I am offering 60-minute consultations to organisations to discuss their strategic initiatives (more about this below); feel free to contact me.
What are the four areas almost every organisation needs to consider for 2022?
Digital, no surprise for those regular readers of my blog. What is digital post-pandemic? Almost every organisation has improved their digital capability; the tactical initiatives to enable business continuity will become permanent in 2022. Hybrid working and remote customer interactions will be expected and normal. Technology adoption will be more pervasive and require less traditional change management.
All organisations will continue with digital transformation, consisting of internal initiatives to make work easier, linked to external offerings to maximise customer interactions for future monetisation.
Operations, the office is not dead, but it will be different. The pandemic has proved that people can be trusted to work remotely, which improved productivity in many instances. The overhead of the office space may be something customers no longer wish to subsidise. I expect more off- sites (I run many of these), within organisations for deeper engagement, creating clarity and urgency.
The digital transformation will have operational implications and is connected in ONE plan. Ideally, organisations should aim for fewer but more connected initiatives. Adopting remote working technology should reduce an organisation's physical, operational areas; it may even enable cost-effective global operations. How can we easily measure this? A greater percentage of spend when compared to the past for digital versus the physical.
Sustainability, beyond the commitments to NET Zero, employees expect their governments and communities to have a genuine plan, beyond carbon offset credits. The environment is the number one concern for Gen X and Y, who are or soon will be in many senior roles within organisations. I expect their commitment to being beyond the minimum; this is an area of innovation that is likely to receive government assistance. Further, this sense of purpose / meaning within an organisation will assist in people retention, potentially averting the anticipated great resignation in March 2022.
Every initiative within the transformation plan will be assessed and prioritised on sustainability factors. I expect sustainability requirements will be identified and integrated into initiatives. The outcome will be an integrated DOS plan (Digital-Operational-Sustainability).
Security, there are unknown vulnerabilities within almost every organisation. The pandemic has required solutions that may not have been assessed. There is an ongoing or emerging expectation of board members to better understand their organisation's cyber risks, associated threats, and their management. Research found 90% of executives are not prepared to deal with a cyber-attack, and 40% don't they are responsible for the repercussions of a cyber-attack know how to interpret reports, Harvard Law School, here.
Security is one of my bets for 2022. I am now well into an 80-hour Harvard program that … "equips attendees with a comprehensive understanding of how to identify and manage operational, litigation, and reputational risk." Your DOS Plan will require a fresh Cyber Risk perspective, incorporating legacy analysis with contemporary thinking in a language any non-technical audience can understand. Future blogs are likely to include a security perspective; lookout for these.
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