Conducted among 500 employers worldwide, the survey examined the several business risks taken by employers during the Coronavirus pandemic, as well as their preparedness for more stumbling blocks COVID might throw their way in the future.
When asked which risks caused the greatest pressure, 45% of employers cited employee management and, more specifically, the maintaining of their wellbeing and satisfaction, while working from home. Around a quarter of survey respondents mentioned that the pandemic forced them to make essential changes in corporate culture and flexibility of work hours.
The second biggest pressure-inducing risk of employers found in the survey is the need to digitalize and transform the work environment, with 36% saying the acquisition of new technological equipment in order to manage from a distance, is one of the few positive effects the pandemic had.
The main concern of employers, according to the survey, is economic slowdown and recession. When asked whether they feel prepared for a recession, 41% responded negatively, a rise of 11% from the same question asked in a survey before the pandemic.
In cybersecurity, only 20% of business owners feel they are adequately secure against cyberattacks, a decline of 13% from before COVID-19.
According to Sharon Witkowski-Tabib, a senior partner at BDO Israel, the key takeaway from the survey is that companies and managers who are more communicative and flexible regarding the uncertainty of working in times of a pandemic, will handle the pressures that come along with it better than those who are not.Half of all respondents, who stated they're more flexible and risk taking, claimed their companies reorganized and quickly adjusted to working under the conditions of the COVID pandemic.
The conclusion Witkowski-Tabib came to is that corporate culture that adjusts itself to challenges will be able to handle the next crisis better.