The old year has gone…

a New Year has arrived.

Little did we know a year ago what the year 2020 would bring, but all too soon we learned…

Never before in modern times has our way of life, our freedoms and our expectations have been so collectively and adversely affected. For far too many it was suddenly sink or swim. All areas of business have been affected, including our own.

Having said that, I am enormously proud of what we in Friisberg have accomplished. In this harsh reality in which we have all been forced to operate, we have not only survived, but through hard and focused work we have strengthened our position and continued our strategic expansion.

• We have opened new offices in Germany, Norway, Scotland and Sweden.
• We have attracted new, highly skilled, experienced Consultants into our existing offices.
• But also, and perhaps most important of all we have been able to ‘be there’ for our clients to support and help them through their own challenging times.

Events throughout 2020 forced our clients to rethink, restructure and change. Many things we all took for granted before the pandemic have altered and will continue to shift in the months ahead.

Companies with global footprints and those who do international business have been forced to change their traveling habits and we have all adapted to virtual meetings. Perhaps traditional face-to-face meetings will now only be used for when you are establishing new relations, or for ceremonial reasons from time to time such as opening a new site?

Business have already started to rethink and change the way they “go to market” and actively embracing emerging technologies will undoubtedly speed up the digitalisation of sales. That development is inevitable.

We have all adapted and learned quickly because we were forced to. Looking forward, I am convinced that the changes we already have seen will remain – I don’t think we will ever go back to how it was “before” - we have all learned by doing not from some seminar that was forced upon us.

All this “new” means businesses need the right people and processes to be able to perform and develop:

• Systems must be at place.
• Organizations need to be agile and ready to adapt.
• New ways of managing people must be in place.
• New ways of managing performance must be implemented.

Some businesses will adapt quickly, but for some it will take a little longer. Some businesses already have the right key people in place whereas it is becoming ever clearer that some do not.

So, although the future is here, 2021 will just be the start in terms of how we consolidate the changes.

I am delighted to confirm that Friisberg is now better placed and more ready than ever to continue our growth strategy, and to support our clients locally and globally.

Peter Strandberg
President