Digital Resilience Checklist: 5 Essential Things to be Ready for ALL Possibilities in 2022

2020 was the year that the pandemic hit — and we all know how that went. Then, 2021 was about beginning the journey of digital transformation, along with all obstacles that came along with it. As we begin 2022, the landscape appears to be promising with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, although there remains the threat of the Omicron variant, as well as potential future challenges. 

As such, it’s incredibly important to remain digitally resilient throughout 2022. This concept is fairly new, but digitalising the end-to-end of your business (and your HR) is an absolute must for 2022 (and beyond) for companies of all sizes in Malaysia. Ultimately, being ready for any obstacles that may, or may not arise in the year is key to ensuring that your business survives, and thrives throughout the year — no matter what. 

Here are 5 things that your company needs to implement to be truly ready for 2022. 

1. Fully digitalised human resources

Human resources is, obviously, one of the most important aspects of any (successful) business, regardless of industry, size, or geographic location. But the pandemic has accentuated the crucial role that HR professionals play — with drastic changes to employee retention, hiring patterns, and work arrangements over the past two years. 

To best equip your HR department for the future, the key word here is digitalisation. The traditional take on HR — and things like employment contracts, or even code of conduct handbooks — have been based on tedious, paper-based documentation. This bogs down HR personnel, forcing them to focus on manual and repetitive tasks, ultimately taking them away from focusing on the things that are more critical to the success of the company. 

With that in mind, look no further than Digi’s super app, altHR. Initially created for use for the telecommunications giant’s 1,500+ employees, the all-in-one digital HR system now caters to businesses of all sizes in Malaysia, encompassing key HR features such as Leaves and Expenses.

2. Prioritise Privacy & Security

No, we aren’t talking about physical security here (although that is certainly as important). With the world going digital out of necessity, it’s also important to place an emphasis on privacy and security when it comes to sensitive data. This can include customer information, employee data, or even confidential company documents — all of which need to be protected. 

The first step here is clearly to invest in the right digital infrastructure. For example, altHR comes with a proven track record of users from Digi, while the team behind the system always exercises the best system security measures to protect their users. 

“We understand how business and employee data integrity is paramount to our users. Which is why we spend a great deal of effort to harden our security measures when protecting our platform.”

Meanwhile, it’s also important to note that the pandemic has also seen a huge uptick in malicious cyber campaigns, as reported by the BBC earlier. Besides investing in the right systems, it’s also important to ensure that your people are prepared for the inevitable onslaught of scam emails, messages, and phishing campaigns — particularly if your business is prominent in the public eye. ‍

3. Upskill employees to stay relevant

You may have heard of the common misconception that machines are set to take over jobs, with some studies even reporting that over 20 million jobs will be replaced by robots by 2030. This doesn’t mean that human beings won’t have a part to play, of course — quite the opposite. 

The 5th Industrial Revolution (5IR) isn’t the dramatic, theatrical rise of the machines stuff that you might see in the movies. Instead, 5IR is about the coexistence, and collaboration between machines and people, although the crucial bit here is that workers must upskill in order to succeed (and survive) in the future. 

As employers and HR professionals, it’s important to take this into account when planning for the wellbeing and future of your employees. After all, upskilling your employees is an essential part of investing in your people — and your business will reap the benefits tenfold in return. Remember: employees are your most valuable assets.

4. Modernise your supply chain(s)

As you might have already noticed, the pandemic has led to unprecedented supply chain disruptions over the past two years or so, with global consulting firm Accenture finding that 94 percent of Fortune 1000 companies had their supply chains disrupted, while 75 percent of companies saw a “negative or strongly negative impact” on their business.

Consequently, a truly digitally resilient company must modernise its supply chains in order to be prepared for 2022, and the future beyond. Conduct an audit of your business, and uncover any potential inefficiencies and vulnerabilities in preparation of future disruptions. 

You’re bound to find some gaps here and there, so it’s essential that you get ahead of the curve — and use digital-first approaches such as automated systems and data-driven insights to modernise your supply chains.  

5. Ensure the health and well-being of your employees when return to the workplace

As we’ve mentioned above, the (huge) leaps in technology advancements made in recent years shouldn’t detract from the fact that your people are the most valuable assets in your company. With employees in Malaysia now returning to the physical workplace in droves, it’s important to continue to ensure the health and well-being of your staff with the implementation of strict SOPs and safety measures. 

You can read about that in detail here, but the simplest way to get this done is to use altHR — which has various modules that were specifically designed to facilitate the safe return to the workplace for employees. You have the Check-Ins module for daily updates on health, location, and clocking in, the Rostering module for team a/b setups, and even the Spaces module to ensure that social distancing is always maintained, and common spaces in the office are never double-booked.

Plus, there is a huge variety of digital workplace modules to aide in the day-to-day running of your digitally resilient workplace. The Highlights module allows you to blast out instant, accurate announcements to your employees at a moment’s notice — because we understand that emails can be a slightly delayed form of communication, these days.