By Gemma Allen
The world of work has fundamentally changed.
When the convergence of home and work happened in March of 2020, businesses faced an unprecedented challenge: find a smarter and safer way of working together, and hire and retain the best talent.
Against a changing backdrop of working norms and policies, looking across borders for talent became more plausible than ever before. For those who had pre-existing remote working models and international teams, there were structures to build upon. For companies on the cusp of internationalizing or expanding their global footprint, it served as a blueprint for the future.
Here are three ways in which the pandemic became a catalyst for scaling internationally:
1. Culture is more global than ever
Remote working has created new cultural norms. For the first time, culture was truly location agnostic. Although challenging, it allowed a rare opportunity to re-evaluate culture at a global level and shape for future fit. This meant that the long-standing approach of looking for a ‘cultural fit’ and concern to not scale internationally until company culture was cemented became redundant.
Companies look to define a global culture with no nuanced or historical prerequisites. And while the future of work may be uncertain, the future of workforce success will be grounded by ensuring agility and diversity. No longer seen as a secluded group, global teams are scaling the culture through authenticity and diverse perspectives and establishing new practices in the future world of work.
2. Invest in internal operations technology
Whilst there is no denying that the pandemic changed the world of work, it came at a significant and wholly unplanned cost to employers.
The COVID-19 crisis resulted in years of change in the way companies in all sectors and regions conduct business. There was a mass acceleration of digitalization. A 2020 McKinsey study looked at the speed of delivery of digital solutions and remote work practices. In the case of remote working, respondents said their companies moved 40 times more quickly than they thought possible before the pandemic.
For many companies, the reality was a mass acceleration in tech spend. The mission was to expand remote working models and ensure future resilience. These models built agility and speed into what were often seen as arduous processes and systems relating to talent acquisition, onboarding and supporting virtual teams. One advantage of this was that hiring became fully virtual and - in many ways - location irrelevant.
3. Match the people to the problem
The COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges for global supply chains and customer service models. Lockdowns, transportation delays and staff shortages have continued to slow or even temporarily stop the flow of goods and services. The impact on global trade has highlighted the importance of resilient, risk-tolerant and agile supply-chain structures and placed an even greater emphasis on customer experience and top-class customer support models. To manage and build an improved business model, we are seeing a heightened shift in regionalization. A recent survey from Supply Chain Management Review highlighted regionalization as a top priority with almost 90 percent of respondents expecting to pursue regionalization during the next three years. Key to this approach is human-centered engagement models, and the heightened focus on customer support. The need to be close to customers and suppliers and have native language speakers and the expertise to work with local market challenges and nuances are more important than ever before.
In a recent Accenture survey, nearly 77 percent of CEOs said they will fundamentally change how they engage with and create value for customers. Companies need to place an emphasis on meaningful engagement models to grow customer bases and retain customer loyalty.
The future of work is changing faster than anyone ever expected, and a remote world is quickly becoming the new norm. However, far from reducing the need for international talent and expertise, the pandemic has heightened the value international hubs can play. And the meaning of global culture is more important than ever before for companies at the intersection of creating new business models and policies to foster the needs of an inclusive, location agnostic remote workforce. The pandemic has served as a stark reminder that human interaction and a customer-first approach often require strong human capital. Having international teams in place can create better organizational culture, organizational resilience, and position for much stronger recovery after the pandemic.
About the author:
Gemma Allen is the vice president of B2C technology at IDA Ireland. In her current role with IDA Ireland, she is responsible for building relations with business leaders, political stakeholders, and key industry players, ultimately resulting in millions of dollars of investment into Ireland. Allen is based in New York City and has over 13 years’ experience working with the world’s largest technology companies in the U.S. and Europe. Twitter: @GemmaAllenIDA
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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Technology Leadership
Gemma Allen
Gemma Allen is the vice president of B2C technology at IDA Ireland, the agency responsible for the attraction and retention of inward foreign direct investment into Ireland. In her current role with IDA Ireland, she is responsible for building relations with business leaders, political stakeholders and key industry players furthering foreign direct investment into Ireland. Allen is based in New York City and has over 15 years’ experience working with the world’s largest technology companies in the U.S. and Europe.
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