Work from home: The game changer for businesses in the ‘new normal’

When the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on the economic state of countries in different parts of the world, businesses scrambled to survive — whether to adjust to remote working, to pause, or worse, to close their business. The business world is competitive and complex, and this pandemic is immensely redefining workplaces and is forcing business leaders across all sectors to reassess their businesses and operational structure.

The COVID-19 pandemic is pushing business leaders to be more agile and more responsive to certain disruptions to be able to survive and ensure resiliency and continuity. Most of the companies are adapting and implementing work from home (WFH) arrangements to keep their employees safe and to reduce sustained contact. Perhaps it is the quickest response out of necessity to keep employees safe at home, and it has now been perceived as the current and future working environment across the world.

Over the past few months within the COVID-19 situation and lockdown, businesses such as AMTI, considered as one of the biggest and most diversified ICT companies in the Philippines, quickly adjusted to WFH and has successfully continued their business-as-usual operations despite all the challenges posed by the pandemic because of its early investments in digital technologies, cloud-based applications, and modern IT infrastructure with the help of Dell Technologies.

For most businesses however, it is another story.  Investments in digital technologies are always perceived to be a cost, and not a priority. As a result, businesses of companies who failed to foresee the need to invest were paralyzed and business owners were in a quandary on how to go about operating their businesses under the restrictive rules and guidelines of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and General Community Quarantine (GCQ).

During the ECQ and GCQ, sales of mobile computing devices such as laptop and tablets surged and subscription of cloud based productivity software and tools also experienced a pent up demand as companies scrambled to equip their remote workforce with devices and software to enable them to continue to work from home.

Considering that the COVID-19 virus is not going away soon, companies must now actively plan on how they are going to operate and serve their customers in the new normal. There has been a fundamental shift in the way we do things and one of these is the Work from Home (WFH). However, WFH is not a one size fits all solution because aside from technology, there are several factors that need to be considered such as job profile/responsibilities, status and stages in life, mental maturity, and discipline.

One of the benefiting factors that companies identified in WFH arrangements is the ability to save office costs and other utility expenses. Several surveys have shown that employees are more productive at home. They are also freed from horrendous traffic or long travel time and found greater flexibility in balancing their work and personal lives at home. Since fewer people commuting means lessened vehicle emissions, it also showed a positive impact on the environment as well.

During this pandemic, many companies have taken steps, through experimentation, to survive. But not everything will work. It takes time and constant reassessment to make things work. So, to minimize risk and to get up to speed, external guidance is highly recommended to help redefine the new normal work strategy, choice of technology, software, and tools. AMTI has been helping organizations to transform and manage change before and during the pandemic. Our team of experts have cross-industry knowledge that can help companies put the right fit solution in place, while mitigating risks and ensuring that they have put in place a technology solution that will allow them to move forward on the long road to recover.

The lives of the people and the economic situation over the next few weeks and months seem to be vague as the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic may be far from now. As businesses perceive it, work from home is the ‘new normal’, and to a greater extent, a permanent work environment in the years ahead.

Create a Digital Workplace in your organization with the help of AMTI, together with Dell Technologies, and achieve bottom-line results. Email AMTI at [email protected]

ADVT