How STEM Industries will lead us globally out of recession
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#Leadership #STEM #Agility #Technical #Resilience #Blog
Very recently, our eyes have been opened to how unprepared we were to face global calamities. This recession has crippled our economy in several fields. Finance, stocks, travel, education. Almost every business took a hit and didn’t know how to respond. It was only through STEM Industries’ innovations that we were able to cushion the damage.
The recent crisis has reminded business leaders that a more capable workforce creates more resilient companies. And through all this, there have been few organisations more resilient than STEM organisations. Without all the advancements STEM has been responsible for, even the US, Japan, and European countries would have fallen by the wayside. STEM has shouldered us through this recession, and it is through it that we will recover.
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Even before the pandemic struck, organisations faced a dizzying pace of change, and the ever-present risk that today’s best-performing companies could be tomorrow’s vanquished ones. Jon Garcia, Garrett Maples, and Michael Park of McKinsey mentioned in a recent article that due to this global scale recession that we’re in, even gold-standard practices were put to a sudden halt because of remote working and physical distance requirements. I, on the other hand, would argue that due to the physical distancing requirements and remote working, we were able to tap into resources that we never would have used otherwise, and workers were able to carry on with their jobs with peace of mind that their health wouldn’t be put at risk.
Companies that have harnessed these innovations have delivered sustained behavioural change via high-quality capability building in a remote world. Listed below is a summary of a study by McKinsey on some of the guidelines that STEM organisations have implemented that proved to work favourably:
o Opt for interactivity over content. More than ever, the quality of facilitation and breadth of discussion makes or breaks remote working. Engagement and debate elevate employee experience.
o Lean into the technology. Instead of apologising upfront for the technology, companies should embrace it and generate excitement among participants. Some companies who have never used videoconferencing before are suddenly allowed to see their business partners for the first time, thereby fostering new connections. Individuals who had been on phone calls for years finally had a chance to spend hours together learning, laughing, and debating in a safe environment. This new virtual environment has, in just a few days, broken down siloes that have been built up over years, changing how employees communicate and connect long after the workshop ends.
o Make leadership visible. Virtual setups can more effectively bridge the gap between the leadership and employees. Now, CEOs and other senior leaders are able to speak face-to-face with employees and actually participate in programs. One of McKinsey’s employees was even quoted saying: “I have talked with my boss’s boss more today than in the last two years combined.”
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Nobody was prepared to embrace a digital world on the onset of this crisis. Rana Foroohar of the Financial Times argues on one of her articles that, if education levels in the US were higher, workers laid off during this pandemic might be better able to adapt to the new landscape and use new technologies to enhance their own productivity and employability. My two cents here is that did we really need to go through these trying times to realise our inadequacies?
Now, due to our rude awakening, and STEM industries answering the call, we have absorbed the haymaker that recession threw us. Businesses are investing substantially more in science and technology to replace people, lower their costs and improve their competitiveness.
“Energy” Photo by Federico Beccari on Unsplash
STEM industries have come to our aid time and again during this crisis and helped organisations to be reenergized – to act rather than react. Healthcare Global Leader, Senior Partner, Shubham Singhal’s research states that there are 10 actions that companies should be doing during this age of volatility:
· Think of the return as a muscle. – As companies return from crisis, they need to exercise certain capabilities, including the willingness to change future plans and manage structural shifts. Handling the crisis is a marathon, so the emphasis should be on reinventing business models for 2021 and beyond, not so much on protecting 2020.
· Focus on high-impact actions. – Identify which actions are best for the business. They will differ by company but may include technology-enabled next-generation operations, analytics-enabled engineering productivity, and automation of service-related processes.
· Rebuild for speed. – Getting things done fast and well is critical: what used to take a week now must happen in a day. That means speeding up decision making, deploying nimble teams, redeploying talent, and empowering tomorrow’s leaders to take responsibility today. Cut nonpriority initiatives to free up leadership time.
· Reimagine the workforce from the top down. – Identify employee segments that may be under new forms of stress (such as parents of small children, isolated single people, and caretakers). Consider changing how work gets done, whether that’s through job sharing, flex teams, or hot-seat changeovers. And continue to invest in learning.
· Make bold portfolio moves. – Companies that make smart portfolio moves now will benefit disproportionately after crisis recovery. To get positioned for strong growth in 2021 and beyond, shed business units that aren’t part of the future growth equation and move quickly to fund new, transformational growth areas.
· Reset technology plans. – Take a hard look at technology investments and reset them for value and speed. Aim to raise the technology quotient of all employees. “Cleansheet” the tech budget rather than working off the backlog. Ensure that tech capabilities are mapped to sources of customer value.
· Rethink the global footprint. – Given the vulnerability of just-in-time supply chains that the crisis revealed and the diminished labour-cost advantage of offshoring, companies need to take a hard look at how and where they operate. That could mean reshoring or multishoring operations and developing regional—rather than global—strategies.
· Take the lead on climate and sustainability. – Some pandemic-related economic-stimulus measures (such as the European Green Deal) have been linked to sustainability-related goals. Two ideas for connecting sustainability to business opportunity are, to explore industry consortiums for setting new standards, and creating large-scale impact and to embed sustainability into business by design rather than as an add-on.
· Think about the role of regulation and government. – As governments continue to act as payers, lenders, and insurers of last resort, their reach has extended into all aspects of business. Work with them on top priorities, such as reskilling and building digital infrastructure. Develop insights on social shifts that could inform legislation and regulation.
· Make purpose part of everything. - Having a strong sense of purpose helps companies navigate uncertainty—and people stay engaged and productive. Now more than ever, companies must match their actions to their words. Embrace stakeholder capitalism—the idea that successful companies serve more than just the bottom line.
It’s no secret that STEM solutions are currently playing a major role in ensuring a return to normality for people worldwide. STEM industries have already left breadcrumbs to follow out of this recession. The door has been opened and we just need to walk through it.
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STEM Industries have proven that they are absolutely essential for modern day working life. The next generation is looking to how we’ve been handling this global phenomenon, and it’s imperative that we give them something to inspire them. It’s important to keep young people engaged with STEM subjects as much as possible, because once all of this is done, it is them to whom we pass the baton to. If there are any ways in which we can introduce more STEM learning during these testing times, I think it’s safe to say that it must be done.
Work with me – Get in touch here, call 1300 684 669 or email davidw@davidwayne.com.au to discuss options for coaching, workshops or training programs or
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