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Brexit ‘to widen tech gap between agile businesses and those that will struggle’

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

British business leaders do not believe their companies are fully up to speed with developing technologies – with only around half (53%) saying they are fully utilising their technology advantage to win business, run efficient systems and attract the best talent, according to research from ThoughtWorks.

With businesses concerned about how Brexit could have an impact on data protection, changing regulation and supply chain disruption, ThoughtWorks asked a nationally representative sample of 1,026 business owners how fully they used technology to achieve growth and competitive advantage. The findings suggested that many businesses were increasingly concerned that they were falling behind in terms of technological development.

Tech agility linked to post-Brexit growth outlook

For the 47% of businesses that admitted their use of technology was not that sophisticated, 41% said they were trying to improve their business’s technological capabilities but were still in some way behind the competition. Furthermore, 6% of respondents said that their lack of technological development was holding their business back from growing.

Significantly, the level of tech agility of UK businesses correlated directly with how they thought Brexit would impact their business in 2020. Those agile, tech-driven businesses were far more likely to see Brexit as an opportunity to grow – 47% predicting growth opportunities to move into new markets and 19% believing they would be able to grow market share in existing markets. In contrast, those businesses that said their tech maturity was holding them back were far more likely to say Brexit would force them to put growth plans on hold (16%) or to downsize – and to pull out of some key markets (10%). The research suggests Brexit could be a catalyst that widens the tech gap in Britain, between those agile enterprises that will grow in 2020 and those struggling with technology that will fall further behind.

12-month business outlook following Brexit – by state of business tech agility

Fully use tech advantage Tech capabilities hold us back
There will be growth opportunities to move into new markets 47% 13%
There will be growth opportunities in existing markets 19% 11%
Little change – we’ll stick to our plans, we won’t be affected by Brexit 19% 42%
Little change – putting growth plans on hold until the dust settles 7% 16%
There will be downsizing – we are preparing for a loss of business 6% 8%
There will be downsizing – we will pull out of some key markets 1% 10%

Bleak mid-Winter ahead for retail

With the demise of Mothercare, and Marks & Spencer reporting a fresh slump in clothing sales[2], ThoughtWorks’ research shows retail emerging as the sector where fewest business leaders believe they are fully using technology to win business, run efficient systems and attract the best people (35%). Linking tech agility to Brexit outlook again, retail was also the sector where most business leaders said that, in the 12-months following Brexit, they were preparing to downsize and for the prospect of losing business.

Percentage of businesses that said they are fully using their technology advantage by sector

Media & Tech 77%
Financial Services 59%
Health 54%
Manufacturing 47%
Construction 43%
Education 40%
Retail 35%

 While it is perhaps unsurprising that businesses in the media and tech sector were the most likely to say they fully utilised their technological advantage, even here more than a fifth (23%) of businesses admitted that they were behind the leaders in their market and could take steps to improve their agility.

Tech on the Tyne

The ThoughtWorks study also explored business opinion across the UK’s major cities. Whilst London and the South East have traditionally dominated the regions for tech investment – with London companies securing $4.8bn (£3.8bn) in 2018[3] – the new research shows that Newcastle is the city where the highest proportion of business leaders say their business makes full use of their technology assets in terms of winning business, improving systems and attracting the best people (77%). Indeed, London only just beats Birmingham into second place (66% Vs. 65%).

Tech gap in Scotland

While most cities in England and Wales (apart from Liverpool) saw at least half their businesses taking full advantage of their technology assets, businesses north of the border seemed to be lagging behind. Only 47% of businesses in Glasgow – and 42% in Edinburgh – said they were fully utilising their technology advantage. Whilst political considerations around Brexit have been a cause of acute concern in Scotland, the new research suggests tech agility is also playing a big role in shaping business outlook for the period after Brexit – with businesses in Glasgow and Edinburgh least likely of the 11 cities surveyed to predict opportunities to grow into new markets in 2020 (Glasgow 18%, Edinburgh 17%).

