in times of spatially separated workplaces. But, as Dr. Dreifus emphasizes, the current phase of uncertainty and volatility exposes the value of data on a much more general level.

An 麻豆原创 customer from the retail industry, for example, was faced with a sudden lack of skilled employees in shops as demand started spiking when the lockdowns went into effect. According to Dr. Dreifus, however, the company was not only able to identify employees in headquarters who had the necessary training and experience but also prioritized the best locations for deploying them from a cost/benefit perspective. This type of agility is only possible for companies that have the relevant data on their people, their operations, and their finances at hand and can carry out the necessary reactions in an integrated IT system.

This is the Insight-to-Action principle applied in a crisis situation. But again, this type of capability is also helpful in day-to-day business operations: the Insight-to-Action principle is not only helpful in a situation where substantial resources need to be diverted centrally. This capability can also prove useful in the more operational strata of an enterprise.

By having transparency into the state of the process, receiving proactive suggestions on how to improve it, and finally, being able to take action in the same environment, operational users are able to move the needle substantially. An investment in real-time analytics and an integrated IT landscape does not only pay off in times of upheaval but is perfect preparation for the recovery.

The recession ahead will continue to provide numerous challenges to HR departments and employees alike: New guidelines for sharing physical spaces, organizational realignments, adapting the skillset of the workforce to shifting market demands 鈥� the list seems endless. However, digitalizing core processes will not only make them disruption-proof, but also more efficient.

Developing a better understanding of employees鈥� needs will not only make it easier for them to work remotely, but also strengthen their ties to the company. And being able to act on data-based insights will not only help steer the ship, but will also help it move in a more versatile manner once it鈥檚 back in the open sea.

The post Three Priorities for HR in the 鈥楴ew Normal鈥� and Beyond appeared first on 麻豆原创 Africa News Center.

Experts and leaders from 麻豆原创 Africa have analyzed what is happening in their industries and areas of business, and have made some predictions over the business and technology trends likely to shape 2021:

Cathy Smith, Managing Director: 麻豆原创 Africa 鈥� Leadership with purpose

鈥�2021 will be marked by a fundamental change in the role of leadership in business. Leaders are no longer only responsible for the top and bottom line. In our current environment, leaders need to think strategically about their purpose and how that purpose drives corporate strategy. It鈥檚 not enough for it to be an add-on or the domain of a single division or department. Instead, a company鈥檚 purpose must be completely integrated, meaningful and relevant, and do good for both the business and the broader community in which it operates.”

Dumi Moyo, Head of Mid-Market: Southern Africa at 麻豆原创 – Driving down costs and improving remote聽workforce management in SME sector

鈥淓mployees need the flexibility to work from anywhere and any time, and companies need to support this new way of thinking and managing employees if they want to attract the best talent. Digital human capital management solutions can help drive employee engagement, productivity and retention. SMEs should approach any digital transformation strategy with a view to prioritize the human element, particularly by focusing on simplifying processes, improving the employee experience and enhancing employee engagement.鈥�

鈥淭he impact of the pandemic on the SME sector means most businesses are seeking ways to improve their productivity while also driving down costs. SMEs should seek modern enterprise resource planning tools that can help them manage information end-to-end and ensure the right people have the right information at the right time. In our current state of disruption, the ability to tap into a real-time view of the total performance of the business is invaluable to decision-making.”

Rudeon Snell, Global Senior Director: Industries & Customer Advisory at 麻豆原创 – Learning to live,聽work聽with our AI companions

Artificial intelligence is the most significant of the technologies currently redefining businesses and entire industries. Specifically, the continued drive toward AI-human collaboration will allow intelligence to seep into every facet of our lives. The cost of specialized machine learning chips is falling at the same time sensors and high-speed 5G networks are proliferating. We鈥檙e heading into a future where every device will become intelligent.鈥�

Despite the economic slowdown in 2020, analyst firm IDC predicts , growing at a 17.1% compound annual growth rate.

