Betach’s Experience - Business continuity during a crisis
As one of Canada’s original Microsoft cloud implementers, Betach embraced remote and flexible working practices early on. This meant our move to total remote was a relatively seamless process over the last few weeks.
We understand that embracing more flexible working practices may pose different challenges for each organization. But the capabilities and accessibility offered by modern workplace platforms mean that nearly every business should be able to adopt some elements of remote working.
The key is finding a way to introduce this flexibility which not only minimizes disruption and risk, but also maximizes the ability for your employees to be productive and responsive, enabling your customers experience, as well as their own. We've leaned on our modern workplace capabilities more heavily than ever before recently. So, below we’ve gathered a range of insights and practical steps you can take to maintain business continuity, based on our own experience.
#1 – Tech is only one piece of the puzzle
No matter what workplace platform you use, products and tools alone can only get you so far. Sure, they’ll give you the technical capability to introduce remote working, but they won’t guarantee your employees will flourish while doing so.
We’ve successfully embraced remote working because we adopted the tech as part of a broader workplace transformation process. We started with the basic building blocks and introduced further functionality at the right time and pace. This holistic approach has ensured our staff are set up to thrive – comfortable that they can perform and benefit from an effective employee experience even when they’re dispersed across Canada.
#2 – Reimagining ways of working
The nature of our work means our teams are often working on site with clients, meeting at their offices, or attending events with them. The rapid spread of the virus has quickly changed this. We’ve not only had to consider the way our teams work, but the way they deliver work for clients.
Thanks to our robust cloud infrastructure – like Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Dynamics 365 and more – we’ve been able to continue delivering work seamlessly. Just because the virus has meant we've been working from home, this hasn't stopped us delivering for our clients. We’ve held meetings that would normally be face-to-face virtually. We didn’t cancel events – we moved them online. And we didn’t work in isolation, we collaborated and brainstormed over virtual sessions.
#3 – Employee wellbeing in the virtual workplace
Working at Betach means you get to collaborate with great people. But one of the more challenging aspects when working from home is social isolation and seclusion. This is amplified with the COVID-19 situation where social distancing is encouraged to reduce risk of spreading the virus.
We’ve sought to address this with initiatives like virtual Friday happy hour over Microsoft Teams to ensure employees continue to benefit from social interactions with colleagues. We’ve even enjoyed a stronger turnout than our in-person initiatives and have been able to connect even better than before.
Our workplace technology is helping us retain many of the social benefits that a physical workspace offers by recreating them virtually.
The new normal
Whether it’s due to a global disruption or part of a wider employee experience initiative, businesses across the world are having to rethink their approach to the workplace and embrace greater flexibility. I found it fascinating to hear that employees working remotely due to Covid-19 in the U.S. have logged on for an additional three hours per day compared to patterns seen before March 11 -- a 40% jump*. The study found that working from home not only benefits employees by eliminating their daily commutes, it also increases productivity and leads to healthier lifestyles. It's a win-win situation. Of course we still hope for everything to get back to normal as soon as possible. We especially want to put all the anxiety, fear, suffering and tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us. That day will come, but the world afterwards will not be the same as before. In adjusting to the new abnormal we are learning new habits and skills that we won't want to unlearn.
By Brittany LeMaro
Customer Engagement Manager