Percentage of businesses taking full advantage of their technology and percentage predicting growth opportunities in new markets for 2020 – by city

City % Fully using their technology advantage % Predicting growth opportunities in new markets during 2020
Newcastle 77% 34%
London 66% 40%
Birmingham 65% 40%
Manchester 59% 35%
Nottingham 59% 41%
Cardiff 58% 40%
Bristol 56% 36%
Leeds 51% 26%
Glasgow 47% 18%
Edinburgh 42% 17%
Liverpool 37% 30%

Luke Vinogradov, Digital Transformation Principal, ThoughtWorks, said: Surrounded by change and uncertainty, organisations are realising they may not be taking full advantage of technology. Some have yet to start, others have focussed narrowly on digital customer experience, because it’s very visible and actually it’s a great first step. However, modern digital businesses already at the top of their game know that the kind of capabilities that have driven their success don’t stop there.

Across the organisation, making tech work for you means making choices. New ways of working can align your whole business around customer value; data can help you to build engagement and advantage; platform thinking and a test-and-learn approach will maximise the impact of your investments; and a delivery mindset will help you cut through the complexity and get things done. All of these digital capabilities can help you keep up – the right balance will ensure you get ahead.

As a trusted partner for many leading organisations on their digital transformation journey, ThoughtWorks can help you make the right choices, not only addressing today’s challenges but giving you the capabilities you need for a confident future.”

Where have business manners gone?

FORUM INSIGHT: Where have good business manners gone?

1024 683 Stuart O'Brien

Manners maketh man.”  William of Wykeham, pictured, (1324 – 1404), Motto of Winchester College and New College, Oxford

Maybe it’s my age (61), or my upbringing (middle class Brit), but am I the only one to notice the abyss into which the use of good manners has plummeted in recent years? Nowadays it seems acceptable to:

– Transact entire business deals without speaking to anyone-just use email.

– Not answer your phone, not reply to messages.

– Not turn up to meetings, or arrive late.

– Conduct a conversation with two people at the same time-when one is on the phone.

– Use poor spelling and grammar.

– Dress without any consideration for the occasion, or with respect to others.

This (very) short list is indicative of a much wider malaise that increasingly  illustrates that people don’t care how their ill mannered and boorish behaviour affects others. Of course, technology has helped tremendously in allowing this rude and thoughtless behaviour to proliferate: The telephone, once a godsend that allowed people to communicate quickly and personally has now become almost defunct in business (and the most antisocial of instruments in our personal lives).

When I was first in business the telephone was an effective means of communication. So much more could be achieved when talking rather than writing. It was efficient, personal and productive. But that has now changed courtesy of the invention of the loathsome Voicemail.

It has bred a generation of people who hide behind a technology that allows them to avoid any personal contact. I refused to allow a Voicemail system in our office as it is a barrier between ourselves and our customers, who deserve better than to be met with a disembodied recording when they have taken the time and trouble to call us.

If Voicemail has made it easy to ignore any form of live interaction with people, Email has allowed it to become endemic and embedded in our business activities. Here is the ultimate tool designed to allow you to conduct business devoid of any live communication or conversation.

Add to this toxic mixture of rudeness, the rise of the call centre, and you now have the ultimate weapon of mass discourtesy. No longer will anyone running a company have to talk to their customers. As a final snub, ensure no individual’s contact details appear on your website, and you are cocooned against any contact with the outside world.

What a way to do business, what a way to treat your customers, what an attitude of ignorance and arrogance.

We have more ways than ever to communicate-unfortunately all of them increasingly impersonal and lacking the means to create any proper business relationship. So why do you need to care about what people think of you?

Politeness and consideration for others is like investing pennies and getting dollars back.” Thomas Sowell (1930 -)

But it gets worse. The days when a ‘man’s word was his bond’ is a thing of the past (unless you’re Marcus Lemonis from the TV series ‘The Profit’, where deals still seem to be done on the basis of one’s word and a handshake).

I speak from experience here. I used to run events for senior executives. Without exception some always failed to turn up, failed to tell us they won’t be attending. It seemed an alien concept to them that they have broken their word, been discourteous to us and the people they were due to meet. But hey, what’s it matter, why should they care, it suited them to change their plans and to hell if their thoughtless behaviour inconvenienced others.

From the top to the bottom it’s the same. It was a standing joke in our office (in the US) that if we had 10 candidates coming for interviews, probably only three would turn up. Then dressed so informally it looked as though they had just come from the beach. Haven’t they heard the expression ‘you only have one chance to make a good impression?’

