Across the business landscape, reverberations from the coronavirus pandemic are ongoing and will continue to be felt for years. This so-called new normal is more aptly called the “new abnormal,” because success is not just a matter of relying on what is known — it is also about quickly and effectively adapting to the unknown.
Consequently, businesses have two options: they can resist uncertainty and struggle, or they can embrace uncertainty and thrive. Here are four key ways to avoid the former path and take the latter:
1. Elevate Your Infrastructure to the Cloud
Cloud-based tools such as CRM systems, accounting systems, project management systems, and VoIP phone systems enable businesses to quickly and cost-effectively pivot and scale in either direction — consolidating when demand wanes and expanding when it spikes. Cloud-based tools, which are significantly more secure now than they were in the past, also support a remote workforce, which for many businesses has gone from being an optional nice-to-have to an essential requirement.
2. Boost Employee Wellness
For many people, uncertainty is not energizing and exhilarating: it is exhausting and causes excessive anxiety. Businesses can mitigate this misery — and reduce rampant illness, turnover, and presenteeism — by boosting employee wellness. Examples include offering (where possible) flexible scheduling and work location arrangements, subsidizing gym memberships, and providing on-site or virtual workshops on topics like healthy eating achieving and work-life balance.
3. Be Honest
It is also important to be completely honest and transparent with employees, so they can form opinions, make decisions, and take actions based on actual facts instead of dreadful speculations. Withholding the truth is not just unethical, but it is counterproductive and will likely lead to more anxiety across the workforce — not less. A study by researchers at University College London found that worrying about a potentially negative event in the future can trigger more stress, and cause more pain, than knowing with certainty that the same negative event will occur.
4. Make a Positive Emotional Connection With Your Brand
While the importance of building customer communities and standing out from the crowd has always been important, it is even more vital now as customers pay closer attention to not just what they buy and how much they spend, but who they choose to buy things from and why. A recent survey by research company Emotive Technologies found that consumer attitudes towards brands have become more emotionally driven since the pandemic. And a new report by Deloitte notes that “people are paying attention to how organizations are responding [to the pandemic], and purpose-based companies that show empathy will likely emerge as the leaders.” I can personally attest to this shift in my own business, as over the last few months we have seen a surge in new customers who are looking for a trusted long-term VoIP phone system partner, and not just a mere vendor. These astute customers want to know all about our vision and values, and not just about our products and prices.
Looking Ahead
While there is no crystal ball to reveal what the future has in store, it can be confidently said businesses with all of the above — flexible cloud-based tools and technologies, programs and policies that boost employee wellness, a demonstrated commitment to honesty and transparency, and a powerful brand that generates admiration and loyalty — will set the pace and lead the way in the new world of work. Conversely, businesses without all of the above will find themselves falling back, and eventually struggling to survive.