Month: August 2020

‘Necessity is the mother of invention.’

We have been hearing this proverb since time immemorial, until recently when we got to experience it. Probably this pandemic has brought about the biggest ‘necessities’ that we could of think of; accelerating innovation and technological advancements by almost ten times. It has therefore birthed numerous technologies to keep businesses up and running during such an uncertain time.

One vital transformation or innovation as we consider it, among all of these technologies emerging, is the rapid shift from physical to digital workplaces. Remote working, that was only an option until this pandemic was forced to be the ‘new normal’ and an absolute obligation.

Now, as the lockdown had started dissolving slowly yet steadily, organizations are rushing towards the necessary technology deployments as soon as possible.

One such major step is ‘going entirely touchless’. So, what is this much-coveted and widely discussed ‘ touchless technology’? It is that electronics control technology that enables its users to exert full control over a digital system and not touch it even once. One such technology by the name ‘Touchless Visitor Management System’ is a global need now.

Assumptions are that voice-controlled or gesture-controlled assistants will make ‘absolute touchless’ happen; but, given the immediate requirements, solutions such as NexAEI have developed and we are preparing to deploy a true touchless technology to the world!

But first, let us discuss why is this touchless VMS an apex requirement today?

1. The coronavirus transmits via touch, and with touchless VMS, the ‘touch’ factor gets eliminated
2. Employee health is not compromised as it ensures proper maintenance of the same
3. Productivity remains unhindered as employee health and well-being is prioritized and acknowledged
4. The workplace and mainly the reception area remain crowd-free as visitors are greeted digitally
5. Employees and their whereabouts are tracked and documented, so the VMS knows if a particular employee had been in touch with a coronavirus sufferer

Putting a touchless and digital VMS into practice makes way for securing and storing a lot of vital data as well. Via this system, a hygienic interaction can be guaranteed. Bringing the employees of an entire organization under one touchless system will automatically lead to the collection of a data pool that on proper breakdown will produce insights useful for enhancing the work milieu.

The introduction and utilization of a touchless VMS will thus open a world of limitless possibilities for the nation. Are you not tempted to take a sneak peek into this touchless world and that too for free ?

At a time when digital transformation is the most sought after thing under the sun, a complete reboot in the world of business is the most predictable phenomenon. The big blow of COVID-19 on the organizations can only be healed by the recent wave of dynamic digital transformation.

At the core of this transformation is Artificial Intelligence (AI), and it is providing the companies with all-inclusive support, starting with innovation to ideation. It is even helping companies worldwide with strategic decision making too. With the supportive interruption of AI, companies have been able to cope with their drooping efficiencies, product or service qualities, and even customer support. So, the biggest takeaway of various companies from their AI integration is the liberation of their outright potentials.

Leveraging AI to increase the business value

There is no denying to the fact that AI brings value but not without human efforts with the most relevant skills. Industry leaders had accepted to invest hugely in preparing their workforces to work in this new AI-laden business world with more efficient and relevant skill-sets. By reskilling, they do not mean mere hard technology-based reskilling but also a much-needed advancement of soft skills like negotiation, leadership, and similar others. Consequently, it has been proved that AI integration can –

1. Censor the repetitive tasks so that the workforce gets time to polish their skills related to some other esteemed undertakings.
2. Bite on to the enormous data pools and churn out insights. Needless to say, companies need great human intellect and skill-sets to work on those insights and generate valuable leads for the organization.

AI assists in expanding the human proficiencies

A Microsoft survey states that a whopping majority of 98% of senior the business leaders and 87% of the employees agree to be AI-augmented, which means with the introduction of AI in their workspaces, they have become more effective. It is vital to note that with AI, businesses have been able to grasp new prospects and significantly enhance their dealings with their respective customer bases too.

A few months into utilizing AI in business and the business leaders have already agreed to unravel the business values like never before. Hence, they are now more than inspired to outspread their AI utilizations and engage in upskilling.

Welcome to a new world of business, a grand merger of AI and human brains!

One pandemic has made sure that to run smoothly, organizations globally need to adopt the latest emerging technologies and deploy them at the earliest. No matter how procrastinating or nitpicking a given organization is regarding new tech adoption, COVID-19 has pushed each one of them to re-evaluate their existing business model and deploy a new model in its place to ensure that its remote workforce works as productively as before.