The failing of modern day bad manners reaches its nadir on the subject of poor spelling and grammar. SMS has singlehandedly raised a generation of people who can conduct complete conversations without the use of a vowel. And despite the wonderful invention of Spellchecker, barely a day goes by where I don’t  see letters and promotional material littered with spelling and grammatical howlers.

The detritus of a lazy mind and careless attitude. Even technology cannot help these people it seems. Why is this bad manners? Because it shows you just don’t care, that you can’t be bothered to make an effort when communicating with someone. It also displays your ignorance. Where has all this lack of courtesy come from?  Aside from technology, another major cause is the sheer number of customers huge corporations now have. This makes it not only impossible, but unnecessary, to care how they are treated. How can AT&T with 121 million customers possibly hope to treat each one with any courtesy beyond the bland scripted comments from their call centre operatives? Indeed why should they care?

There’s another 100 million prospects out there being treated equally badly by their competitors. So every day thousands will be swapping from one crass corporate entity to another in the hope they’ll be better treated. They won’t.

Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.” Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983)

Television doesn’t help either. Unfortunately Kevin O’Leary on TV’s Shark Tank has become the latest TV star to display a boorish disregard for good manners. While at times his comments on the wannabe entrepreneurs’ business plans can be amusing, all too often it quickly plummets into a nasty and casual disregard for their feelings. It may make good television but it’s certainly not good manners.

If the likes of O’Leary (let alone ‘The Donald’, Simon Cowell, etc) can make discourtesy acceptable behaviour, what hope is there for the rest of us? What example is it setting to the millions watching their mindless, thoughtless comments?
Why has the World turned its back on good manners, courteous behaviour and politeness?  Is it just too much effort?

Good Manners cost nothing but can achieve so much, or as Clarence Thomas said: “Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot”.

And with the lack of education out there, many people need all the help they can get. Good manners may not be the sole reason you advance in life, but bad manners will ensure you will rarely reach your potential.

Forum Insight: Business-proof your company and personal social media…

800 450 Jack Wynn

Of course, garnering a substantial social media following is important to all industry professionals and companies as a whole; however, a select few are still not implementing the basics to optimising their social presence. More than likely, your profiles will be the first thing new users look at to find out more information, and often dictate how your business, and you as an individual, appear in search results. 

Here, we breakdown the essential elements to maximise the potential of your social accounts, and why this is important for generating new business and creating a lasting impression…

 

  1. clear job title: How many times have you searched for someone’s profile, only to find the individual considers themselves to be a sales manager, commercial development director, project coordinator, and all of the above? May sound simple, but you’ll be surprised by the number of job titles people list as their current employment; therefore, to make life easier for all parties involved, just stick to one! Short, concise descriptions of your role within a company instead of laying out extensive, essay-style paragraphs will also help users and clients to stay engaged.
     
  2. Keep updating your accounts: Posting daily, or even multiple times a day, is crucial to sustaining a loyal following as well as how others will perceive both your company and your role. Granted – it’s tough work keeping on top of an average of four social accounts, nevertheless, as multiple marketing industry reports suggest, consistent use of social media can boost a company’s site SEO and allows instant communication with your clients. To share out the workload, why not create a weekly schedule where every member of your marketing team is responsible for a particular day of the week. 
     
  3. Select a professional image: I’m sure you’ve all heard this before, but your choice of profile image for both a personal and business account greatly impacts a client’s perception of you; and, with my recent experience of following up with leads after a networking event, some are still choosing to ignore this basic component. Don’t just leave it as a generic grey box; and definitely don’t upload a picture of you and your friends on a night out along the Magaluf strip – for a business, a logo image will allow clients to instantly find you among the other accounts with a similar name. For personal, stick with a simple yet professional, smiley and welcoming headshot.  
     
  4. Include ALL direct contact information: Don’t forget to include information on how people can get in touch with you. Include your preferred contact methods, such as phone, Skype, email, website,  The inclusion of both a professional and personal blog presents itself as a way of existing and potential clients to learn more about you. 
  5. Recommendations: If a social platform provides the opportunity (particularly LinkedIn) it’s a good idea to take full advantage of their ‘Recommendations’ feature. Don’t feel embarrassed to ask a bunch of your loyal clients and even some colleagues to write short recommendation paragraphs for you – but expect to give a little guidance on what they need to write, and be open to doing the same for