The country Director of Oracle Ghana Franklin Asare, has urged the government to tap into the digital era to stay productive and cut down on cost of operation.
Speaking at the 28th MTN Business World Executive Breakfast Meeting,- a Facebook Broadcast edition, he said “We can introduce AI in government and improve digital processes, digital workflows, approval and payroll processing to cut down cost of operation in the government sector
The online event held under the theme, “The Future of Work is Here- Preparing the Workplace for Tomorrow’s Needs” featured four panellists and centred on how businesses and companies can set strategies and coping mechanisms to optimize outcomes, attract best talents and retain them in the present and future.
It also offered top business leaders insights and strategies to enable businesses to thrive during and post the Covid-19 pandemic
Touching on how individuals could get employed in these times and how people could keep their jobs, Franklin Asare, further urged all to learn how to employ digital tools available and to get trained on how to use them effectively in order to become assets to forward-thinking organisations.
He concluded that government needs to have a clear Covid-19 strategy tabled to motivate government workers,” in adopting new technological ways of working.
On his part the Chief Executive Officer (CEO,) of Fidelity Bank, Julian Opuni said Covid-19 presents an opportunity for businesses to leverage on and has also brought about changed behaviours that will completely alter how businesses operate.
He said the remote way of working is here to stay (Virtual meetings, teleconferencing) which also means all businesses must establish new ways of measuring productivity and activity of staff because when employees are scattered over various locations, new tools are required to measure productivity.
“When you have staff working from home, do you still use your traditional way of measuring productivity? Now it’s no longer about hours worked but rather about output,” he said, adding that cyber security issues have become high priority as businesses migrate a lot of activities and transactions to digital platforms.
For Estelle Akofio- Sowah, West Africa Regional Manager for C Squared, although the world of work has been changing for years, Covid-19 has brought it into reality, which calls for changes in how productivity is determined.
“Transparency of work is critical in these times. Companies have to hatch new ways of attaining transparency to be able to see what people (staff) are working on for records and accountability sake,” she noted.
Companies opting for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation options have sparked job losses fear among many but according to Ehi Binitie, the CEO of Clear Spaces, AI is not going to cause job losses but rather enhance productivity.
“Automation reduces the amount of skills required to do work, it enhances the abilities of people to do what are considered complex tasks making it easier and the value created by automation must be greater than the cost of implementing it.”
Backing his claim, Binitie further adds that, “the most productive time in modern history has been between 1998 and now which has seen the rise of internet usage and proliferation of technology. So what automation could do for us in these times is to create new industries, opportunities, create new drivers for value in businesses and opportunities for less skilled workers.”
All four panellists unanimously agreed that every crisis comes with opportunities for change and businesses best prepared to react are the ones that will be able to leverage on the opportunities it presents.
Business World Ghana