Here comes the scope for the technology organizations to rise and shine! This quick transformation has led them to produce competent solutions and work towards expanding their rate of adoption . Regardless of this sudden surge in need and production, organizations still seem to be a little reluctant in the adoption of new tech. The Economist Intelligence Unit had surveyed the same to probe deeper. Let us look at the reasons disclosed by them –

1. Fluctuations in budget
2. Lack of relevant employee skills
3. Less/no awareness amongst senior managers
4. Absence of amenities and infrastructure for remote working
5. Increase in data security risk
6. Presence of legacy approaches and systems (in the case of older organizations)

It is said that once a problem had been identified, resolving it becomes easier. Similarly, a detailed analysis of the indicated issues brings us to some potential solutions.

In the first place, technology utilization needs to be encouraged in a well-strategized manner. If managed well, such utilizations can prove to be beneficial financially too. They would make work much easier and more efficient in the long run. Careful investment in the most appropriate infrastructure, along with its proper manifestation can do wonders. If the new addition is inconvenient in its usage (read not user-friendly), it is not going to be accepted well by the workforce. Here, it is vital to note that sometimes, old technologies backed by new and efficient support systems can also prove to be helpful.

Rigorous training and continuous reskilling can never be replaced when it comes to resolving tech resistance issues. It is even responsible for the maintenance of proper work culture, be it remote. Bringing in new tech is not enough, rather organizations need to train their employees so that they can make efficient use of the same. In this regard, it is also essential to pick able employees for every tech usage depending on their skills.

One important aspect here is to understand the involvement of government policies in the adoption of a new tech thoroughly. It is the government that acts hugely in influencing a particular culture and encouraging it for the adoption of anything new. It is known to lay the legal foundation for attracting innovation as well as tech-business leaders. Even the data security policies are governed by the government to some extent.

There’s no denying the fact that amid this pandemic and the resultant work from home structure adopted by organizations worldwide, adoption of new tech is a prime requisite. Any form of resistance to the implementation of new tech needs to be worked out carefully for increasing organization sustainability and enduring the present crisis, somewhat smoothly.

Have you heard of the word ‘furlough’ yet?

Most of you will supposedly say ‘no’. Just the way we did.

We have been acquainted with this word very recently, like most of us did not know about quarantine before the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

So, a ‘furlough’ is a temporary leave of absence with no pay. A furloughed employee still has his or her job and might enjoy some of the company benefits, but they aren’t paid. There’s a chance that they’d be called back to resume work, but again there’s no guarantee.

The pandemic has brought about numerous layoffs and many more furloughs since March. With a huge dip in the economy, furloughed employees are facing uncertainties regarding resuming work. The biggest confusion today is – whether to wait patiently until the furlough ends or to start looking out for jobs!

Keeping the confusion in mind, we thought of presenting you to some of the most crucial aspects to consider before making the final decision –

Is it feasible for you to wait?

If you feel economically sufficient with the limited furloughed income or no income, then wait. If not, you can consider looking out for new jobs, either full-time or even part-time.

Would you be content with what you gain over what you lose?

Make a pros and cons list for both the jobs, the one you already have, and the one you are rooting for. Don’t be afraid of the trade-offs that come in the process and do not compromise your growth. After thorough consideration, make your choice.

How ready are you in terms of settling in a new work environment?

Virtual training will be the best that you’ll get in the current scenario. So, prepare yourself for adapting to a new work environment with new people, virtually. If you are okay with the impacts of the said transformation, then go ahead!

Is upskilling important for your growth and prospects?

Your furlough period need not be just another waiting period. With the ever-changing digital workplace and its techniques and technologies, we know how important it is to upskill ourselves. Utilize this period and invest in adding to your skills so that once the furlough period ends, you can contribute double towards your organization’s progress. If it doesn’t, you can always opt for other openings.

Invest in self-enhancement in this downtime so that you can get back to work with more efficiency, more skill, and more flexibility. Things at work are not going to be the same as before, and so the more you upgrade yourself during this downtime, the more you have in store for yourself!

Happy working!

It has been around six months that we are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and are locked down in our homes. The beginning was too challenging as the entire world was thrown into a topsy-turvy that was experienced never. Organizations all over the world were completely baffled when the pandemic hit as no existing business continuity plans seemed to work. Shifting to remote work seemed to be the only feasible alternative then.

The ‘work from home’ arrangement rolled out some severe issues as people had never worked from their homes full-time before this. Employees did not have the adequate training to work remotely, organizations did not have the required technologies to make the sudden transformation and in some cases, not even every home was ready to accommodate a full-time, full-functional office set-up. So, the novel coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent pandemic had dropped us into complete mayhem.

