How technology can empower a more sustainable business model

Even the largest, most lucrative businesses struggle to stay afloat in today’s extremely competitive business market. Companies must transform themselves into sustainable businesses capable of adjusting to changing priorities, markets, and customer demand in order to boost their prospects of long-term success.

Moreover, the effects of business on the environment are a growing concern for organisations, especially as Millennials and Generation Z are more sustainability orientated than previous generations and are placing increasing pressure on companies to care about the planet, global warming and other environmental concerns. They want to work for and do business with green companies.

There are three key elements at play:

1. The organisation’s environmental impact or footprint

It is critical to focus on lowering environmental effects through reducing energy usage, emissions, and introducing “smarter” workplace practices.

The short-term reductions in environmental pressures as a result of the pandemic have been significant, but businesses must, however, ensure that their specific business model is viable in the long term. They require a strategy that will allow them to maintain resources within the company over time.

2. The need for a sustainable business model

Building a sustainable business model in today’s age of automation will almost surely require digital transformation. The use of machine learning and AI-powered systems to diagnose problems ahead of time, allowing for speedy intervention and resolution, is one example of how technology can help businesses to become more sustainable.

They could also apply a combination of historical data, data analytics, and key algorithms to quickly detect anomalies and notify the appropriate people, allowing businesses to cut costs by addressing and resolving any inefficiencies in the process, as well as stay compliant by quickly identifying and correcting any violations.

These examples demonstrate the long-term value that digitally-driven innovations may provide to enterprises. However, when businesses adopt digital technology, they must have a backup plan in place to keep functioning in the event that systems and networks are disrupted, or a security breach occurs.

Previously, business continuity discussions were solely focused on the mid-size and enterprise market, but this has now expanded to encompass the SMB sector, as well as employees working from home in businesses of all kinds.

This move to remote work has been accompanied by a rapid digital transformation of business practices. As individuals and organisations rushed to get work done in the early days of the epidemic, cloud tools — such as Microsoft 365, storage, and collaboration – proliferated. As time passed, we arrived at a new digitalised world, frequently without reassessing the security and long-term viability of our short-term remedies. Because of the development of cloud tools, it’s critical to protect data no matter where it resides. Having a sound backup plan is an important component of that protection.

3. A sustainable workforce

Leaders must create an environment that encourages employees to be empowered, productive, and resilient in order to create a more sustainable workforce.

Technology can be useful in determining how positive and long-lasting a company culture is. Businesses require workforce insights that transcend levels, departments, and entities, and it’s critical to combine talent data with corporate data. The solution is to invest in systems that can harmonise data from many sources and provide critical insight into employee problems or challenges. This is the type of reporting that promotes long-term sustainability. Focusing more on environmental impacts can also help not only to attract and retain staff but customers too.

It’s an approach that will only work if everyone in the company is committed and willing to adapt. To create and maintain a sustainable work culture, there must be support from leadership, which may require cultural and operational change.