Only 20% of firms interviewed – before and during the pandemic – were resilient and’ future ready’ out of 1,813 businesses of all sizes and sectors in Africa, Asia, Europe and the US.
The report identifies the attributes of the most resilient ‘future ready’ (what used to be known as well prepared) organisations and their responses to common business challenges before, during and beyond the Covid-19 crisis.
It found that future ready businesses (FRBs) make up 20% of the firms it contacted for the research, and said they can be identified by six common characteristics.
Although the Covid-19 crisis has been one of the biggest disrupters since the 1930s, prepared businesses are more confident they will continue to succeed.
• 30% of FRBs expect an increase in profits during Covid-19
• 57% of FRBs expect their profits to increase over the next five years, compared to 45% of businesses overall
• Those with a plan
Vinod Kumar, CEO, Vodafone Business said, “Covid-19 has forced rapid change for everybody. However, some businesses are better prepared to deal with the issues that have arisen, and we want to help all organisations understand what they can do to match these ‘future ready’ companies.”
Employees have taken centre stage, particularly for FRBs:
• 44% of all businesses now are prioritising employees’ wellbeing, physical and mental, up 10% since before Covid-19, but for FRBs this is now stands at 77%
• 90% of FRBs reported supporting their employees more during the pandemic.
Societal attitudes and consumers’ expectations have changed, and businesses have moved to focus on ethical behaviours or to find a purpose beyond their core offering:
• During the pandemic, 81% of organisations reported taking some form of action to support those outside their business, compared to 94% of FRBs.
Covid-19 has proven that work can be done differently and from anywhere. Businesses need to adapt to this new way of working in order to survive:
• 71% of FRBs already made at least one new technology investment in direct response to the pandemic.
• 44% of FRBs surveyed expect that greater flexibility in where people work will persist after the pandemic is over.
Kumar continued, “Industries that hadn’t embraced technology are seeking to move swiftly into digitalisation. We want to help companies move quickly into this new era of working, supporting them in becoming smarter, faster and more resilient, but not at the cost of their humanity.”
Read the full Future Ready Report here.