But as time went by, businesses seemed to get hold of the mayhem. New technologies started being adopted, new infrastructures were deployed, new strategies were rolled out, and employees put their best foot forward to better their productivity while working from their homes.

Post this pandemic, when we finally get out of the lockdown phase and start getting back to our normal work lives, certain prominent mistakes seem plausible. These might prove to be very potent in hindering business growth.

So, we are providing you with a list of all the things that might go wrong in your business as we move into the post-pandemic era.

Drop in the online presence

With the onset of the pandemic, organizations have moved their businesses to online platforms from the physical ones. Later, when we start going back to the physical workplace and suddenly start reducing our online investment, we will lose hugely. So, maintaining a digital presence will be vital.

Cap in vision

Survival has been the main mantra of the pandemic. To live up to that aspect, organizations are engaging in making in some short-term plans. But managements should ensure that the vision and aims with which the business started its journey should never be neglected, no matter what the situation is.

Negligence in inspiring creativity

No business should make the mistake of neglecting creativity in any way, even when we bounce back to normalcy. The creativity during the lockdown should be encouraged post lockdown as well. Creativity is known for improving the quality of decisions.

Engage in poor evaluation

Post COVID-19, one potential mistake might be ignoring systematic performance evaluation. Such an organizational evaluation helps to know the stand of the organization.

Resolve new problems with old methods

As per the need of the hour, organizations had been adopting new techniques and technologies for smooth operations and management. In case you cling on to your old methods of problem resolutions, you will not yield satisfactory results. Business owners will have to accept the seriousness of the new normal and concentrate on new problem resolution techniques that will be in sync with the new problems.

To conclude, a post-pandemic world is uncertainty to date, but we hope we could make you aware of the probable mistakes. To continue with the business is the motto, with or without pandemic!

At a time when disruption is at its peak, organizations are aspiring to get acquainted with the new normal and grow accustomed to it. One facet that has been pushed entirely into uncertainty with the onset of the pandemic is ‘New Recruitment’. Frankly, when hundreds and thousands were losing their jobs, many were waiting for their new job confirmations at the same time as the novel coronavirus broke out. The recruitments stopped all of a sudden, sending many into a frenzy.

Now, after months, we could see a ray of hope when a survey conducted by CareerNet Technologies stated that over 50% of organizations are considering restarting hiring in full swing from or post the coming January. Additionally, another thing that the survey has also brought to the fore is that 3 out of 4 employers are considering rolled out job offers and are presently recruiting too. Another facet that has been highlighted much of late is contract staffing. As per the same survey, around 48% of the organizations are staying aloof from contract-based recruitments.

Besides hiring, a whopping majority (around 90%) of the organizations have admitted to using various technological solutions for –

1. Ensuring smooth virtual recruitment
2. Maintaining business continuity
3. Enabling work remotely

Industry experts believe that these newly adapted technical skills will be highly valued in the upcoming dynamic business landscape led by technology. The future is about to demonstrate the comfort of dealing with sophisticated technologies and contrivances.

With remote hiring topping the trend chart, few organizations are connecting with remote candidates for digital employer branding. They are conducting assessments and interviews over the digital platforms to avoid the in-person interview amid this pandemic.

As the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has curtailed organizational costs and increased layoffs, we are about to see a hike in job vacancies. And now with the survey revealing the recruitment projections from January 2021, brace up for some good news. It’s on the way!

Supposedly the pandemic has changed the working scenario for once and for all. Organizations have reportedly recorded heightened work and better work quality from the present ‘work from home’ set-up. Today companies are contemplating taking up remote working even post the pandemic.

Drifting a little from aspects like the required leadership in the age of remote working to the maintenance of the business continuity to the adoption of the technologies which simplify WFH to likewise, let us ponder over the effect of this new work structure on our women.

Many might be extremely tempted to think that the flexibility of WFH will prove to be a perfect counterpoise for the women. WFH seems to be a highly favorable scheme for women to get into jobs full-time, without any family distractions.

Before making such assumptions, wait! Let us not declare win before considering the extremely potential perils of the way!

The archaic conflict between work and family

Time and again, it has been proved that in comparison to the men who prioritize careers, the women carry out household duties a lot more. Going by the facts, no amount of work flexibility has been able to bring about a better work-life balance to the female professionals. Even if it helped to bring about that balance, only the lower-level employees have been facilitated, the senior-level officials have always been deprived of it.

