Ten emerging trends shaping our new future

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The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is now impacting our personal and professional lives. Many are trying to navigate through their unfolding business complexities related to people, supply-chain, financial health, customer engagement and risk management.

We are currently going through one of the most significant historical changes ever experienced in the last 100 years. Old businesses will change and new businesses will emerge. We are already seeing a shift in services our clients are adopting as a response to this pandemic. Essential services in relation to healthcare, energy and natural resources, water, and emergency services will continue to be in demand, although the business models for these industries may change.

We need to be vigilant and cautious about the further impact of the spread of the virus, and resilient to create new ways of living and working. We need to gain inspiration on how two of the most populous nations of the world; India and China are managing the situation. The collective wealth of western nations will help repurpose spending and improve healthcare.

New ways of living and working will emerge as soon as fear subsides, so let’s start now, by discussing ten ways to reimagine and reinvent our lives, our organisations and our society.

1. Globalisation will be redefined with a stronger emergence of social capitalism

The unregulated and free-market globalisation may gradually come to an end due to COVID-19 exposing the serious risks of independent and uncoordinated actions of countries on the global economy and the well-being of people. The pandemic proved that issues arising in one country has a domino effect and can end up having a serious impact on the entire economic world.

A new form of globalisation that recognises interdependence and the good of humanity based on collective actions of countries, businesses and people will start to emerge. As a result, companies will change their governance and business management models with greater focus on corporate social responsibility and the well-being of people. Many countries will pass new laws to protect employees in situations such as COVID-19. With the emergence of social capitalism, a new kind of capitalism will drive companies. Not only markets and market regulation, but also what is good for the communities and the society, will drive business strategy.

2. Acceleration of digital transformation

The notion of digital transformation is now fairly advanced with many organisations working on transforming businesses over the last two years, if not more. COVID-19 will force companies to take radical steps to adopt technology advancements, and modernise culture, organisational structures, measurement systems and operating architectures.

There is common agreement among top business leaders that even if the organisation is ahead today, they have to be continually prepared to change, take calculated risks and be prepared to fail fast, or their business is likely to get disrupted. Therefore, accelerating digital transformation journeys would become a top priority for many companies to ensure business continuity, improve productivity and launch new business models to remain competitive.

3. The use of an on-demand workforce will increase

With the economic impact of COVID-19, companies and people will embrace technology enabled on-demand workforce models and platforms. This would improve workforce planning, financial management and access to diverse skills. Companies should understand and learn how to engage and retain on-demand talent with improved People Management programs, strategies and tools to make value for and on-demand workforce.

4. A new burning platform for healthcare reform

COVID-19 has exposed major gaps in the healthcare systems of some of the most advanced countries of the world. The pandemic has created a burning platform for healthcare reform in the United States, United Kingdom, France and many developing nations. COVID-19 will force the healthcare industry to transform and provide care that is more equitable. This will create new opportunities for many, who are involved in building the new system.

Other than industry reform, companies will need to make efforts to concentrate on individuals’ healthcare. The need for emotional connectivity will increase as remote working, social isolation and social distancing practices become more common. Companies will increase focus on employee’s mental health and well-being, to avoid the downside of limited in-person human contact.

5. Supply-chains will fragment and reconfigure themselves

Supply chains will fragment further with technology platforms integrating them. Multi-tier supply-chains will emerge and track critical components including the origin of supply and incremental value-adds. This would open exploration of new ways to engage with customers, manage inventories, optimise production and distribution, logistics management and managing cash/capital.

As well as this, as 5G internet becomes more widely available, it will increase the use of online internet systems and consequently reduces the risk of too much centralisation. Traditional business strategy relies on market boundaries and competitors. In the post COVID-19 era, companies need to create new breakthrough value for their customers continuously, not just once. Unless companies embrace global thinking, and establish strategic alliances and partnerships with others in a global ecosystem, not just local, value creation will become very challenging in a rapidly changing business environment.

6. The definition of ‘workplace’ will change

The current remote working arrangements, if continued for more than three months, could permanently shift working patterns. New norms will be established for these working conditions, redefining work life and personal life boundaries. The workplace will no longer be simply an office where people come to each day, and leave to go home each night. With major changes on the horizon, a need to reimagine the purpose of a workplace will arise. Increasingly, workplaces will become collaboration hubs to achieve common objectives, compared to just providing a place for people to work. Unnecessary overhead costs such as travel will be cut back, leaving no option but to enforce virtual interactions replacing physical face-to-face meetings.

7. Industries will be forced to reinvent with upskilling and reskilling becoming a major priority

COVID-19 has accelerated the disruption of many industries that many pundits have been predicting for years. Almost all industries, including airlines, retail, hospitality, healthcare, education, construction and technology, will require rapid transformation to their business models in order to remain viable. New business models and value-chains will significantly increase a need for new skills.

Last year, the WEF warned of a major disruption in the labour markets of 15 developed and emerging countries that would lead to a net loss of over 5 million jobs and the emergence of millions of new jobs. COVID-19 is already seriously affecting the labour markets. Therefore, to minimise emerging unfavourable social and economic impact, reskilling and upskilling of the workforce will become a top priority of many companies. The education and training systems will need to go through a major shake-up to help the workforce quickly reskill and upskill using virtual solutions. Human-centric technology adoption will become important to ensure communication and knowledge streams remain existent.

8. Change in work habits will lead to urban transformation

With the changing landscape of business operations, the cost of commercial real estate will fall to coincide with the reduced demand. Once remote work becomes more of the norm, the need for corporate complexes diminishes but will open up new ways of utilisation, whether it is space sharing, event hire or a collaboration venue. Along with many other trends, COVID-19 has accelerated the move for commercial real estate to become more adaptable, allowing industries to be reborn and rethink their place in their evolving surroundings.

9. Rapid innovation will keep businesses afloat

Technology will continue to drive innovation across business models in various industries, allowing new businesses to enter the market and disrupt incumbents in serious ways. In order to drive business growth, stay relevant in changing times, and differentiate from the competition, business leaders must be able to think creatively and embrace innovation to create break-through value for their customers. In the post COVID-19 era, there will be a greater need to increase innovation and move away from the comfort of operating ‘business as usual’. If organisations do not adapt to new ways of working they may experience an existential crisis.

10. New mindsets will drive future success

With the rapidness of change we are undergoing as a society, if people and companies do not change with our new reality they will be left behind, and it will be a difficult feat to catch up with the number of iterations of change. As technology-enabled transformation is imperative, new mindsets for humans will be the driver to see a successful implementation to propel businesses forward. Cultural change will become one of the most important drivers of success for companies in post COVID-19 era. The ground rules, beliefs, and assumptions that drive culture will require rethinking with a new set of mindsets driving employee and business success.

No doubt, COVID-19 is challenging the status quo and conventional thinking across all industries but recognising some of the trends mentioned above and taking timely action will help individuals and companies gain an advantage in this world of disruption.

GHD will be issuing a series of think pieces aimed at exploring how our industries will be adjusting to this new normal, how digitisation and “everything online” will come to life, and how businesses can adapt to new forms of continuity risks today and in the future. To access these insights, click here.

Meet Kumar

An entrepreneur, business leader and a trusted advisor, Kumar Parakala has more than two decades of experience in building new and existing professional services businesses in global markets. As the President at GHD Digital, the fast-growing digital transformation and technology engine of GHD, Kumar is responsible for the execution of the firm’s digital strategy and innovation. For more information please visit ghd.com/digital or contact Kumar Parakala at [email protected].