It’s not the strongest who survives, but the fittest does. Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection to thrive in a constantly changing world suits the world of business too. When volatility and uncertainty loom large, and the business hub faces an existential threat, the ones who adapt win the race.
The race, in this context, was COVID-19 pandemic, that disrupted the traditional operating models of businesses. The ones who embraced the uncertainties and armed themselves with the weapons of change succeeded to thrive. While traditional large and mid-size firms have been wrestling whether or not to adopt the Silicon Valley born set of concepts, the pandemic became a catalyst driving forward the paradigm shift toward new operating models- one that works on the gears of resilience, adaptability, convergence and integration.
It’s time to redesign the elements of operating model in a holistic and integrated way with the goal to achieve more with less available resources, to thrive amidst shrinking budget, to evolve in a constantly dynamic environment. The new normal calls for a change, challenging the long-held orthodox concepts of where and how work should be executed, who are the key decision makers. Transparency, breaking down the inherent silos of hierarchy, adaptation of digitization are the means to leverage efficiency in a world riddled with confusion and chaos of the pandemic.
A progressive operating model, adopted by companies during the pandemic have projected gains of 30-50% in operational efficiency, 10-30% improvement in customer satisfaction and 20-30% increased employee engagement. The new concepts, rooted in speed, agility, clarity of purpose, reallocating resources on projects of greater value and greater autonomy in decision making, have potential to propel the company’s growth much faster than those who have still not inoculated their operating models with versatility and flexibility.
The disruption by the COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the adoption of four basic pillars as the keystones of a successful operating model, which are no longer just “nice-to-have” attributes, but the “must-haves” for thriving.
Clarity of Purpose
Organizational silos, slow decision-making power and lack of strategic clarity were some factors in pre-covid era that limited the speed of operation. The flux of uncertainty, induced by the pandemic, made speed of paramount importance for companies to outperform others. They have zeroed in on the most crucial and clear objective, instead of juggling with multiple priorities.
Chinese e-commerce giant, JD.com, has been instrumental in replacing delivery by boats with drone delivery. When the thought of human-to-human contact proved detrimental to the growth of delivery companies, the logistics drone was designed at unimaginable speed to ensure timely and safe shipments, while retaining their customer base. A project, that might have otherwise taken a longer span of time, was completed in a jiffy when necessity arose, and JD successfully prioritized its goals.
The leaders of a European Bank realized the risk of churning during lockdown, as their service was not optimized for online banking. Their goal of digitization was marked with high priority, and the bank was able to fully digitize the process within just eight weeks, thus being able to satisfy the customer base.
A global pharmaceutical company, Takeda, entered into non-profit alliance with other companies to accelerate the development of plasma-based vaccines. UPS, the leading cargo supply firm, partnered with the vaccine company, Gavi, for acing up vaccine delivery across the globe as their key goal during the pandemic. “The goal is simple and our commitment is unwavering – moving our world forward by delivering what matters”, said Scott Price, President UPS International.
Flattened Hierarchy and Cross Functional Collaboration
While clarity sets priorities and eases decision making, it is equally necessary for the decisions to seep through the rungs of the organizations. Research by McKinsey shows how essential it is to give decision making authority to those employees who work closely with customers. It’s not just the time to “flatten the curve”, but also flatten the organizational hierarchy to enhance speed.
An employee of a software company, Red Hat, says how the organization is “flat” and the environment maintains an honest, down-to-earth reputation, which makes the work place a happy place for employees. The culture inculcates trust, a basic ingredient of company success. Tata Consultancy services (TCS) believes that by freeing associates from the obligation of spending more than 25% of their time in office, their productivity would shoot up. An Asian telco firm declares how its emphasis on teams, rather than standard hierarchy, enabled it to quickly solve a call-center crisis, even as employees were quarantined at home.
Decentralized decision-making authority of teams, conducting fewer meetings with quality people, and clarifying individual responsibilities are the keys to fast-track any operation. Increased communication and collaboration across the steps of management and transparency in information sharing should begin at the top. Changing operating models calls for a seismic shift in the fundamental values of the organization, and the top management leaders should knit cross functional collaboration in the fabric of their operations.
Reallocation of Resources and Talent Agility
To survive in tough times, adaptability and resilience should be in the firm’s DNA. As the COVID wave surged, reskilling became essential to stay relevant and adapt to remote work culture. Cross training programs improves ability to respond to changes, and promotes progress, while fueling innovation.
Companies are relying on “resource swap” to find the skills and interest of the employees by engaging them in different projects. “My leadership team got together and assessed where our needs were the greatest and who had the skills to address them,” says Karyn Schoenbart, CEO of marketing research firm NPD.
ITC, the major FMCG player, has over 4,000 employees actively engaged in web-based learning programs to utilize the ‘work-from-home’ period. HUL has indulged in #HULLearnsTogether campaign for upskilling employees in fields of their choice. To toe the line of prioritizing customer satisfaction, an international bank has reskilled and redeployed a major chunk of advisory roles to customer experience areas.
COVID-19 is an opportunity to redeploy talent and resources in creative ways. Dynamic resource allocation proves invaluable to the company’s growth curve in the long run.
Digital Dive
If 2008 marked the Great Depression and a slack in digitization, COVID-19 pandemic saw the digitization boom. Technology has been the pilot for smooth customer experience and assist customer facing teams. Success lies in quick transition to cloud, and leveraging digital orchestration tools. Digital adoption has taken a quantum leap, and the change is here to stay.
Thor Industries, the leading brands of recreational vehicles, transformed their in-person sales platform to a digitized one. Their Chief innovation Officer relates how traditional sales channels were practically eliminated overnight, and they had to accelerate their approach to be present digitally. Thor is not the only company that witnessed this shift. Survey shows that nearly 60% of interactions were digital in July, 2020, and seven months prior to that, the number was just 33%. Throughout the pandemic, Johnson and Johnson had been able to keep up its production by relying on smart glass technology, that allowed experts from remote location to tap into a piece of equipment, pull data from it, and change the settings.
A Glimpse into The New Normal
From small startups to big business tycoons, COVID-19 has forced leaders to think beyond the traditional and explore strategies to tackle challenges and maintain a foothold in the market. With vaccines rolling out, the year is definitely going to mark the reconstructive phase. To dodge the mire of disruption, businesses should not aim to return to the normal. Rather they should focus on rephrasing the new normal, by redesigning strategies, redefining operation and reshaping skills. The perfect concoction of people, technology, innovation and strategy will lead them and the economy, as a whole, on the road to recovery.
Very well built up ! Keep going