We were fortunate to have Anwen Robinson, Operating Officer UK at TechnologyOne, speak to the Guild of Guardians and guests about her journey, challenges, and experiences in business and how she has successfully navigated the pandemic crisis.

This article will highlight the important lessons learned and the business trends that will be crucial for companies to survive and then thrive in today’s challenging situation.

Vanessa Moon, Current Master of the Guild for Guardians, has known Anwen for nearly twenty years and first met when Anwen was with Unit4 Business Software, based in Bristol. Over 18 years with Unit4, Anwen helped grow the Company from 26 employees with a £2.5m turnover up to £100m and 700+ employees.  

During this time she moved from Sales & Marketing Director to Managing Director, building a Board that drove growth. The team here at Moon Executive Search were part of that growth journey helping to recruit critical Board hires at the time.

Anwen joined TechnologyOne two years ago. Formed in 1987, headquartered in Australia and continually profitable since 1992 with a current Profit Before Tax of $76.3 million, the Company specialise in developing & implementing business software for key sectors such as government, higher education & financial services amongst others. In ANZ, TechnologyOne has achieved over 70% market share in key sectors, and now see the UK as key to delivering on future strategic growth plans.

Having developed a five-year strategy that addressed immediate business challenges and laid the foundation for future growth.

Anwen explained the key actions she had taken:

• Understand external market challenges & requirements

• Understand internal challenges & inhibitors to success

• Develop a clear strategy to drive success

• Set an aspirational vision

• Set aligned business goals

• Set clear personnel objectives

• Recruit & develop a strong management team with complimentary skills

• Understand & nurture a strong business culture

• Communicate, communicate, communicate

Changing Landscape of Business

Anwen also spoke about the importance of ensuring business strategies were resilient and  could be flexed to allow for unforeseen challenges such as those experienced in the past 24 months i.e. BREXIT, a General Election and a global pandemic!  

By way of example, a key business focus for TechnologyOne in the UK is Local Government.

To date, the impact of COVID 19 has left all Councils with a massive amount of lost income and hugely increased costs:

• £3.2B estimated income lost (March to May)

• Councils could need + £6 billion this financial year to cover lost income & extra cost.

• All need to deliver far more service with far less money!

So in this challenging market, how can TechnologyOne continue to achieve their strategic business aims, increase their market share and future-proof their standing?

Opportunity:

• COVID 19 has acted as a catalyst for much needed business change across the Sector.

• Councils need immediate and innovative ways to secure business continuity and future proof service delivery without further negatively impacting budgets

• Now is the time for bold decisions, innovative solutions and much needed business transformation.

• Remote working demands secure access to business systems without technical challenges – Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery facilitates this and TechnologyOne are in a prime position to help.

Recognising the need to provide immediate Customer support

TechnologyOne’s ‘Together as One’ campaign provided:

• Free SaaS for 1 year

• Free business relevant information dashboards

• Free training & webinars

• Provide ‘thought leadership’ channels for Customers to discuss challenges, to collaborate & highlight business benefits achieved.

This resulted in:

• More focused engagements

• Better customer interactions

• Positive Customer endorsements

• Strong pipeline growth

Remote Working Lessons

When COVID 19 accelerated, TechnologyOne also invoked their own UK business continuity plans and have been working fully remotely since early March. A number of key lessons have been learnt through this experience.

Remote delivery requires better (internal and external PICC):

• Preparation

• Information

• Collaboration

• Communication

•       Positives from remote working:

• Greater efficiencies realised (time and cost)

• Better employee work/life balance reported

•       Negatives from remote working:

• Some employees miss adhoc work collaboration & interactions

• Most employees miss social interactions

• Some have difficulties with work / life separation

Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives by quite some way.

Global Business Challenges

Anwen also outlined the wider global challenges organisations have to face when developing business strategies.  These were summarised under 5 general headings:

1.       Intergenerational Shifts

Understanding the changing behaviours and priorities of customers. What type of business solutions and support will be needed in the future?

• Generation Z accounts for 32% of global population and 97% have a smart phone.

• By 2022, there will be 30M job roles which will need to be adapted to new divisions of labour between humans, machines & Artificial Intelligence.

• By 2030, there will be a talent deficit of 85.2M workers.

• By 2050, 1 in 6 will be over 65.

2.       Accelerated Urbanisation

Two thirds of populations are expected to live in metropolitan areas and consequently will require sustainable resources to maintain the demands of busy, urban populations.

• 2025 Smart Cities spending could grow to £50 trillion

• By 2050 60% world’s population will live in cities

• 2050 80% global GDP will be generated by cities

• Sharing economy – Co-working spaces >1000% in 10 years – share more own less

3.       Ubiquitous Tech

• The reliance on technology and the influence it has on society is increasing exponentially. It will continue to shape business models, jobs, learning and lifestyle across the world. Any organisation ignoring this will be left behind.

• Adoption of automation & AI tech will transform workspaces over next 15 years

• By 2030, AI will drive £26 Trillion of additional global economic activity and up to 30% of all work will be automated

4.       Individuals Rising

Improvements in connectivity, health and technology have empowered the individual and single person households are on the rise.

• Of the World’s 2B households – 15% or 300M are single person

5. Visibility in the Digital Age

Ethical companies and vocal groups are pushing governments and organisations to act in a trustworthy and virtuous manner.

• Transparency, brand integrity & trust are becoming paramount

• Ethical consumerisation is growing & customers are seeking a more enlightened purpose beyond Companies simply making money

Survive and Thrive: The Six R’s

Below are the six key lessons from Anwen on how businesses and institutions can survive and thrive in these testing times:

We are so very grateful to Anwen for sharing her journey and insights and all of our fellow Guardians and guests for attending the webinar. We wish Anwen and TechnologyOne all the best for the future.

If your organisation requires exceptional leaders to transform and grow, email Moon Executive Search today for more information. For an example of how we approach building a board for a client, visit our Board Build case study to find out more.