Chief Executive Officer of Axis Human Capital Limited, Dr. Esi Ansah, has called on business leaders to be ready to adapt during the pandemic times. She disclosed that most of the changes made in her company were due to suggestions from her team.
According to the HR consultant, leaders must also adapt to the changes in work patterns to ensure efficiency in the implementation of duties by employees.
She further urged business leaders to communicate with their subordinates as communication is relevant to productivity.
“Leaders have to set their minds up to be just, agile, flexible, ready to adapt as needed and not to say okay. So, the new norm is that we’re working virtually and that’s it. You need to look at the model. So, what I see is leadership- what is critical is being flexible and most importantly is communication.
“A lot of things we have done in the company come from the team. So be flexible as a leader and have a lot of open conversations with the team so that you co-create this new normal. And there’s still value in meeting up from time to time because we’re human beings, we thrive on connections. We may not be able to hold hands or shake hands or do other things but at least physical presence goes a long way to build that sense of belongingness and connectedness in an organization”.
Esi Ansah
Technology driving change in pandemic
On his part, tech expert, Kingsley Bennet revealed that, technology companies have profited enormously following the spread of the virus.
He stated that, businesses have been remarkable as people are getting the relevance of having to obtain technological tools.
“The uptake has been phenomenal for tech companies that are within this space. It’s more like business as usual and we’re growing significantly; so yes, we’re becoming very much conscious of the fact that it is not going to be the same so, we better invest in the right tools and right solutions to ensure that businesses continue to grow and thrive”.
That notwithstanding, he was hopeful that as the sector receives more investments, it will grow further.
“We have to invest in our human resources to ensure that they are up to the task and they are also prepared as we go. There are clients that we chased for a couple of years, now all of a sudden, they’re chasing us. So yes, the space is going to grow, it’s going to widen”.
Kingsley Bennet
Covid-19 threatens survival of women business
Meanwhile, Daniel Antwi, Executive Director at Africa Skills Hub has revealed that, Covid-19 has threatened the survival of many women businesses. That notwithstanding, he maintains there is still much hope in building back better.
Mr. Antwi touched on the challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic through an innovative youth-centred and gender-responsive economic empowerment approach.
“There is recovery ahead, and whilst Covid may have disrupted so many things, it has however also provided enormous alternative opportunities to diversify and do gender-responsive programming in a new way”.
