A recent research conducted by Kaspersky, regarding the challenges that small and medium-sized businesses faced from the start of the pandemic, reveals that the retention of working positions was the most essential priority for almost half of the businesses globally (43%). However, the most compelling challenge was the introduction of new technologies to ensure the smooth operation of the businesses under the new circumstances (53%).
According to relevant studies, business performance is affected directly from employees’ satisfaction.During the pandemic, job satisfaction and employees’ loyalty became more important than ever, especially for small businesses that were more seriously affected. A strong team has bigger possibilities to be more resilient in the crisis and handle better a lockdown, or “infection” dangers, as well as insecurity or uncertainty about the future.
As a result, retaining the team became a priority for the companies, although many of them faced budget cutbacks (38%), salary or working hours reductions (35%) or temporarily closed offices or branches (34%).Today as well, 42% of the organizations are planning to raise staff costs, such as salaries and provisions the following year. Salary raise to pre-Covid or even on new levels will help businesses retain the best talents, avoiding the necessity for new hires.
The retention of the working positions and employees’ satisfaction, among others, depended on how the employers adjusted to the new and extreme working conditions. Therefore, top priority for most businesses (53%) was the provision of new technologies, equipment, as well as communication and cooperation services for the transition of businesses to remote operation, allowing employees to work from distance or with the hybrid model.
“In order to retain working positions and preserve businesses’ sustainability, the reconstruction of working procedures was the only way for owners and business executives.Luckily, nowadays there are a lot of easy-to-use services available, even for free, so that can be achieved even if companies do not have a special IT administrator or additional budget.However, it is important to ensure that digital tools are used safely and that employees are trained on security issues-not only for the facilitation of their work, but also for the protection of the company from cyberattacks.”, stated Andrey Dankevich, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Kaspersky.