This assessment of processes, policies and governance is typically conducted annually and should include penetration testing and vulnerability assessments of a business's environment.
As part of this vital process, businesses should aim to achieve the government-backed cyber essentials plus certification – a rigorous test of a business’s cyber security systems to ensure it is protected against basic hacking and phishing attacks.
5. Accurate information makes for better decisions and reduced cost
Businesses use various applications to manage their day-to-day operations. These applications gather and store valuable information that can be used to better understand and manage the business.
For example, customer relationship management applications capture vital information regarding customer interactions that can be used to improve a business's engagement with customers.
This information plays a vital role in monitoring key performance indicators that have been established to provide insight into the business. It is important that businesses also monitor leading indicators (live data) using technology that identifies issues before it is too late to react and mitigate the impact.
These indicators help your business achieve its objectives by defining what actions are required to achieve goals with measurable outcomes. Meanwhile, lagging indicators measure current performance but can only be known after the event.
Failure to track KPIs (leading and lagging) and create scorecards will hinder your ability to make informed decisions that optimise the business.
Accurate information will highlight inefficiencies in processes, allowing you to focus initiatives in areas that impact the bottom line. In recent years, businesses have had to adjust the way they work, applying pressure to the business model.
6. Global recruiting and automation can combat skills shortage
Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic precipitated a sudden loss of human resources. These labour shortages can dent a business's financial resources by strangling output and restricting income.
They also drive-up labour costs, with businesses forced to plug the skills gap with temporary employees or new permanent hires who can demand inflated salaries.
Global recruiting can be used to combat these skills shortages by employing people anywhere in the world using technology – such as Microsoft Teams – that allows them to engage and collaborate remotely.
Another method of solving the skills shortage is using automation. By automating processes and reducing the need for employees to perform repetitive manual tasks, intelligent technology can play a huge role in tackling labour shortages, allowing more time to be spent on strategic tasks.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning speed up data-driven business processes and decrease inefficiencies – and are available 24/7 across the entire supply chain.
This helps to deliver products and services on time and encourages compliance. For example, robot waiters are streamlining the delivery of manual tasks in restaurants – and reducing overheads in the process.
At the new Din Tai Fung restaurant in Selfridges, London, two such robots coolly glide about laden with dumplings, reducing the reliance on – and cost of – the traditional workforce.
