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Dm MANAGEMENT: BUSINESS CONTINUITY<br />
Is <strong>2021</strong> the year of remote business continuity?<br />
Businesses need to find a smarter way to work in <strong>2021</strong> - a way that's flexible and<br />
adaptive to their needs, argues Jason Rowles of PFU (EMEA) Limited<br />
The past year has forced organisations<br />
to adjust their business strategies<br />
overnight, shifting their businesses<br />
online with employees working out of<br />
home offices wherever possible. The results<br />
have been mixed, as over a third of UK midmarket<br />
businesses are estimated to have<br />
been forced to reduce capacity or<br />
close/suspend operations.<br />
This is sobering, but it's not just a global<br />
health crisis that can cause severe<br />
disruption to business. Erupting volcanoes,<br />
earthquakes, or political upheavals can<br />
have a similar effect on transport and daily<br />
commutes. This year has been a live test<br />
for business continuity plans and how<br />
effective they really are, what works and<br />
what doesn't. From homeworking<br />
equipment that is fit-for-purpose to<br />
reliable communications infrastructure - if<br />
it wasn't already in place when lockdown<br />
started, then the scramble was on to<br />
enable productivity.<br />
THE CALL CENTRE CASE<br />
The disruption caused by the shift to<br />
homeworking was particularly noticeable<br />
in the contact centre sector, which employs<br />
more than four percent of the UK's<br />
working population. Organisations that<br />
couldn't change to the new way of<br />
working descended into turmoil and,<br />
although the public had a high level of<br />
acceptance with the extended call waiting<br />
times and poor customer experience at<br />
first, tolerance levels have been fading<br />
through the autumn and winter.<br />
It's been tough on contact centre remote<br />
agents. Closing brick and mortar retail<br />
outlets led to a massive increase in online<br />
shopping and an equivalent need for online<br />
sales assistance. For many contact centre<br />
employees, finding themselves working<br />
from home for the first time and having to<br />
handle some tough customer calls must<br />
have been hard especially when no team<br />
members are around to offer support.<br />
When working from home is necessary, the<br />
right technology to keep remote workers<br />
more connected to their colleagues and<br />
their organisations is critical. It's just as<br />
12<br />
@<strong>DM</strong>MagAndAwards<br />
<strong>Jan</strong>uary/<strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2021</strong><br />
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