Pretty much every business on the planet has in some way been impacted by the covid-19 pandemic. Whether it be the loss of staff to covid-19 isolation, being forced to close their business due to lockdowns, forcing their staff to work from home, being unable to get produce from their suppliers due to border closures and so on.
As the world continues to recover the covid-19 pandemic and now that overseas travel has become normal once again here are some important business trends to be aware of now that we are living in a post-covid world.
Employees Expect Their Employers to Offer Them Flexible Working Arrangements
At the height of the covid-19 pandemic most offices were forced to close their doors and thus giving bosses no choice but to force their employees to work from home. Zoom meetings replaced face to face meetings as employees worked from their living rooms instead of from their behind their office desks.
Now that the pandemic is arguably finished employees are wishing to continue to work from home or at least have the option of working a few days in the office and a few at home. Bosses have also seen the benefits of allowing their employees to work from home and are giving many of their employees the freedom to choose where the work from either in the office or remotely.
Having A Strong Social Media Presence and An Easy To Use Online Store Is More Important Than Ever Before
If you want your business to capture the attention of your intended target audience you need to have a savvy social media presence. You need to be building a presence on the social media platforms that your target audience spend the most time using so that way you are not wasting your time trying to engage with an audience that most likely don’t plan on using your products.
It is also important to make sure that you have an online store where customers can purchase your products. During the days of the covid-19 enforced lockdowns customers were unable to go shopping in physical stores and therefore had no choice but to make purchases online whilst that sat at home in lockdown. Now that the covid-19 pandemic is pretty much over and customers shops have re-opened it’s important to understand that many customers are still preferring to make purchases online as opposed to in a physical store. This customer preference is based on convenience as many people these days are time-poor and living an extremely busy life full of commitments that are hard to keep track of.
Taking Care of Your Employees Mental Health Is Super Important
As millions of people struggled with their mental health during the covid-19 pandemic it has consequently become important for employers to check in on their employees and make sure that they are doing okay.
Many businesses are nowadays offering mental health day breaks to their employees and also giving their employees other benefits such as paying for; massages or yoga and gym members.
Burn out was a common occurrence for employees during the covid-19 pandemic this means that it is important to make sure that you as an employer come across as being approachable so that your employees feel open to having a conversation with you about any concerns they have.
Businesses Are Expected to Keep Up to Date with New Forms of Technology
The covid-19 pandemic led to the speeding up of many different forms of technology becoming present in the workplace. QR codes have become the everyday norm in businesses as a result of restaurants and cafes offering contactless forms of payments with customers. Customers nowadays expect there to be an opportunity for them to order off an app before even arriving at a restaurant so that way they don’t have to wait in line to take their order.
Technology is there to make a customers experience less time consuming and more efficient. Furthermore, customers expect to be able to order menu items from apps such as; Uber Eats and MenuLog so that they can be deliver to their home and so that they consumed from the comfort of their own living room.