In 2020, the phrase ‘working from home’ took on a whole new meaning as a result of many people being forced to change up their work routines due to office closures. As businesses and employees started working from home, many had to adapt to new ways of working to keep business moving on as usual.
Over the past year, online industries like iGaming have taken action and decided to shift more focus onto remote working models, digital technology, and virtual events. While it is still unsure when employees can return to their usual place of work permanently, many have strived to adapt their home or ways of working to help keep businesses running efficiently.
Adapting to new ways of recruiting
Working from home routines have led to a changing attitude towards not just existing employees but also recruitment. As it might be difficult to know what the future might hold, head of Europe for Pentasia Cara Kerr highlights what’s next for iGaming employers in her piece for iGaming Business.
Kerr highlights that factors such as the knowledge that businesses must go on and that high-skilled candidates are available in the talent market, play an important part in bringing solid recruitment plans for businesses. While the recruitment process might not be quite the same as it used to be for a while to come, the iGaming sector has the creativity and the resilience to strive. To grow their business, HR and business leaders should focus on virtual recruitment and explore the advantages of virtual interviews and remote positions.
Secure home working: Having peace of mind while at home
Whether a company is a slot games developer, an iGaming marketing agency, or an operator that provides esports betting or online casino games, many have had to adapt over the past year when working remotely. As well as ensuring team collaboration is strong and customer services are up to high standards, businesses need to also focus on working from home securely.
Highlighted in this article, working remotely requires businesses to also maintain high cybersecurity standards too. Working at home, personal computers might be insecure, have expired antivirus, and poor security software, that can leave organisation vulnerable. With many employees carrying out work activities outside of an organisation, cyber security is an important aspect to consider for remote working and a new challenge for IT and online security professionals.
Taking events & communication virtual
As many physical events could not take place in 2020, a lot of organisations had to either postpone or develop alternative ways for their events and meetings to go ahead. With many more people using video conferencing for work and leisure, companies like Zoom experienced an unprecedented growth in 2020. The abrupt move to remote working transformed the platform overnight and Zoom is expected to continue its growth in 2021. The platform provides company personnel with a way to contact clients and colleagues easily and effortlessly from the comfort of their own home offices.
In December, the iGaming events that were not postponed took things into the virtual space too. The online SBC Awards had around 800 virtual guests that attended and celebrated innovation and expertise in the sports gaming and betting industries. Taking the event online meant that the event could still go ahead during difficult times and could provide networking opportunities for people who are in their own homes.
With still some uncertainty about the year ahead, other events such as ICE London & iGB Affiliate London have been postponed until 2022. Exhibitors have welcomed Clarion Gaming’s decision of putting people’s safety first and look forward to the plan ahead for the future.
Utilising technology for for customer service
Over the past year, a lot of company processes have had to adapt. Many industries have had meetings and work tasks that have had to be adapted for virtual and remote working. One of the most important factors that customers value while they are at home is good customer service. Companies can embrace digital technology like live chat support that can help deliver fast results for their customers.
Help Scout have an article that perfectly highlights some of the big benefits of live chat for customer service teams that are useful for many different industries and companies. They illustrate how one of the top reasons that companies should use live chat for their business is that customers often want their questions answered immediately. Ratings for live chat also tend to be higher than other types of customer support because customers can receive immediate help.
Live chat is just one effective tool that can be a faster and more efficient way for customers to get help or receive answers. Other benefits of using live chat for a business is that it helps build a rapport with customers, increases customer engagement, and lets companies provide 24/7 support.
