Over the past two years, COOs and other C-suite executives have witnessed a deluge of unprecedented and unexpected challenges: from being compelled to shut down their offices to responding to the sudden shift to remote working, from streamlining their supply chain to adapting to fluctuating customer expectations. Regardless of what changes they’ve had to make to their operating strategy, one theme that has been common across all of them has been AGILITY. And that theme will continue to be prevalent in 2022 as well.
Top COO Challenges
Driving and sustaining innovation and operational excellence has been on every COO’s mind. So is being agile, innovative, and collaborative, so boardroom strategies can be converted into actionable plans. But this is easier said than done. The pressure on today’s COO has expanded way beyond just optimizing resources or efficiencies. Forward-thinking COOs must keep an eye on existing and upcoming challenges, so they can encourage and implement change in their organizations while creating a culture that accelerates innovation. Let’s dive right into the top 5 challenges every COO is likely to face in 2022:
1. Overcoming the Gaps in Hybrid Work Strategies
As employees continue to work from their homes and offices in the coming year, COOs will need to drive substantial efforts in overcoming the operational, technological, and cultural hurdles as they reinforce their hybrid work strategies. Investing in digital workplace solutions, creating flexible work policies, strengthening enterprise connectivity, and sustaining virtual relationships will take up a substantial amount of COO time and effort. COOs will also have to continue to attract and retain top talent to stay competitive and build a workplace culture that is agile and adapts rapidly to change.
2. Enhancing Operational Efficiencies
New challenges to operational efficiencies continue to wreak havoc, introducing a new level of complexity in every business process. COOs looking to implement new procedures and protocols without witnessing a drop in efficiency will have to relook at their existing processes and streamline them in a way that allows them to become more agile in their delivery. Continuous efforts must be made towards business process analysis, intelligent resource allocation, so businesses can deliver quality services at reduced costs and with fewer resources. Widespread adoption of automation across the enterprise will also help COOs maintain high levels of operational efficiency and enable the business to work as a well-oiled machine – while still being profitable.
3. Curbing Growing Cybersecurity Threats
With organizations continuing to emerge victorious from the disruptions caused by the pandemic, the stress of cybersecurity will keep many COOs awake at night. Remote work, the presence of thousands of endpoints, and the reliance on unsecured networks and VPN connections can put enterprise security at great risk. With bad actors constantly looking to infect the network, steal sensitive data, and cripple businesses, COOs will have to minimize their threat landscape and invest in robust cybersecurity solutions that can thwart attacks in time. Improving the maturity level of cybersecurity, conducting frequent risk management audits, and constantly training the workforce are all in play in the coming year.
4. Handling Supply Chain Complications
As small and large businesses aspire to strengthen their supply chain, shut factories, and labor shortages has caused several upstream bottlenecks to erupt. As businesses continue to feel the brunt of these disruptions, in 2022, COOs will need to revamp their strategies to stick to production schedules, maintain costs, and sustain customer satisfaction. Since any slowdown in the supply of raw material and finished products can bring the entire business down, COOs will have to resort to new and improved ways to fortify their business against future disruptions while also alleviating current shortages.
5. Fueling Greater Customer Trust
With customer experience and satisfaction going for a toss these last two years, COOs have a major responsibility at hand: to offer customers tailored and personalized experiences along with new and improved ways of engaging and interacting with the brand. At the same time, as Environmental Social Governance and Sustainability take center stage, influencing both investing and purchasing decisions, COOs need to have the right policies in place to keep up with customer expectations around sustainability and innovate, collaborate, and succeed.
As COOs embark on a new year, developing strategic thinking frameworks to drive operational excellence and innovation is a top priority to seamlessly adapt to ongoing and upcoming disruptions. Although businesses continue to endure challenges such as gaps in hybrid work strategies, growing cybersecurity threats, poor operational efficiency, surging supply chain complications, and poor customer trust, exploring new strategies, investing in modern technological solutions, and enhancing communication and collaboration will make it possible for COOs to increase their market share while maintaining their margins.