It’s easy to see 2020 as a blip year, one to be forgotten but if we can just take a step back and see it as something else, something more strategic, the beginning of a new shift in working patterns then what might the positive takeaways be and how can we start implementing these into our businesses to grow better and faster as a result.
Flexibility is key. Many companies had realised the potential of remote and flexible working in the past and embraced it, although often with some internal sticking points or sceptics. We all know of those managers who just can’t believe that employees really will work at home rather than just taking liberties with the TV on. If this pandemic has taught us anything it is that the vast majority of people can and do work well at home, generally with increased efficiency and output, better juggling their home and work lives and benefitting both themselves and the company in the process.
Whilst a shift towards remote workforces obviously brings employee benefits, ultimately it is the huge business impact, namely cost saving and increased productivity, that will ensure this remains a key factor after COVID has passed. A Gartner study in June 2020 found that 82% of business leaders intended to retain remote working in the future with an IoD survey finding that over half of business leaders intend to reduce office space. These findings are already playing out in the business world with leading companies such as Deloitte, Capita and BP already confirming that they are closing offices whilst others such as Twitter, BT and PayPal are planning to keep workforces remote. In the future, savvy companies will be able to tailor the working experience to get the best out of their employees when they need to.
Since the first study in 2013 into home working productivity, research has repeatedly shown a significant increase in productivity amongst employees of up to an additional 3 weeks of work per year per employee all whilst improving employee satisfaction. By changing the working landscape, closing hub offices, reducing the scale of head offices and creating smaller collaboration hubs as focal spaces for colleagues to meet, businesses will become more agile and able to pivot more quickly to respond to market changes.
Technology isn’t the future, it’s now. The absolute need for technology to pay a central role is now obvious. To any company who hadn’t previously valued the benefits that the very latest technology can bring to their workplace, 2020 has definitely been the year to make this crystal clear. For those that were able to use their technology to pivot and evolve, home working was quickly and easily deployed removing unnecessary additional stress from both business leaders and employees. For those playing catch up it has highlighted the need to
be forward thinking, agile and resilient. As employee teams become more disparate, technology is the strand that brings them together. It allows a seamless environment in which to work, collaborate and grow.Strategic discussion and investment on digital transformation, and migration to hyperscale cloud services that enables secure, reliable, remote working must be at the centre of all business strategy going forward. This will be critical to the success and survival of organisations in an ever-changing fast paced commercial landscape post COVID.
What, not who. This pandemic has brought to the forefront the importance of values. Where once candidates could be enticed by flash offices, in house perks and subsidised restaurants, or merely just the name on the door, now it is who a company is that candidates want to know before they join.
There have been numerous stories this year of companies rapidly making redundancies to protect shareholder profits, utilising the furlough scheme where this maybe wasn’t quite necessary or making monetary led decisions to the detriment of staff and this has given employees a harsh insight into the true values of their employers. It is human nature to want to belong, be valued and be protected. Employees looking for new roles want to know how company bosses have treated their staff, what their values are and how they align with their own personal beliefs. Of course, people are sensible enough to realise that when there is a prolonged downturn in business, costs have to be cut but within a team people want to know that they are valued and are all in the fight together. Only then will they give their all to the fight. Those companies who can really demonstrate this and live these values will attract the very best talent, those who can’t, will have some tough questions to answer. Value led recruitment, where a key focus is placed on a company’s values and how these align with a candidate’s own beliefs will be central in attracting the best of candidates. At Maara this is something that we have seen grow in importance during 2020. We choose to work with companies whose values mirror our own and who we can truly advocate as a fantastic place to work. Throughout 2020 in every instance where a candidate we were representing had received additional offers, these were all declined in favour of our value led client where employees were genuinely at the centre of the organisation despite these often being smaller and without some of the additional corporate offerings provided by the industry leaders.
So how might things look in the future? Whilst these are all focus points from 2020 there are some changes that may take a little longer to come into effect but the writing may already be on the wall.
Smaller strategic teams, key partners. As AI continues to play an even greater part in business management and day to day administration, business professionals in the UK (taking part in the recent Citrix Works 2035 study) predict that it will increase productivity by 87% by 2035. 82% of professionals believe that it will automate low-value tasks allowing employees to focus on the interesting and strategic work that they are paid to do. With an increased productivity and focus on high-value tasks, teams will become smaller and companies more focused on delivering what they do best. The focus on having the best people deliver the service they are employed to do will be key, whether this is an internal team or an external partnership.
Where the main focus of outsourcing until now has been on cost reduction or time management, in the future quality and delivery will be key. The 2020 UK IT sourcing survey found that 31% of businesses are planning to outsource more in the next 2 years, with 50% of respondents citing business transformation and improving service quality as their key drivers. At Maara we believe strongly in recruitment as a service working alongside our clients as business recruitment partners who understand their company, the team and the dynamics as well as their values to deliver a true and quantifiable service. We believe it is crucial now but, in the future, will be a non-negotiable, where mediocracy and complacency will have no role. This will be mirrored in all business elements, a leading IT company will utilise external marketing and finance partners whilst focusing on the creation and delivery of leading technology solutions, a biotech company will utilise external sales and production partners themselves focusing on innovation and product development whilst a leading green tech company will work alongside operational and delivery partners allowing them to focus on technology design and future environmental challenges.
Worldwide re-balance. Throughout the world there are pockets of wealth and poverty. With predictions that London and the South East will have 40% of the UK’s economy by 2022 (these were made prior to Covid), schemes such as HS2 had been designed to try to rebalance the economic divide. However, worker flexibility, technology and a refocusing towards employee balance are creating an opportunity for employees to really think about where they want to live not just where they need to live. Employees who love the peace and quiet, space around them and proximity to nature can choose to move to more remote areas (rightmove searches in June and July for city dwellers looking for country properties increased by 128% on previous years) where their working lives are not hampered by job opportunity or commutability. Employees wishing to get more house for their money can move from London and the South East to more affordable areas further North. In turn this reduces the pressure on London and key city housing enabling those employees who would love to live in the centre of culture and social activity but had previously been financially prohibited to move into central city areas and fulfil their life balances as they wish.
If businesses, Government and society allow and embrace this opportunity we really could be on the precipice of a positive rebalancing, reshuffling and re-embracing of life choices to rival the last great industrial revolution. The future move towards a globally disparate workforce, working remotely and selected for their skills and abilities rather than geographical location or country centred education may become expedited by the changes COVID has forced upon the world, a change which must surely focus our minds on the true possibility of a worldwide rebalancing of opportunities and workforce.
These elements: technology, flexibility, business growth and refocus and economic rebalance, could just be the take-away points from the year of change, challenge and ultimately growth that 2020 bought. For those companies willing to embrace and adapt it could be the start of a very exciting business evolution.
Katy Hofstede-Smith, Maara