2020 was a year that impacted industries worldwide. People worked remotely, companies had to operate online, and others had to adopt new technologies to stay in business and remain competitive.
In 2021 and beyond, workplace trends look different than they did before. Companies and staff have found new ways to work and maintain productivity. As a result, more focus is being placed on health and safety, innovation, and other areas that improve business performance.
In nature, you will have heard the phrase “survival of the fittest”. This age-old adage holds true in the business sector as well. Even as the workplace changes, it’s possible to meet your business and call center KPIs or provide better customer experiences.
That is, so long as you can adapt to these changes. The companies that emphasize innovation and flexibility will thrive under these new circumstances, while others will fail.
This post shares five essential business technologies that will help entrepreneurs adapt to the “new normal”.
1. Human Resources Tools
Human resources tools simplify many tasks for your HR department. These tools can help your team engage with remote employees. They also make your hiring and talent acquisition tasks easier. From sourcing potential employees that will work remotely to scheduling interviews and generating reports, HR tools are incredibly useful for companies operating with both in-house and remote staff.
On the topic of remote workers, you may have noticed the increasing number of people leaving urban centers like California and New York. There’s a growing trend to uproot in favor of more affordable and quieter locations. There are many reasons why people and employees are moving away from large cities, and one is increasing opportunities in the remote work sector.
Some workers will stay remote. Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
Talent acquisition can be challenging when sourcing remote workers because you won’t physically meet them. Your HR team will need to determine whether an employee can work effectively from a remote location without interacting with them face-to-face.
It can be beneficial to use communications technologies that work on multiple channels to help with this. Your HR team will also benefit from the ability to automate these processes.
HR software can be used to communicate with potential candidates, organize job applications, and track workplace analytics. These tools will also save you time with absence tracking, holiday allowance, and people management. As a result, you can spend more time focusing on your business and improving its performance.
2. Automation Software
In recent years, everyone has been talking about automation and business operations. Automation isn’t going away anytime soon. Thanks to the development of artificial technologies and machine learning, employees are being saved from doing menial and repetitive tasks. Automation can therefore improve the productivity and performance of your teams and increase workplace engagement.
Automation provides ways to improve the quality of your customer experience efforts too. Since employees don’t need to waste time on unnecessary and/or repetitive tasks, they can use their brainpower to be more creative and innovative. This focus on other areas of the business can improve your business solutions and the service you deliver.
Automation has the same overarching benefits as contact center outsourcing. They both enable your staff to prioritize other areas of the business. For example, your contact center and customers will appreciate you providing a help desk that enjoys built-in automated solutions. In addition, contact center agents can receive notifications when customer statuses change and handle CRM even better.
3. Conference Calling Software
Thanks to the development of communications technologies, it’s now possible to work from anywhere and still be productive. Due to the increase in remote work, companies should consider adopting conference calling and instant messaging software for the workplace.
Conference calling software enables your teams to collaborate effectively irrespective of their geographic locations. Since 2020, many white-collar jobs have been forced into remote work. Team members have needed to work from home due to the pandemic and various state policies. To maintain productivity, companies have relied on software that’s able to replace and/or replicate in-person communication.
Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
If your company hasn’t made the transition already, consider investing in and incorporating conference call software into your communications channels. Team members will be able to communicate instantly, hold brainstorming meetings over short phone calls, and present work by sharing their screens. This is beneficial for companies when organizing meetings and is also cost-efficient.
4. Influencer and Social Media Marketing
Influencers and social media have become viable and highly popular marketing channels in recent years. Today, companies can market their products through suitable influencers on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Influencer marketing has opened the doorway to audiences that would ordinarily be difficult to target.
According to influencer marketing data, around 17% of companies use more than half of their marketing budget for influencer marketing. In addition, Google Trends has seen a 5,000 percent increase in people searching the term “influencer marketing”. Other figures suggest that over 70% of teens trust influencers over traditional celebrities and feel their favorite influencer understands them.
Social media influencers are among the most trusted people online today. You can find influencers with millions of subscribers tuning in on a regular basis. You will also discover influencers with hardcore fanbases that accept their opinions on various topics. By employing influencers, a company can strike a win-win deal. The company gains access to new audiences while the influencer gets commission for working with them.
5. Cybersecurity Technology
The integration of new technologies into the workplace means many companies need to boost their cybersecurity. Companies are adopting new collaboration, project management, and content management software and platforms. This rapid adoption of technologies that use the internet to run can increase security risks.
In contact centers, agents need technologies that allow them to communicate with customers. Many contact centers use call recording software to evaluate customer calls and agent performance, for example. This stores vital information about customers and contact center agents. To prevent data leaks and cyber attacks, you may need to bolster your defenses.
A company presents itself in the best light when it’s certain of its industry-standard compliance. PCI and data compliance allows a company to confidently provide services to their customers. Privacy, customer data security, and other techniques strengthen the perception of a company.
Use VPNs to protect data. Photo by Petter Lagson on Unsplash.
Companies should monitor cybersecurity trends that are being shaped by increasing remote working practices. Companies have been targeted with ransomware attacks, attacks on cloud services, and phishing schemes.
To shield your company from liability, you should invest in cybersecurity tools and qualified employees to monitor the safety of your networks.
Technology Improves Everything
When we change the ways we work and perform, there are always growth opportunities. For example, recent trends have shown that companies can still perform and produce during a pandemic when people work off-site. Thanks to the technologies available, some companies have made this a truly seamless transition.
In the “new normal,” consider investing in comprehensive communications tools, automation tools, social media influencers, and cybersecurity. These investments will put you ahead of companies that have not yet adapted.
Moreover, when incorporated, these essential technologies will improve the odds of your survival despite the many new workplace trends that are out there.
Throughout the course of recent many years, progressions in innovation have altered the manner in which organizations work, speak with clients, and deal with their tasks. It is presently more basic than any time in recent memory for business visionaries to have a fundamental comprehension of key advances and how they can be utilized to empower their organizations. To find true success, business people should comprehend both the intrinsic dangers and open doors related with using innovation in their endeavors.
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