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01. Part 1―How Small Business Weathered the Pandemic
Small businesses have weathered recent storms using many of the same technology upgrades as their larger counterparts. However, our study showed that technology alone is not enough to enable small businesses to thrive in the post-pandemic era. The workforce plays a crucial role.
Published: Jan 6, 2022
In September 2021, TriNet and The New York Times released a study in partnership with Morning Consult to understand how smaller businesses have weathered the pandemic. The survey of 500 executives from companies ranging in size from six to 600 employees serves as a key barometer into the future of small and medium size businesses.
“We set out to get the true pulse of all that is happening with small to medium-sized businesses along with those workplace trends,” said Michael Mendenhall, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer/Chief Communications Officer at TriNet. “We wanted to look at the current state of work, focusing on the impact of both the temporary and permanent changes.”
The findings highlighted the importance for small business leaders to focus on people as well as technology.
The Participants
Of the surveyed small business decision makers, 80% had at least 21 employees and 86% were “very involved” in business decisions, as opposed to somewhat involved. A majority of those surveyed were either in manufacturing, financial services, retail, tech or professional services industries.
Only 15% of small business decision makers said the pandemic’s impact on their workplace has been permanent. Those who were working from home at the time they were surveyed were more likely to say the impact has been permanent. Emotions about the future of their businesses were primarily positive: a majority of small business decision makers felt “positive” or “optimistic” about their businesses. That said, only 14% reported feeling “equipped.”
“A big topic of this survey was digital transformation. How has the last 18 months forced companies to look at how they’re using technology to keep their businesses going and thrive even in this environment,” said Davis Trice, Director, Client Services at Morning Consult. “We found that they feel really optimistic about the digital transformation’s impact on their companies. In fact, they feel positive, they feel optimistic, they feel prepared about the changes ahead.”
Davis Trice, Director, Client Services at Morning Consult.
Our Learnings
In the face of stay-at-home orders for non-essential workers around the world, small businesses turned to technology to connect remote employees to business systems. Consequently, three out of five small business leaders surveyed said the pandemic accelerated digital transformation at their companies.
Not everyone adjusted well to remote and hybrid work environments. The majority of respondents (62%) said the pandemic temporarily harmed their workplaces.
Of those surveyed, 58% reported “temporary, negative impact” on their workplace
Permanent, positive impact on my workplace was reported by 11% of respondents
Only 4% called the hit permanent
Top technology adoptions centered on people connecting with people as employees and customers acclimated to working remotely in greater numbers than ever before. Second and third on the list of technology upgrades were internal communications tech and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms respectively. “Technology investments have to be for and about people to be truly effective,” Mendenhall says.
Since technology is only as good as the people using it, business leaders acknowledged worries about their ability to address employee needs going forward.
Key Take-Aways:
As the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and adjusted workplace scenarios at SMBs in all industries, decision makers reported feeling positive and optimistic—especially regarding how it has made reaching key audiences easier and positively impacted sales and growth.
Still, SMB decision makers identified key challenges, chiefly maintaining employee productivity, information security and employee morale. As they navigated these challenges, 87% of small business decision makers said they’ve adopted, purchased, or upgraded one or more pieces of digital technology at their company since the pandemic began.
Taking a Deeper Dive Into the Workplace
Despite the challenges, small business leaders reported feeling optimistic about the future. The majority (58%) of small business decision makers said their sales and growth had been positively impacted by digital transformation and remote work.
The biggest concerns for small business decision makers was maintaining high levels of productivity and retaining current talent.
Maintaining high levels of productivity from employees was the biggest concern for 18% of respondents
Retaining current talent was the biggest concern for 12% of respondents
Maintaining information security was the biggest concern for 11% of respondents
“Half of the U.S. GDP is generated by businesses with fewer than 500 people,” said Michael Mendenhall, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer/Chief Communications Officer at TriNet. “Together, these relatively unseen businesses are building the future.”
Coming Up
Look for more highlights in upcoming articles of this series as we take a deeper dive into other aspects of the study including:
How digital transformation has helped business weather the storm
Remote work and its impact on workplace culture
What this all means for the future of business
Read and download the full report.
Other Posts In This Series
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