The hard-earned access

Women generally have tough luck in earning career benefits that are facilitated by interacting with the decision-makers (mostly male). This inequality can be enlarged with the onset of WFH as face-to-face interactions decline. The career trajectories are bound to droop. Again, women who could not enjoy promotions in the usual work structure due to relocation inabilities might now walk the path that was so long the male domain.

The newly incorporated concept of presenteeism

The talks regarding companies adopting 100% remote work even after the pandemic are doing the rounds. In such a situation, some employees will enjoy co-location, some will work from home, and some will be on the move. In traditional organizations, the ones traveling and relocating will be the men, and hence they will be more visible in their contributions towards the company, whereas working from home women will stay out of sight. On the other side, we have introduced a digital work-from-anywhere environment where supervisors gain complete visibility of all the entire workforce so that there is no gender bias when it comes to remote or mobile working.

In such a challenging situation for one part of your workforce, it is important to switch to a digital solution like NexAEI that negates bias and ensures an agile and connected working environment. For more information about NexAEI, please here.

“Learning to stand in somebody else’s shoes, to see through their eyes, that’s how peace begins. And it is up to you to make that happen.” – Barack Obama

And a leader should exactly be like this – empathetic, compassionate, and full of warmth! Especially at times like this when the novel coronavirus has had us locked down at our homes, anxious and uncertain for more than 7 months now, a little show of empathy never hurts.

The remote workforce of today is highly reliant on their managers or supervisors for looking after their health and safety. In such an hour of crisis, the industry leaders are known to perform relentlessly along with the threats of workforce instability and also the ever-rising health risk. With a sudden surge in mental health issues, the managers need to be extra acquainted with the same and point out whenever any employee seems to need additional help, mainly psychological. Here, the ‘empathy’ card comes into the play.

We know it is too much to handle, and it is exhausting you at times. But stress can mess with your thought processes and your ways of reacting to any situation. The ‘tough love’ leadership is not supposed to yield results in this situation. Only a genuine show of empathy towards the employees will help in this new age of pandemic. So, all you need is an environment of positivity and camaraderie amid you and your subordinates. They should feel that you understand their stories and their problems as likewise your image isn’t marred.

To unveil your empathetic side, firstly, you need to show up, you need to be visible and lend an eager ear to your subordinates. It will help your team to have faith in you and feel somewhat positive and enthusiastic about work. Trust me, you cannot go MIA (missing in action) on your team in between such a crisis.

Secondly, being a leader, you are completely capable of looking beyond this current chaos and concentrate on a much bigger picture. Do not let the fear and the subsequent panic consume you, be your mindful self, accept the situation and wait for that one silver line amid these dark clouds to push your team towards the next bigger and better thing.

Thirdly, you can consider decentralizing your power. The leadership must be a burden in the crisis hour, so nurturing some leadership skills amongst mid-level, able managers, and help to unfurl their true potentials will be great. You will set an example of empathy and inclusiveness amid your people.

Fourthly, do not refrain from communicating. Your silence can be ominous at times when your team is looking up to you for inspiration and reassurance. Communicate with them to blow confidence into them, to understand and solve their issues, to calm down their anxieties, and be the best leader ever. Acknowledging their wins, however small or big, will do wonders and will attract a barrage of positive vibe.

Lastly and most importantly, be human and be a coach to your team. With a huge shift from ‘working in office’ to ‘work from home’, lives have changed drastically. So, all work and no play will make your people unproductive. Let them engage in fun stuff beyond work as well. It is okay if somebody’s kid pops up in between a video call, it is okay is somebody’s laptop is not working, it is okay if someone needs to attend a family emergency in between work. Today, each one of us is being piled up with duties, be it of office or home or any other personal needs. Reaching into their cores will only prove what a great leader you are!

What sets apart a great leader from a good leader is his or her ability to feel the problems of the subordinates along with their issues and never give up, ever!

Our age-old knowledge and mechanisms for tackling uncertainties have suddenly been challenged by the petrifying pandemic. To date, we had made our ways through the recurrent disturbances, embraced the global tides of digitization, advanced business frameworks, technology makeover, and what not with all our innate as well as acquired skills. Even the businesses had been challenging the usual perceptions of executive decision-making for years. But the COVID-19 wave had landed us all amid the most uncertain times of all times.

There had been a lot of noise regarding the uncertainty management of late. But are we trying to hit the right notes on this? Or are we just throwing our hands here and there and ultimately gaining nothing out of anything?

