What a rollercoaster we’re riding at the moment…

Businesses like certainty but COVID delivered a huge shock that caught everyone broadside. As we look to the year ahead – with two vaccinations offering a real sense of hope – Companies are still faced with an uncomfortable number of uncertainties:

• Is it time to tear up long-term strategies?

• Should we adopt short-term positions, “agility” and focus more on the speed of response?

• How can business owners and marketers demonstrate leadership and predict future trends, amid such upheaval?

During the pandemic, most Companies have been forced to change very quickly indeed.  We’ve seen how many have rapidly pivoted their value propositions and marketing strategies to appear receptive to, and understanding of, revised customer needs.

It’s fair to say that the pandemic speeded up the pace of digital transformation –but perhaps not as much as it could, or should.  A recent study by Microsoft showed that nearly half UK business leaders believe that the size of their digital skills gap will affect their companies.  Meanwhile, two-thirds of employees feel that they do not have the skills to fulfil both new and emerging roles in their industry*.

With so many customers now routinely communicating and transacting with companies online, a digital skills gap is more of a concern than ever.  One barrier for some business is undoubtedly conceptual.  We hear a lot about “agility” in relation to digital transformation of processes and operations.  This could be interpreted as constant, rapid change to accommodate every whim of the market and few businesses have the resources or energy to that.