Employee retention, automation, AI, data security, and overhauling legacy technology solutions are all important trends for Canadian executives to pay attention to in 2019.
Employee Retention & Human Resources
Canada’s unemployment rate was at a historic 5.6% low in 2018, with nearly 87% of adults between the ages of 25 and 52 taking part in the labor force. In such a tight job market, ensuring top talent is satisfied and retained within the company is key to growth. Jeff Roman, Senior Vice President of APEX PR, argues in an article for the Financial Post that strengthening the company brand should be a priority for executives in the C-Suite. According to Roman, executives can spearhead initiatives and create strategies in the organization that strengthen the employer brand. “Employer brand is intentionally both internal- and external-facing, instilling pride among current employees and enhancing the organization’s perception as a good employer among candidates and prospects, and to a large extent, the general public,” he says.
These initiatives can include encouraging face-to-face communication, engaging employees with more involvement in the management process, explaining rationale for management decisions, and recognizing employee contributions. If executives can help to create the strategy to strengthen the employer brand from the top down, the company will realize the benefits through increased staff retention, employee engagement, and enjoy a good reputation as an employer for potential candidates.
Automating Low-Value Tasks
Automation can remove low-value tasks from the desks of valuable employees According to a 2018 report released by the Royal Bank of Canada, more than 50% of all Canadian jobs will be disrupted by technology in the next decade. Artificial Intelligence (AI), and LegalTech in general can be used to review documents by scanning high volumes of data for specific patterns, flag transactions for fraud mitigation that previously would have to be looked at manually. For instance, The Royal Bank of Canada is using a solution to help its customers manage their finances. It answers customer questions, alerts customers to unusual account activity.
AI isn’t the only path to automation; software solutions can automate and simplify specific tasks, such as generating and emailing monthly reports, pulling together documents for briefs, and keeping track of KPIs. It is also an excellent source of Business Intelligence with a transparent, secure dashboard of everything that is going on in the legal areas of your business. Get real time detailed reports on contracts, legal matters, and anything else the Legal Department is involved in, with a completely trackable audit trail of any actions that are taken within the software. For Legal Departments, thanks to the automation of more menial tasks, employees can concentrate on more pressing legal matters.
Data Security Governance & Replacing Legacy Solutions
Today Legal Departments face new challenges in terms of data security. With several high-profile cyber-attacks taking place in 2018, data security governance should be on the radar of every department. This starts with a look at existing software and hardware within the company to ensure that it can withstand the current level of cyber threats. Legacy solutions and network hardware may be leaving your organization open to significant threat levels. Legal Departments, especially, should be reviewed since they overwhelmingly tend to use legacy systems that could be vulnerable to new security threats. New leaders are needed in the C-suite to stay on top of emerging technology, including Chief Data Officers, Chief Innovation Officers, Chief Legal Officer and more.
DiliTrust Governance is a solution that can aid the above challenges to increase efficacy and productivity. This one centralized platform allows legal professionals to collaborate in the following areas: corporate law, contracts, litigation, IP, real estate and delegation (banking, authority and signature). All of DiliTrust’s software solutions are highly secure, going above and beyond industry best practices for cyber security.