鈥淎doption of AI applications is growing as they continue to improve in performance while costs are falling. This is partly due to the use of open-source and cloud technologies, which may also enable the rise of new AI-as-a-Service platforms that will enable humans to partner with AI in every aspect of their work across industries. AI algorithms will become entrenched in everyday business operations, serving as cognitive collaborators to employees – supporting creative tasks, generating new ideas, and tackling previously unattainable innovations.鈥�

Mervyn George, Executive Advisor for Innovation Strategy at 麻豆原创 – Renewed vigour over sustainability

鈥淭he events of 2020 will drive renewed vigour in the fight against climate change. The pandemic has put the spotlight on our relationship with nature and our efforts at building more sustainable societies. Things we took for granted, such as commuting to the office and regular international business travel, are likely to be curtailed as organizations seek greater sustainability and cost-efficiencies in their day-to-day practices. However, for a sustainable business strategy to be effective, measurable outcomes need to be defined, and executives must report back on their performance against such KPIs in a transparent manner at a boardroom level.鈥�

鈥淥rganizations will prioritize investments into new, so-called clean technologies to ensure minimal impact on the environment. We are also likely to see organizations and individuals alike rally around the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on leveraging local supply chains and reducing our reliance on environmentally-harmful products, practices and processes.鈥�

Samantha Naidoo, Telco Industry Value Advisor at 麻豆原创 – 5G to enable greater connectivity & more connected things

鈥淥ne of the most significant new technologies in 2021 is likely to be 5G and its planned rollout in South Africa鈥檚 major urban centres. The improved quality of service offered by 5G will drive innovation and enable new business models.鈥�

鈥淲hen 5G is introduced en masse in the local market, expect to see a boom in media consumption as demand for content increases and the cost of accessing content falls. We are also likely to see widespread adoption of 5G in manufacturing, healthcare and other industries where the Internet of Things plays a major role, especially since the number of IoT devices is expected to grow from seven billion in 2018 to 22 billion by 2025.”

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World trade . Recent data by the World Bank indicate , pushing the region into its first recession in 25 years and pushing an estimated 40 million people into extreme poverty.

Lacking the deep pockets and extensive social security safety nets of their more developed peers, African nations will need to apply ingenuity and innovation to get the continent’s growth and development back on track.

The response by Africa鈥檚 business sector could hold the key to how the continent overcomes the economic challenges ahead, while also building greater resilience and adaptability for future disruptions.

Small steps, not giant leaps

One of the outcomes of the widespread disruption of 2020 is that business leaders and their technology partners are likely to forego large, waterfall projects in favour of taking small, consistent steps on their business transformation journey in 2021.

A strategy of iterative innovation can enable businesses to make consistent improvements to their current products, services and strategies. Iterative innovation implies that businesses enter into a process of continuous improvement, measurement and learning. Successful iterative innovation ensures the business extends its capabilities while navigating any new disruptions or emerging complexities.

Taking an iterative innovation approach means huge, expensive and lengthy digital transformation projects are substituted with a greater number of much smaller, well-defined and clearly measurable projects that focus on delivering quick business value.

However, iterative innovation requires an environment of learning. Analytics should be embedded in business processes to provide real-time visibility over the performance of these innovation projects.

By measuring impact, analyzing insights and applying learnings, business leaders and their technology partners can ensure each iteration builds on what has been achieved, moving the business closer to its goals.

Mobilizing executive support

In the face of the disruption every industry is experiencing – economic, technological, and pandemic related – there is tremendous value in the ability to take constant steps toward greater performance, productivity and innovation. However, this requires bold leadership.

Business leaders need to mobilize and bring functional heads together to actively drive projects to a successful outcome. The very best business transformation projects are built around active participation from executives whose involvement helps ensure the project delivers direct business value and supports organizational strategy.

If organizations wish to thrive in our disruptive digital economy, innovation needs to be driven throughout the company from both IT and business.

What does this mean for their technology partners?

Firstly, technology partners need to engage with their customers at a business level, not a purely technological one. The goal should be quick time-to-value – what can we do to achieve positive business results and drive iterative innovation quickly and consistently?

Secondly, a customer-first strategy is vital. This may mean making small sacrifices in the short term to secure long-term value. For example, instead of insisting on a total digital transformation project, technology partners should seek opportunities for smaller deployments that address specific issues along the business value chain to produce measurable results. As each project builds on the last, bigger business and technology priorities become achievable.

Thirdly, an organizational culture shift is needed. The nature of business is that we all pursue monthly and quarterly targets, and our success is often measured along similar lines. An exceptional sales strategy would balance the need for immediate results with what’s best for the customer in the longer term. This requires that leaders take a long view, and not sacrifice long-term gains for short-term outcomes.

To echo Albert Einstein, we can’t solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. The digital transformation of the African continent is continuing apace. By changing our collective strategy and shifting focus to a more iterative approach to innovation, the continent鈥檚 business sector could be well-placed to emerge from our current crisis stronger, more resilient and with greater long-term sustainability.

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