Employee database 
Documents and e-signature 
Reporting and analytics 
Payroll and incidents 
Time and Attendance Software 
Shifts and task list 
Absences & time-off 
Workflows 
Expense management 
Recruitment and selection software 
Onboarding 
Training and procedures 
Internal communication 
Performance assessment software 
HR surveys and forms 
Chatbot 
During the pandemic, the use of online platforms exploded exponentially, not only in commercial contexts to facilitate business activities and maintain the safety and health of employees and customers, but also in the private sphere. A good example is the video conferencing platform Zoomwhich has become very fashionable over the past half year, as companies around the world replaced their daily face-to-face interactions with online communication in response to the pandemic.
How to use digitalisation to accelerate business growth
As digital transformation takes hold across industries, businesses are realising the need to evolve to remain competitive in a post-crisis market. Implementing digital technologies and analytical insights into our daily lives can not only help companies deliver added value, but can also change business models and improve revenues while opening up new opportunities.
While digital transformation is often linked exclusively to technology, according to HR Review, strategy, culture and customer experience are just as important. Digital technologies can bring new opportunities related to efficiency and customer proximity. However, if companies do not have the right mindset to promote change and their practices are inadequate, digital transformation will only increase those mistakes. By this, we mean that by successfully implementing digitalisation, companies can improve areas beyond technology, such as user experience, processes and business models.
Good practices that continue in the new normality
As the "new normal" takes shape, we see how the way many companies work remotely, as well as the onboarding of new employees, has changed. So has our idea of what the typical office should look like.
To remain at the forefront of a changing employment landscape, during 2020 companies must learn to apply the insights provided by records and metrics in order to create action plans in which they can better design their priorities to achieve their business goals, as well as identify other areas of opportunity.
There are a number of management-related practices that can help a company emerge stronger from this crisis than those companies that revert to their old business models, for example:
1. vision, mission and values: companies that have already successfully defined a clear vision and mission (communicating them well to all their employees), as well as the company values that guide and direct them, already have the basic tools necessary to recover quickly.
2. Cross-functional and agiledepartments: the most digitally savvy companies stand out for their leadership, bold and transformative vision, and forward-thinking, change-oriented decision making. Building flexible and innovative teams helps companies achieve higher performance, as these teams have greater autonomy in decision-making. And that forces traditional departments to think differently, to experiment without fear of error, and to optimize the speed and agility of processes.
3. Continuous learning: educating and re-educating workers to perform a specific role has become essential. Now that e-learning is part of the new normal, more and more people have decided to learn new skills on the job to ensure that they remain valid and competent throughout their career. It also allows employees to better adapt to their job and to any unexpected external challenges, such as the health and economic crisis we are currently experiencing.
New challenges essential to make your business stand out from the crowd
Even so, companies will have to make an extra effort and take on new challenges, which will be essential for their business processes in 2020.
Help your team learn new skills
Among many other things, COVID-19 accelerated the gap between skills and occupations. To kick-start economic recovery, companies need to identify the gaps they are experiencing and address these problems by learning how to retrain and create new jobs. Ultimately, they must take responsibility for changing and educating their employees by providing them with the necessary resources, such as training and tools.
Don't be afraid to try new things
Experimentation and risk-taking is another challenge that companies should focus on. By encouraging experimentation and learning on a small scale, they will be able to build and maintain an open organisational hierarchy that values co-creation and internal collaboration, and is willing to share knowledge.
New times, new leadership roles
Finally, leadership must become more flexible and adaptive. Only those companies with flexible leadership and HR departments that can adapt quickly to change and uncertainty will survive and succeed in this new era of work.
Innovation, the positive side of COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis is having a major impact on most economies around the world, disrupting companies' business models and lowering employee engagement levels. Yet, in the midst of this abrupt disruption, companies are beginning to find a silver lining: innovation. The pandemic forced them to change their work processes and strategies and, ultimately, to innovate.
Thus, companies had to reinvent:
- Its resources.
- The way brands present themselves and communicate to the public.
- How employees relate to each other while remaining productive.
- How people find information and resources, share knowledge, collaborate within a company and generate positive results in challenging times.
In companies where digital transformation is already a reality, the question is how to use these skills to keep up with the fast pace of other companies, while embracing more sustainable digitalisation.
Innovate in your HR department with niikiis
Is your company ready for technology? With niikiis you can take full advantage of the consequences of COVID-19 to turn your organisational structure around and adopt new practices that will take you to another level in the 21st century. Contact us to request a demo with our experts and see how niikiis can help your company save time and money, and be by your side to start the recovery.
