How Will Business Planning Change?

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had some interesting conversations with senior leaders particularly those operating in the planning space.

Several conversations have been around Covid-19 and the impact it has had on their operations with lots of operations having to work from home. For some organisations this has been a logistical nightmare.

Different organisations have seen different challenges so far in their process including:

• Hardware issues – can’t get their hands on enough equipment
• Technology issues – Network is hardwired – No cloud option
• Sickness Levels – as high as 60% at some organisations (including those self-isolating)
• Compliance issues – can’t take card payments away from main office.

These are a few points but there have been may other challenges organisations have faced over the last few weeks, not to mention protecting staff members, whilst keeping the operation running.  Key trends seem to be resurfacing:

• What will the future of our operations look like
  • Will office-based roles become more home-based including contact centres, what does this do for productivity and work life balance, especially beyond the current honeymoon period?
  • Is there a different way we can interact with our customers – could GPs / engineers do virtual consulting calls before deciding what action is required – will this stop wasted journeys, or take pressure off busy GPs, qualified engineers or,  the field workforce?
  • Does remote working help your organisation when recruiting – could you diversify your workforce further by attracting diverse and inclusive talent, that otherwise might not have been able to commit to a full time office based role?

• Will the technology we have be changed
  • Will everything be moved to the cloud – does this protect us against everything, will we no longer need contingency sites, is it 100% safe for money transactions?
  • Will we see more video conferencing being used, as at present it’s the nations new night out?
• Staff retention and Sickness rates
  • Currently staff attrition rates are low with a lack of opportunity on the market and job security being offered with the government furlough and other schemes. When this is over will we see a spike in attrition rates at all levels. Will the job market be vibrant, or will organisations be having to cut costs?
  • With the average number of sick days at 4.1 per year across the UK. is flexible working something that could bring both this and absence rates down?
• Will the way we plan change
  • Would having flexible or home working encourage split shifting become more appealing to the workforce.
  • Will the way we forecast change – what business contingency planning will you now have in place.

But what is going to change and what impact will it have on resource planning functions?

Hopefully this has given you plenty to think about.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts. What impact do you believe COVID-19 will leave on the workforce across operations and resourcing, planning, field workforce planning, resource planning, forecasting and scheduling space.

Over the next few weeks, I will continue having these conversations with the operation, resource and workforce planning market. It would be great to hear from you and I would be happy to schedule a call.

Please give me a call on 01543 231 078 and let me know what you think.

Perry Fletcher is an Executive Search and Recruitment Consultant at Douglas Jackson.  Perry specialises in the Resource Planning, Forecasting, Scheduling Analytical and Insight markets.

Contact Perry on Perry@douglas-jackson.com