Why Resilience and Flexibility Must be Tailored for Your Business
How do you make your organisation strong and adaptable? Start with your business’s unique strengths and innovate from there. In this blog post, we reveal why resilience and flexibility is not a one-size-fits-all approach and share how to improve business resilience and flexibility with an innovative approach. But remember, being open to new ideas and ways of doing things has to start with your unique way of doing business.
Innovative companies and smart leaders are using technology for Digital Transformation (DX) i.e. finding ways of problem solving and future-proofing. The right technology improves flexibility. It allows employees to collaborate more effectively, come up with new ideas and be happier at work. But if you want to improve business processes, you need to think about how it will affect your employees' experiences. Technology is meant to be a tool that solves the problems faced by workers. However, some companies tend to prioritise technology over their employees' needs and forget about the human aspect of their business.
How do you achieve flexibility in your Small to Medium Business (SMB)?
It’s important to give employees the flexibility they need to be productive and think differently. This helps them come up with innovative ideas. Innovation can happen in many ways but the key is in finding what works best for your company. Why? Because one solution won't fit every situation.
For example, some employees are more creative when they can work flexibly. Research done by Ecosystm has shown that 66% of knowledge workers in Asia Pacific prefer the hybrid work model; 51% want total flexibility in the choice of their work locations; while another 15% want to go into the office on fixed days. Companies have to adapt to this new way of working. But when they get it right, businesses thrive. By 2030, KPMG says that APAC’s emerging growth companies will likely have a profound impact on the shape of the global economy. Embracing innovation will help this happen even faster.
How can companies redesign offices to make employees happier?
According to Ecosystm,
- 42% of companies in the Asia-Pacific region want to make their employees happier by making their current technology easier to use.
- 36% of companies want to train their employees so they can do different jobs within the company.
- And 33% of companies want to buy new technology and solutions to make things better.
Organisations are revamping their office setup to provide employees with more freedom and flexibility while working. Technology plays a crucial role in helping employees work flexibly, in the way that is best for them, their team and the business. For example, content management solutions enable secure access to content anytime and anywhere, while unified communication solutions facilitate limitless communication among employees and customers.
How do companies help teams connect, collaborate and brainstorm?
Ecosystm also showed that 59% of respondents believe that technology improves productivity. And 47% say it promotes collaboration. When you use the right tools, like advanced digital workspaces, meetings can become more engaging and interactive whether you’re in the room or working remotely. Unified Communication solutions allow presenters to command the full attention of their hybrid audience and improve collaboration. As more companies embrace long term hybrid work arrangements, these technologies also elevates the in person meeting experience by allowing presenters to cast to all devices.
Here are innovative ways you can improve resilience & flexibility:
- Choose an area to focus on, based on your business goals.
- Let teams choose the right approach for them.
- Mentorship from C-suites to effectively lead based on your team's needs. For example, some teams need more flexibility, better training, or a way to help teams work together really closely.
- Use the right technology to help people thrive.
Preparing for resilience is critical
Frost & Sullivan report that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contribute an impressive amount ($15 trillion in 2021) to APAC’s gross domestic product (GDP). And, although Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are smaller and more easily affected by changes in the environment, studies show that they have handled difficult times better than larger businesses.
- SMEs are good at being flexible and changing direction quickly.
- With fewer levels of management and decision-making, they can quickly adapt to new technology and respond to changes.
- SMBs outsource professional support, like IT services, to stay protected against cybercrimes due to limited resources.