The scope of the COVID-19 pandemic being more global, its impact is more profound and the crisis generated by it being more complex, the present-day decision-makers are in a huge dilemma whether or not to take some bold steps. Even then, the pandemic has kicked off our abilities to maneuver uncertainties.

At such a precarious time like this, leadership should be all about striking the right balance between lucidity, mettle, and modesty. Good decision-making is very often obstructed by brashness, biased data, or incomplete knowledge and even dilly-dallying, not uncertainty. Proper execution of intelligent thinking based on the status quo can hugely help in foreseeing prospects.

So, all you can do now as a leader is to guide your teams through this crisis, through this uncertainty, and demonstrate thoughtfulness towards all the probable repercussions. A few proven tips to start with –

1. Consider the influence of COVID-19 on the mental and physical welfare of the employees and to some extent, their families
2. Try to secure them financially and in case, some reductions are obligatory, make sure it is maintained throughout the organization
3. Do not indulge in layoffs, as long as possible. A layoff should be your last resort. As put forward by Mr. Ratan Tata (Chairman of Tata Trusts) himself – “These are the people that have worked for you, these are the people who have served you all their careers so you send them out to live in the rain? Is that your definition of ethics when you treat your labor force that way?”
4. Brace up for an economic deterioration
5. Interact more with the employees and hear their part of the story. Successful communication is known to be a two-way road

Yes, the COVID-19 period is going to be a long one and it is going to impact every aspect of our lives, but we’ll get back to normal. The entire world will do it together, as a consolidated and unified force. With thoughtful and resilient leadership, our organizations and our employees will come out victorious of this one-of-a-kind uncertainty.

You, who is reading this blog, must have been caught up with sky-high anxiety for your shaky job security in this new age of COVID-19. Even if you are not, you have a family member who is facing the same or know of some similar sufferers. Yes, we are going through a very crucial time, and there’s no denying that. Such challenging times demand strong leadership. A leader who would be able to show direction calmly and inspire the anxious and fearful teams with apposite planning is the one.

The working pattern and structure have completely been rewritten by the pandemic in the past four months. In an article , Forbes stated that many international organizations had already started to work towards making digital and remote workspace a priority by 2025. The only difference is that now the organizations worldwide have been doing the same thing, and fast.

In such a situation, one question that has popped up in every mind is – What kind of a leader can make the organizations sail smoothly in this crucial time, and what are the roles of this new normal that the leaders should fit in? In an earlier blog, we mentioned three tips for remote leaders who want to make a difference. Today we will be adding a few additional points to help you.

The foremost obligation of today’s leader is to be capable of ‘handling uncertainty’.

A leader always goes by one perfect plan, but is it possible to plan when the very near future is filled with uncertainty? With the world going through an exceptional transformation, is it possible to have a long-term outlook? So, handling this uncertainty is an urgency now! The clearer the leaders can be on pinpointing the target, the better will be the team communication, and this, in turn, will churn out some effective business decisions. A leader is capable of handling uncertainty only when he or she knows what exactly is crucial at one point of time, adapt to that and work towards that.

Challenging circumstances call for ‘empathy’; the leaders need to embrace it.

The COVID-19 crisis has brought us face to face with the very basics of human lives and reminded us of our capabilities to see one another as human beings instead of machines. Gone are the days of work floors, board rooms, and conference halls, we have now embraced the very realities of our homes. Starting from someone’s toddler appearing on the screen in between a video call to someone’s mother shouting in between a conference call, each one of us has become part of all our personal lives too. Leaders are no more distant and covert, but they are embracing empathy whole-heartedly. This is being regarded as a transformation in the dynamics between a leader and his or her followers.

It’s about time leadership is ‘redefined’.

This pandemic has pulled out the best in leaders worldwide. Their qualities have been severely tested, yet they didn’t give up and are not giving up to date. Every employee is fighting, irrespective of designation, KPIs, and even targets, just to keep the business rolling. A great example of a budding collaboration has been set. It is about time every employee is supported, and leadership is redefined so that we keep standing tall.

The coveted transition for a better future!

Coming from a leader’s perspective, it is not okay to stop preparing for the future even if it looks blurred. This age of pandemic is providing us with a great learning opportunity as well as carving out a better, more effective, and more efficient leadership. Hence, for a leader, the only right thing to do right now is to embrace the transition, motivate the employees, and just keep operating, full-blown!