Joanna Riley, CEO & Co-Founder, Censia
Compared to the long, drawn-out weeks and months of 2020, the first half of 2021 has flown by. 2020 was a tough year for everyone. Leaders faced unprecedented talent challenges and the critical need to adapt quickly. As I reflect on what our team at Censia accomplished over the past 12+ months, I’m extremely proud of the resilience, resourcefulness, and determination they showed to get us to where we are today.
People often look to executives in tough times to be the source of solutions and new ideas. But, the truth is no one has all the answers and that great ideas come from everywhere. One of the best decisions we made in 2020 was crowdsourcing ideas for problem solving. We sought out advice across all company levels and opened more doors for employees to provide their ideas and give feedback. This led to new and innovative ideas on adapting to what we saw in the market and evolved how we communicated with our customers and prospects.
We also went outside of the organization and built a panel of experts from other sectors. Some of our biggest growth ideas came from these conversations. During those critical months in 2020, many companies had to freeze hiring and consolidate their talent budgets. Discussions with the industry experts resulted in our team taking time to focus on product innovations that would help organizations do more with fewer people and maximize their team productivity. The market may have been slowing, but our innovation wasn’t.
As 2021 progresses and the world emerges from the pandemic, companies face a new talent challenge: up to 52% of the workforce will begin to seek new opportunities. Fortunately, the innovation that came from our collaborations in 2020 will help us tackle his next big challenge. Companies that embraced digital transformation, automation, and technology are more efficient and poised to do more with fewer people and prepared for the tidal wave of applications and employee attrition facing them in the coming months.
A year ago, everything in the world was uncertain and unpredictable. Still, in working together, many of us achieved tremendous growth during tough times, both personally and professionally. They say that change is the only constant. After 2020, I have complete faith in our ability to work together and to evolve to meet and overcome any obstacles we may encounter.
