Employers prioritising investment in technology – survey

Covid-19 pandemic lessons has has seen CEOs prioritise investment in technology more than staff, a new survey shows.

According to the 2021 East Africa CEO Outlook, 66 per cent of East Africa CEOs plan to invest in new technology while only 30 per cent are prioritising investment in their staff.

The KPMG survey notes that new ways of working adopted in the wake of the pandemic necessitated a reorientation not just of operations but also of the workforce.

Even so, 88 per cent of those polled believe their work headcount will rise over the next three years and 34 per cent will mainly focus on investing in their current staff.

The KPMG survey further notes that a few years ago, ‘digital disruption’ was a choice in a business strategy but today it is a reality for basic survival.

This new reality has presented a reality where business models that existed for years, can quickly become obsolete or redundant.

Surprisingly, even with the digital shift, the survey notes that emerging/ disruptive technology risk remains the number one risk for CEOs within East Africa.

Even so, investment in new technology continues to be a priority and the drive to embrace and embed a digital mindset in organisations continues to accelerate across the landscape.

Further, 42 per cent of the regions CEOs indicated they are planning to have most of their employees working remotely for two or more days per week.

This was attributed to most employers wanting to keep the future of work flexible.

To deal with the shift to digital work, the survey recommended training of managers on how to manage hybrid teams in a manner that keeps people productive yet connected.

KPMG also recommended firms to continuously redesign work to focus more on outcomes rather than on process.

The tax advisory firm also recommended better support on work-life integration through flexibility around how and where work gets done.

“Companies should adapt leadership and managerial styles that focus more on coaching and supporting staff through the delivery process as opposed to top-down delegation only,” said Titilope Olajide, Associate Director People and Change, KPMG East Africa

According to the World Economic Forum(WEF), Future of Jobs 2020, 50 per cent of employees will require re-skilling by 2025, and this could take up to six months or less for 40 per cent of employees.

The WEF report noted that for the workforce to be increasingly relevant, there needs to be a shift in the learning and performance management processes to focus more on non-technical skills such as reliability, flexibility, adaptability.

Other areas of focus include problem-solving, ability to maintain calm under pressure, emotional awareness and resilience.

These emerged as skills essential for success in any role during the pandemic.

WEF recommended Chief Human Resource Officers to continue to figure out the most efficient way to embed faster agility within the organisations.