TheHILL. | BUSINESS | May 17, 2021.
Emerging Post COVID-19 global reports have pointed out that organizations are currently repositioning by reimagining work, work space and workforce and utilizing technology in their daily transactions to stand a greater chance of upscaling in productivity and workforce to build back better.
Over the last 12 months, industries across the globe have reinvented, reimagined and adopted new strategies to engineer their workforce and workspace. Also, this industrial revolution has prompted new companies in Silicon Valley like Apple, Facebook, and Google to significantly increase their valuation and earnings over a short period of time.
These statistics represent a collective wake up call to entrepreneurs especially startups, in Africa and Nigeria to develop work models or leverage technological tools available to upscale their business output. Africa is poised to accelerate, and as more talent becomes available, more companies will be looking to invest.
Consolidating on these facts the Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Enterprise Development, Mrs. Meflyn Anwana in her address as the keynote speaker urged MSMEs and existing organizations to reposition themselves for greater opportunities, particularly with the new precepts of the 21st century.
The Governor’s aide noted that as technology is becoming more dynamic and flexible, entrepreneurs need to ”imagine the new hybrid work flow, where working from home is a new normal; flexibility, agility and ingenuity therefore becomes germane, and some population will benefit from working from home while others will struggle.”
Mrs. Anwana made the assertion during the 3rd anniversary and 1st Anniversary Lecture/Award Ceremony of New Dawn Microfinance Bank in Uyo with the Theme; “New Dawn of Microfinance Banking in Nigeria”.
According to her, communication will be more asynchronous, therefore, entrepreneurs need to build a customer centric organization, adding that ”organizations that put their customers at the heart of their business will experience an increase in customer lifetime value and a reduction in churn.”
Mrs. Anwana maintained that the shift towards becoming a truly customer-centric organization is both complex and long but, even the smallest changes to policy and processes can have an appreciable impact on entrepreneurs.
“History has it that crisis always brings innovation to the world with new technology being developed. The Pre-industrial age was characterized by handcrafted production, subsistence agriculture, power from domesticated animals. The 1st Industrial Revolution in 1784 brought in the water & steam powered production, mechanical loom and factory system. The 2nd Industrial Revolution in 1870 brought in division of labor, assembly of lines created “mass production”, slaughter houses, and then automobiles. The 3rd Industrial Revolution commencing in 1969 was characterized by digital revolution, logic circuits micro processors, and connectivity by internet.
The 4th Industrial Revolution which is the era we are currently in, launched the era of sensors and big data leading to the Internet of Things or Cyber physical systems (CPS).
During the 1990s the 3 biggest companies in Detroit were Ford, Chrysler, General Motors (G.M) with a market capitalization of 36 billion US Dollars and 250 billion US dollars in revenue with 1.2 million employees. Conversely, this present era has shown a drastic shift in the industrial revolution with new companies companies in Silicon Valley like Apple, Facebook, and Google having a market capitalization of 5 trillion US dollars and 250 billion US dollars in revenue, with 1.2 million employees”.
It’s important for entrepreneurs to invest in their work force and deploy technology to leverage complimentary capabilities. The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently declared a reskilling emergency as the world faces the imminence of more than one billion jobs being transformed by technology. Global labor shortages of over 85.2 million workers are projected by 2030. 74% of organizations say reskilling the workforce is important for their success over the next 12-18 months, but only 10% say that there are very ready to address the trend.
Clearly, the HR /Communication department in any organization becomes a vital enabler of an organization’s ability to thrive in a world where the old rules of work no longer apply, and the new ones are evolving rapidly. Advanced HR would be focused on harmonizing the world of work; a key source of strength for the future focused organizations seeking to make the most of human capital in today’s dynamic environment. Thus, Entrepreneurs need to know that flexible work is here to stay, thus leaders are not to be out of touch with employees, high productivity is masking an exhausted workforce, gen Z is at risk and will need to be re-energized.
New Dawn Microfinance Bank, located at Udo Udoma Avenue in Uyo is one of the leading Microfinance Banks in Africa with tentacles projected across the African continent. The 3rd Anniversary celebration featured the Unveiling of New Dawn ATM cards and other SME’s E-banking solutions (POS, quickteller, paydirect, autopay, USSD amongst others).
