How collaboration can help firms recover from pandemic- Craig Naylor-Smith

Firms have had to contend with supply chain disruption, precipitous falls in consumer demand and local and national lockdown restrictions – all factors that have put pressure on their operations.

Although the recent news of a vaccine’s approval will have buoyed national confidence, headwinds for businesses are likely to persist for a while longer. Pre-Covid levels of customer demand are not expected to return for some time in many sectors, while all firms will be starting the new year in a fundamentally changed business and economic landscape.

In this environment, Yorkshire’s businesses will need to maintain investment to remain competitive. One way to unlock the capital needed to do so is through greater efficiency – using the least amount of input to achieve the highest amount of output.

Here, business transformation will be key. By fundamentally rethinking and replacing inefficient business processes, executives can ultimately help deliver more scalable, productive and resilient operations and release the funds their businesses need to thrive in an increasingly competitive environment.

With this in mind, it’s encouraging to see that transformation and efficiency initiatives are already firmly in leaders’ sights.

At Parseq, we recently surveyed more than 250 C-suite executives at some of the UK’s largest companies for our inaugural Big Business Efficiency Report to find out what they had planned when it comes to broader transformation projects and efficiency changes in 2021.

Reassuringly, four in five of those we spoke to will be transforming their business in some way in the next 12 months, and everyone is planning to make their processes more efficient.

When it comes to transformation, executives’ focus areas are diverse. In the front office, leaders plan to focus on marketing, sales and customer experience. Meanwhile, in the back office, HR finance and administration and compliance top the list.

Executives plan to use AI and machine learning, L&D for staff and measures that improve governance as their top efficiency-driving methods.

These findings highlight the broad range of efficiency and transformation strategies being formulated in boardrooms across the country.

However, executives also pointed to several barriers when it comes to efficiency measures – barriers that others pursuing transformation and efficiency projects might also have to face.

These were chiefly complexity, a lack of time and a lack of knowledge. But, strikingly, a quarter also flagged that a lack of awareness of available third-party support was holding them back.

From our research, more than a fifth of executives we spoke to have already turned to outsourcing partners to help make their businesses more efficient since the UK entered lockdown.

And this could be a valuable route for others as they plan for the year ahead.

Collaboration with third parties can help executives tackle perceived barriers head-on.

Crucially, the benefits of third-party collaboration aren’t limited to delivering evolutionary changes. A good outsourcing relationship can also help to underpin long-term transformational projects, with businesses able to draw on outsourcers’ experience and expertise to better shape their own development.

Yorkshire’s firms have shown huge determination in adapting to the pandemic so far.

As we look to the new year, and the potential for further challenges, businesses that are able to deliver greater efficiency and drive long-term change in their operations will be in a strong position to adapt and thrive in whatever lies ahead.

Through transformation, businesses can unlock the capital they need to make their operations more efficient and strengthen their resilience in an uncertain and challenging environment.

By Craig Naylor-Smith - Managing Director, Parseq

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here to subscribe.