{"id":24506,"date":"2020-03-23T09:30:12","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T09:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceo-na.com\/?p=24506"},"modified":"2020-03-23T15:57:59","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T15:57:59","slug":"the-future-of-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/business\/entrepreneur\/the-future-of-small-business\/","title":{"rendered":"The future of small business"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Can digitization help small businesses stay competitive in today\u2019s market?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By<\/strong> <\/em>Anna Codrea-Rado<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite myths that the cost of cyber security solutions is beyond the means of a small business, it needn\u2019t cost the earth to keep your growing business secure. The Future of Small Business IT report, made for tech company Cisco<\/a>, explores the benefits of digitalizing the small business, and how to overcome the challenges involved.<\/p>\n

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What is the ultimate trade-off between the entrepreneurial spirit of the small business, and the security imperative all organizations face? How can digitization enable small businesses to provide the exceptional customer experience that\u2019s needed to stay competitive in today\u2019s market? And in the context of rapidly changing working practice, how can small businesses harness digitalization to keep up, to drive the creativity and productivity needed to grow? Here you will find the answers.<\/p>\n

The flexible worker<\/h1>\n
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When Emma\u2019s first child was born, she knew she could no longer work nine-to-five and commute to an office every day.<\/p>\n

As a strategy director at a large marketing agency, it was time to change how she worked. \u201cWhen I had my first son five years ago, I knew that going back to five days in a stressful senior job wasn\u2019t going be possible,\u201d Emma says. Now she works three days a week, one of which is from home. She decides how she sets her hours and whether she works from home or the office. She\u2019s more productive and creative in her job, and better able to tackle the busy duties of a parent. Had her company not offered this level of flexibility, she would have left, she says, adding, \u201c(Today) I\u2019m a happier employee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma is part of a growing cohort of workers who want flexibility from their employers. Flexible working is a catch-all term for a host of different ways of working, which includes working from home, part-time work, flexitime and compressed hours. According to a YouGov poll, 89% of British workers believe flexible working would boost their productivity. Companies are also aware of the scale of the issue: a LinkedIn survey of UK businesses found that 75% think allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely and set their own hours is very important.<\/p>\n

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Implementing the processes to facilitate remote working, however, requires buy-in from leadership teams. For many companies, their flexible policies still lag behind. The same LinkedIn survey found that while 57% of companies allow employees to work remotely, it is only for some of the time, while 23% said it is only under special circumstances. As more high-skilled workers view flexibility as a professional line in the sand, what is the cost of inflexibility? \u201cThe benefits of flexible working are vast,\u201d says Alison Watson, Business Program team leader at Arden University. \u201cThey include better morale, enabling those skilled employees to be able to work around other life commitments, and reduced stress and absenteeism, all leading to reduced costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma did not wish to use her real name in this story as she says her company would not want her to speak publicly about its policies. While her employer is now fully supportive of her needs, she says she had to get the ball rolling herself, by proposing a different way of working. \u201cI managed that conversation,\u201d she says. \u201cThey were very fair and balanced, but part of that was how I handled the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helen Jamieson, founder and man- aging director of Jaluch\u2014an HR consultancy whose clients include Bupa and Visa\u2014says the issue of flexibility is as much about change management as it is employee trust. \u201cA lot of leaders find it hard to both trust and embrace new ways of working or thinking,\u201d she says. \u201cAsk managers whether they trust staff who are remote workers and you still get many voicing serious concerns about how to successfully manage them.\u201d Leaders must educate themselves on how flexible working can benefit their business, Jamieson says. They need to \u201clead from the top\u201d, while at the same time \u201cnot ignore the fears and concerns people often have about change.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Watson agrees that engaging in a flexible working culture requires specific management. \u201cSome employees need structure and discipline in order to function effectively,\u201d she says. Whether a company is able to offer flexibility in its working practices often depends on how progressive it is in its overall culture. The size of a company plays a role here, as smaller companies have a degree of agility to respond faster to these employee needs. \u201cSometimes such a process may be seen as easier to implement in less bureaucratic organizations,\u201d Watson says, though she notes that smaller companies face challenges of their own.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWithin a small workforce, flexible working patterns may not be easy to achieve as communication amongst the team and with the customer will be essential and will need to be maintained at all times,\u201d Watson adds. \u201cThere will need to be adequate cover during standard working hours.\u201d Technology has played a significant role in addressing these issues, she explains, with the widespread use of online conferencing within many sectors offering a viable solution.<\/p>\n

For Jamieson, the size of the company is secondary to the mindset of the leadership team when it comes to determining a flexible working policy. \u201cFlexible working demands that leaders trust their staff and are able to drop outdated practices in favor of new ones,\u201d she insisted.<\/p>\n

The trend towards flexible working started with women, as working mothers like Emma came back to work and needed to adjust their schedules. Dr. Esther Canonico of the London School of Economics\u2019 Department of Management, who studies organizational behavior and flexible working, says that women joining the UK workforce changed the traditional idea of an employee. \u201cWomen bring with them different values and a different understanding of what the responsibilities are outside of work,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

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As broader attitudes towards work-life balance change, however, it\u2019s now not just mothers who are interested in flexible working practices. When Jo Hooper returned from three months off work with anxiety and depression, she needed the flexibility to manage her mental health and return to work slowly. \u201cI was given flexibility and was able to work in the office for two days a week and then three days a week at home to begin with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\t\t