There are many lessons that business leaders have gleaned from the pandemic, but perhaps the most important is the need for their enterprises to be prepared for the future – even when the future is uncertain.

To prepare for the future, today, it is essential to invest in technology that is agile, adaptable and comprehensive. Data from isolved’s Transforming Employee Experience report shows that 79 percent of HR leaders actively do this now, however these investments vary when segmenting the data by company size. For instance, just 38 percent of companies with 150 employees or less are investing in the future of work compared to 85 percent of companies with more than 1,501 employees. So what can business leaders do to keep up if their organization isn’t actively preparing for the future? Here are three considerations:

1. Assess Digital Maturity

Digitally mature organizations are more likely to be prepared for the future of work due to their technology infrastructure. It is important to keep in mind, however, that investments in technology don’t always correlate to an advancement in an organization’s digital maturity. Technology needs to be intelligently connected so that processes remain efficient and data doesn’t end up in silos. In fact, isolved’s Vice President of Marketing Geoff Webb notes technology that advances an organization’s digital maturity should be able to respond to needs and opportunities faster and in a more agile way than would have been possible in the past.

“You need to go from just having data to understanding that data and shaping the future because of it,” said Webb. “That’s a path that every business must take, but it’s the most complex and impactful path for HR because you are dealing with people – and there’s nothing more complex than people.”

2. Have a Modern Mindset

Even though social distancing restrictions have been lifted in many areas, business leaders need to remember the agility that was needed to maintain business continuity throughout the pandemic. Whether teams are in office, remote or hybrid, it is important to have tools available that can keep employees connected and collaborating.  

“The future of work is somewhat of an ominous phrase but what we mean by that is really connecting with people more effectively regardless of where or how they are engaging and in the most intuitive way possible,” said James Norwood, Marketing and Strategy Officer at isolved.

Technology that empowers employees to interact with their colleagues, request feedback from supervisors virtually and access paystubs digitally, for example, not only helps to streamline processes now, but also helps to ensure businesses are prepared for the possibility of future disruptions.

3. Prioritize Employee Experience

Employee experience (EX) is likely to play an important role in the future of work, which is probably the reason why 92 percent of HR leaders are prioritizing EX this year. Investments in EX can range from offering self-service tools that empower employees to digitally and independently elect their own benefits, to using survey tools to collect employee feedback in order to learn what can be improved upon. Good EX tends to not only lead to a happier workforce, but can also impact things like recruitment and retention. What’s more, research shows that businesses that invest in EX have two times the revenue than companies that don’t.

An intelligently connected human capital management (HCM) platform that supports core human resource (HR) functions (like payroll and scheduling) along with the softer side of HR (like performance management) can be instrumental in keeping employees engaged while also providing flexibility for the future so that organizations can stay prepared for potential shifts in the market.

The Future Looks Bright 😎

As business gets back to “normal” with the recovery of the pandemic well underway, it can be easy to forget the lessons learned over the last year and get back into old routines. The only way to stay prepared for the future, however, is to continually invest in your enterprise and its people now. Doing so can pay dividends even if future disruptions aren’t as extreme as those caused by COVID-19.

 

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