Three learnings for businesses to carry into 2022

In a year of great change that ushered in the ‘energy transition’ amongst other areas of social and industrial upheaval, our people, families, businesses – indeed our very social fabric and how we interact together was shaken to the core.

But in many ways, we have been fortunate to have weathered the storm through an increasingly diversified commercial activity and a forward-looking approach to public health where the UAE has topped the charts in terms of Covid-19 testing and vaccination consistently.

Perhaps the biggest aspects of our business operations we have missed have been the in-person meetings, technical discussions as well as negotiations.

However, despite this overall feeling of progress – I hesitate to use the term “business as usual” – I feel we must do better going forward.

Here are three things to keep in mind:

1. Smart solutions are the future
2. The sustainable agenda will change everything
3. Collaboration is essential

Firstly, by smart solutions I refer to all digitalised infrastructure and data-driven industrial processes we saw on display around ADNEC [during ADIPEC] this year and increasingly at other trade shows and fairs globally. These are not some distant far-off technology fantasies that dream of optimised workflows and precision data capture and analysis. This is instead what we have today, and anyone not conscious of this shift will be left behind. Without next-generation sensors generating precise inputs for the data reservoirs, the innovations and enhancements we saw would not be possible. I look forward to us all working smarter together in a more measured future.

Secondly, it must be noted that a positive approach is need for corporate life, and I believe that all intrinsically good companies are human-centric at heart – hence it is key to ensure that ESG is central to corporate strategy. COP26 shone the spotlight on the environmental crisis we face, and while sustainable procurement and technological innovation may be making their way into our everyday practices, we must all continue to drive the social and governance agendas across our operational premises too. There is no doubt that the energy transition will drive oil and gas and other sectors to transform the way we live our daily lives, and as business leaders, we have the responsibility to ensure we impact our colleagues and customers positively in this respect. Failure to do so cannot be tolerated and must be called out by peers, stakeholders and members of our supply chains.

Thirdly and by no means the least important, I wanted to highlight collaboration. This is crucial as it brings together partners, distributors, customers and a much broader stakeholder spectrum in order to build business back better than before. The workplace of the future must fulfill a dual purpose: Be fit for purpose at present but also unlock potential in engineering students and graduates looking to start their careers. We need to stimulate an ongoing dialogue together in order to build a better and more collaborative tomorrow.

Let’s remember the positives from 2021 and take them into a smarter, greener more collaborative 2022 together.

Frank Janssens is the head of Krohne Middle East and Africa