Ajay Soni, Chief Learning and Leadership Development Officer at Aditya Birla Group opted to focus on the recovery process of this crisis because a lot has been spoken about responding to the crisis. 

In his virtual address, the industry leader shared his thoughts on key themes that will lead the road to recovery. 

Global Megatrends

He shared that Legal, Political, Economic, Social, Technological, and Environmental are the six megatrends across the world that are leading the road to recovery.  

On the political side, nationalism is on the rise across countries and protectionism is being adopted by the political leadership. China as a country is being viewed as a threat and public-private partnership models are witnessing an exponential rise. 

On the economic front, the large corporates are in K shape recovery although the fiscal deficits are on the rise. According to Soni, There is a need for disruptive business models and investment in healthcare has to increase more than before. 

Environment, health, and safety are becoming social concerns. Social trends are impacting the workforce big time. Ageing society, entry of the young workforce, and the rise of the gig economy are the major trends. 

Among the legal trends he mentioned that high implications for breach of data, privacy are the key impact. 

Environmental trends are the must-watch for the road to recovery. The investors are placing a premium on environmentally conscious customers and demand for energy-efficient solutions is upon rising. 

In the end, Focus on IoT & industry 4.0 is the main technological theme because it will lead to reduce cost and increase efficiency. 

What does it mean for organizations?

“Organizations need to be more purposeful. There is a huge amount of focus that should be there on the stakeholders, customers, and employees. Transformation is the buzz word and every business needs to transform itself and gets nearer and nearer to the customer. Building new capabilities need to come in place and each one of us needs to enhance our capabilities. 

Learnings

In a high completion industry, you are sure to succumb to failure, if you don’t differentiate yourself from the rest. The second most important thing is to think in terms of a platform and not a product. And, last don’t focus solely on the short term gains, look at the long term. Companies should re-create the purpose of their organization and make long term plans that will sustain even in times of crisis. 

“As a leader one of the most important actions required at this time of crisis is to reimagine the future purpose and inspire your colleagues with action”, said, Ajay Soni. 

For the current leaders, he emphasized on integrative thinking, courage, agility, trust, and empathy. 

The role of employees and HR

In order to get things back on track, not only the organization but employees also need to play a vital role. The industry veteran shared that employees need to do more, do better, and do things differently. 

On the other hand, HR professional needs to become tech-savvy, focus more on employee experience, and need to do what matters the most. 

In the end, Soni feels that the only mantra that will work on the road to recovery is ‘Reinvent’.