The pandemic turned the working world on its head, forever changing how businesses operate. When working from home became the norm, companies were suddenly faced with managing remote staff. As a result, technology and automation solutions that previously seemed visible over the distant horizon became the daily office tools that made business continuity possible.
Now that the dust has mostly settled, it’s a great time to reflect on what we’ve learned from the shake-up. It turns out that many of the survival skills that got companies through the crisis are the same ones they’ll need to keep thriving in the post-pandemic world.
Every company is a tech company.
When the vast majority of the working world needed to go fully remote, technology was the silver bullet that made it possible. We’ve all heard it said that necessity is the mother of invention, and the pandemic allowed us to see it play out in real life. Companies found ingenious ways to persevere thanks to advances in technology and automation.
When a seismic shift of that magnitude occurs, the wave often carries the entire market with it, and what was once cutting-edge becomes mainstream. In other words, technology isn’t a blip on the radar — it’s here to stay. And that means every company is a tech company.
Whether HR, procurement, marketing, accounting, or other services, the way things are done has changed because of the solutions businesses adopted during the pandemic. And that means long-term survival still depends on those new systems.
The good news is that tech-driven solutions for remote work have shown themselves to reduce back-office costs, improve efficiency and transparency, and even boost employee satisfaction. For big and small companies alike, technology is no longer an option. Instead, it’s the new normal.
The talent pool has grown
Remote work started as a stopgap to halt the spread of a global pandemic. It used to be unthinkable that a business could operate without the office culture we’d all grown accustomed to. But many companies are now thriving with fully remote or hybrid staff.
Once this new paradigm gained widespread acceptance, it also radically shifted how companies thought about talent recruiting. Talent is at a premium, but the pool of potential candidates has expanded exponentially thanks to technology. You’re no longer limited to the local workforce, and the possibilities are endless.
Some companies have widened their search nets to the regional level, ensuring in-person collaborations are still possible. Others have gone fully remote with a globally distributed workforce. In either case, technology opens up the talent pool, and automation enables the entire process to run smoothly and efficiently.
Tech is an investment, not a cost
The money companies spent on technology and automation during the pandemic quickly showed returns. What initially looked like desperate measures to stay afloat have turned out to be profitable investments. And that has shifted the way these types of solutions are viewed inside board rooms.
The efficiency of these solutions allows business leaders to focus their efforts on providing value to customers and spend less time on manual tasks. In addition, teams have become more productive by leveraging machine learning to enhance automation features. Accuracy, transparency, and operational improvement are just some of the benefits companies are enjoying.
We can witness this happening in real-time as more businesses choose to accelerate their investments in technology and automation. Although the pandemic was the catalyst that sparked this wave, the trends continued to pick up speed as the pandemic receded. The old ways are behind us, and the future is brimming with possibilities.