Making the Leap: How to Become a Future-Ready Organization

The future truly belongs to those who prepare for it today.

The pressure to change is not new to any of us. In fact, the onset of the global pandemic pushed the pace of change into overdrive.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, thriving in the age of disruption is never easy. Rapidly changing customer needs and shifting workforce expectations, not to mention, keeping up with new technologies on the block, can seem overwhelming for leaders who are bogged down by complicated matrix structures and silos. Organizational complacency can be a silent business killer. With zero time to lose, there is a dire need to pace up and organize for the future, in other words, transform into a future-ready company.

While many business leaders have been on a quest to move past the era of standardization, very few have been able to galvanize their efforts into practice, effectively. According to a study by Accenture, only a staggering 7% of ‘future-ready’ companies have managed to become twice as efficient and three times more profitable than their peers.

Source: Accenture

Reinventing for the future

To become future-ready, simply means to evolve and thrive, in any given situation.

If you ask me, being future-ready is a lot more than just being a ‘forward-looking organization’. An organization that has an agile and resilient culture at its very core can organically grow and evolve, even in the most challenging circumstances. It all comes down to your organization’s readiness to take on future disruptions.

In today’s fast-changing world, becoming resilient to uncertainty must be a top priority. The pandemic for that matter, was the greatest test of all — confirming that many businesses were not ready to take on the unknown.

For most of us in the financial services industry, the pandemic served as a massive opportunity for change.

Lee Wetherington, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy at Jack Henry & Associates, stresses that financial institution needs to become future-ready in this tweet.

“Financial institutions [must] become future-ready by rebuilding from the inside out…and partnering with third-party providers that have built market-leading solutions that can be deployed quickly.”

From the inside out. It would be cool if a full-stack fintech led the way… https://t.co/Pip2QAe2wn — Lee Wetherington (@leewetherington) February 8, 2022

While there is little we can do to anticipate unexpected challenges, we can be better prepared for them. Rather than waiting for the crisis to knock at our doors, we can transform into a future-ready business and structure our organizations to be better at seizing opportunities and unlocking considerable value.

How can you level up as a future-ready company?

As per The Future Readiness Indicator report, by IMD — Tesla, Lululemon, MasterCard, and Google are considered to be the top companies when it comes to future readiness in the post-pandemic world.

How did they manage to climb up the ranks?

Rather than taking the route of incremental tweaks, these future-ready companies have gone all out with a wholesale reinvention of their business.

A future-ready business needs to be nimble to double down on digital transformation — for this, they need to be able to retool their operating models with ease and cultivate a work culture where employees are willing to innovate and morph into changing market conditions.

From transforming the business model to redefining the organizational culture — the transition to a future-ready organization must be an ongoing journey.

Based on my experience, I am sharing a few best practices to unleash the potential of your people and organization:

1. Drive in the purpose: If you’re edging forward to build an organization for the future, then ensure that this motive is backed by a definite purpose. Doing this will not only get everyone in the organization on the same page but also will get them to be motivated to achieve business outcomes and develop their potential.
2. Next up, set your goals right: Never shy away from thinking big. Encourage your team members to think bigger than they have in the past. Define your goals, set your standards high, and get your team to exceed expectations.
3. Master sustainable scaling: We don’t want to fall back into the familiar. From adopting change management and continuous learning practices to taking on agile training — help your workforce to accelerate their momentum and keep moving forward.
4. Leverage AI and Automation: The last decade has changed the way most organizations perceive digital transformation. Technologies like artificial intelligence and the power of automation have helped organizations reimagine their business strategies and achieve better business outcomes.

Is your company future-ready?

Findings from the Accenture report also stated that future-ready companies that are leveraging digital technologies and adopting agile ways of operating, could unlock $5.4 trillion in profitable growth.

Keynote speaker and internationally recognized thought leader, Dion Hinchcliffe sums up the foundations of a future-ready enterprise in this tweet.

5 foundations of a future-ready enterprise https://t.co/hUzmNncQ6J

– #CX front and center – Digital savvy workforce – Legacy processes rethought – Modernized #IT w/ open data – Cultural overhaul#digitaltransformation #cio #cdo @CIODive pic.twitter.com/cVPTPrDbP2 — Dion Hinchcliffe (@dhinchcliffe) April 28, 2021

If you’re looking to create a lasting legacy of transformation, I’d suggest that you start preparing for the challenges of tomorrow by transitioning into a future-ready organization today!

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