Most businesses were still in the midst of trying to understand how to navigate the changes of 4IR when a more imminent and frightening disruption hit.
One take-away from the changes brought forward by the COVID-19 pandemic is that disruptions are inevitable.
Thanks to COVID-19 (among other factors) the economy has been devastated and as a result unemployment is on the rise and so is a lack of confidence from employees about their financial futures and the financial futures of their organisations. Gallup suggests four dimensions for leaders to focus on to build resilience in disruptive times.
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Reimagine your customer experience
Understanding your customers and predicting their demands and customer behaviour plays a key role in driving loyalty and long term-profits. A focus on customer experience is critical to the long-term success of the organisation. Leaders should be developing and tapping into innovative ways to tap into customer needs and values.
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Reshape your culture to ensure it is an ally to disruption
A strong company culture can help align the vision and mission of the business with that of the employees. Thus, improving their sense of value and purpose in the organisation. A strong organisational culture will help leaders navigate disruptions and react to new circumstances by ensuring the company values remain steady.
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Refresh your leadership development and rededicate to core leadership values
Employees will be looking to leadership for direction and inspiration in these unprecedented times. Focus on the development of leaders so they can better manage teams and make decisions that are guided by core leadership values
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Continuously reignite your workforce
One of the biggest shifts faced by employees has been adjusting to remote work while producing the same quality of work. Managers have had to accommodate childcare needs and health concerns. To help manage uncertainties, leaders need to find ways to continue to engage and support their teams and inspire high performance.
These four dimensions, according to Gallup, will help leaders maintain the focus on issues of importance and inspire their teams to do the same.