The recent edition of the study shows that Women who hold positions within Senior Management do not consider that the restriction on mobility has been an obstacle to strengthening ties with their work teams and maintain closeness despite the distance. In fact, they claim to have found forms of coexistence and dynamics, such as new work modalities, which have benefited the culture of their entities.
In this way, the directors consider that the three main challenges in the business environment are to ensure the confidence of investors to support economic growth (64%); guarantee the liquidity and financing of companies (56%); and adapt the workforce to strengthen the economic recovery (53%).
The The ability to reinvent itself might translate into a strength to innovate and find alternative sources of income, savings or improvements in processes that guarantee liquidity, in addition to keeping the team committed to participate in the survival and recovery of the business.
The foregoing might be reflected, as a consequence, in the rapid adaptation capacity of your work team and, at the same time, re-learning with a on the job trainingwhich in the end translates into the necessary resilience in times of crisis and a positive impact for their organizations.
It is likely that the support that the leaders receive from their collaborators is reflected in the optimism they anticipate for investment plans: 53% anticipate returning in 2022 and 2023 to the plans they had at the beginning of the pandemic (vs. 42% of the overall sample).
business strategy
Although the survey participants anticipate certain restrictions on mobility and celebrate the adaptability of their teams, their perspective regarding the work scheme in 2022 indicates thate A higher proportion (42%) considers that their collaborators will be operating from the organization’s facilities, although 26% will choose to continue working remotely.
However, despite the fact that most consider adapting the organizational culture to constant disruption (88%) and adjusting the infrastructure (space, furniture and IT to the prevailing reality) as an opportunity (76%), caution is perceived , since 50% assure that their real estate strategies will remain unchanged.
In the study published by KPMG in Mexico, “The future of HR. Lessons from the pioneers”, it is observed that 10% of the members of Senior Management might be considered pioneers, as they are innovating and setting trends.
In that sense, the leaders are also pioneers. Currently, 10% are implementing flexible leasing schemes and 14% are taking advantage of, will take advantage of or have taken advantage of coworking spaces to optimize costs and provide flexibility and comfort to their employees, by reducing travel times to attend the company’s facilities. Also noteworthy is 26% who acknowledge having reduced their real estate footprint or rented spaceas a result of the implementation of telework or the combination of face-to-face and distance work.
They also recognize other actions that make their organizations more efficient, allowing them to better serve customer needs:
- Incorporate diverse generations into the workforce (82%)
- Maximize benefits for staff (78%)
- Modify the organizational structure (78%)
These practices are also reflected in financing: 54% of directors have allocated resources to digitization through new technological solutions. What’s more, 38% foresee an expansion of operations to Colombia, the United States and Guatemala, in the international arenaand to Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Jalisco and Querétaro, at the national level.
Innovation and transformation
The study finds 13% of women in Senior Management positions who consider that their innovation strategy is mature with a focus on continuous improvement, compared to 37% who consider it still initial and mostly reactive in the face of market disruption; a smaller group reports that innovation has been structured and that they have defined and formalized processes, or that it is exercised in a controlled manner and is characterized by coordinated collaboration between multiple areas (20% each option).
However, the majority (67%) recognize the need to have the support of the Board of Directors, the CEO and other managers to achieve a successful digital transformationcoupled with promoting a business culture of continuous improvement (50%), as well as having the human capital with the necessary skills and training to carry out the transformation (45%).
On the other hand, business leaders in our country reveal that they will be more disruptive than their colleagues (although all of them are seeking to ensure the permanence of the business), since they will focus primarily on transformational innovation, allocating investment to the creation of new businesses to serve markets and customers that they previously did not serve, while they will seek to focus on incremental innovation with improvements to the existing product or service portfolio.
Risk management and regulatory compliance
Regarding risk management, women in charge of leading organizations in Mexico admit to having reinforced their strategy for 2022 through the involvement of Senior Management (40%), seeking to contain, mainly, three threats that they have identified as critical and that might seriously impact the business:
- Have the necessary talent
- lack of liquidity
- cyber attacks
However, their perspective denotes trust, diligence and pragmatism, since 40% confirm that these risks are already being managed and indicate that, if they materialize, their impact would be reflected only in the short term.
Faced with this scenario, They have two main objectives: to provide certainty to interested parties or stakeholders and to protect the reputation of their companies. This is reflected in the importance that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have gained on their agendas.
Some strategies that seek to address ESG issues include, of course, the adoption of new ways of working that contribute to the reduction of the carbon footprint and the emission of polluting gases, or the policies of inclusion, equity and diversity that promote attraction and encourage the inclusion of talent that requires some support to adapt to the new work environment, either due to technological barriers or significant changes in family dynamics.
In summary, in the context that has produced COVID-19 there are still great unknowns, but this has not stopped women in Senior Management positions. Their trust in innovation has allowed them to take advantage of times of change and use them as a catalyst that drives them to build a reality even better than the one we knew.
Business leaders in Mexico will make changes in their business strategies, as well as in the dynamics with their teams to adopt and promote new ways of working. This seeks to meet the expectations of talent, be inclusive and reduce the erosion of the environment. On the other hand, they are expected to make the necessary investments to generate opportunities and update business models by digitizing processes, diligently identifying and managing risks to protect the reputation and value of the companies they lead.
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