In this blog series, we sit down with our experts to glean their insights on the global market – where it’s going and how you can prepare to go where you want to grow.
What, in your opinion, do companies need the most help with right now? What do you advise they do as a result?
Niraj Patel, Senior Manager, Columbus — I believe organizations are realizing they are not as agile as they’d like to be. Most have introduced agile concepts, especially within IT. However, there’s an opportunity to rethink agility as it applies to the rest of the organization. Having actionable customer insights is foundational for growth and success, but having a culture and environment that allows quick, efficient change to happen is critical. Organizations need help in understanding where they fall short when it comes to agile. Doing agile and being agile are two very different things, and it all starts with the organization’s culture.
Isha Arora, Data & Analytics Senior Consultant, Centric India — Strategy and approach change year over year. Looking into the past six months into COVID, it is important organizations focus on:
- Their employee’s wellbeing and emotional quotient rather than solely on their intelligence quotient
- Their existing workforce – Improving skills in line with future demands, and allocate a separate budget to ensure senior management involvement
- Cross collaboration within teams, functions and groups.
Kim Howland, Senior Manager, Cincinnati — Companies need to ensure they leverage their IT investments such as Microsoft 365, CRM and Cloud for maximum impact for employees and customers. And, they need to ensure they tie project execution to overall business strategy.
Mohit Singh, Data & Analytics Consultant, Centric India — The times are changing quickly. In today’s global market, Digital IQ — the measurement of an organization’s abilities to harness and profit from technology — has surfaced since the pandemic began. Enterprises are not so much falling behind as struggling to keep up with accelerating standards.
And looking ahead, most companies are not ready for what comes next. As technologies continue to combine and advance, new ways of doing business will quickly go from inception to disruption. Digital disruption is discontinuous, global and invisible until it is too late.
A data-driven approach to strategy, operations transformation, experience design, and technology implementations is what I believe is the need for most organizations. And, if they can manage to ride the wave, they will have unparalleled opportunities for fast value.
Shannon Stickney, Local People and Change Lead, Columbus — When the pandemic first started, companies dealt with drastic changes in their ways of working and operating. Most companies were able to pivot quickly and successfully adapt to those changes. We are now 18 months into it, and I see companies struggling with transitioning into a sustainable working model that enables them to preserve their culture.
Whether companies choose to transition to a predominantly remote or a hybrid model, culture and the employee experience are at the forefront of their minds. There are several opportunities and people who shape the culture and employee experience in an onsite or in-person environment. Many companies don’t realize the role of “keeper of the culture” in a hybrid or remote environment shifts to those with the most interaction with associates – the front-line leaders.
Companies frequently underestimate the impact of these roles. As a result, they are losing employees to competitors and other employers who have invested in preparing their leaders to effectively lead in a virtual or hybrid environment. Companies can increase their success in this space by equipping leaders to understand their role in shaping the culture and the employee experience and providing them with the support, training, and resources needed to preserve the culture one employee at a time.
Sean McLeod, Data & Analytics, Cincinnati — I believe, right now, companies need the most help connecting with their employees. Plenty of companies are losing talent at staggering rates due to culture, pay and transparency. I think companies need to identify how to enable their employees in different leadership roles, create a dialogue of expectations between the company and its employees, and determine if they’re willing to pay more to retain top talent. When companies can understand and implement what is important to their employees it cultivates a culture people want to be a part of.
Ruchika Gupta, Data & Analytics Consultant, Centric India — Technologies are upgrading quickly, and demands are changing just as fast. Companies have to stay updated and keep track of the market – what will be the next new and the scope. Also, companies need to think about their roadmap to adapt and consider factors like growth for the company and employees without hampering its culture and employees’ satisfaction.
Natalie Bullock, People and Change Manager, Cincinnati — Companies need the most help with knowing “what’s next” and how to navigate change. Leaders are dealing personally with operating in a high-stress global environment where the future is very uncertain, as well as dealing with how to lead their people through these times. Change management, flexibility, the ability to deal with uncertainty and equipping and maintaining a remote workforce are all paramount.