COVER STORY

Building a resilient business

at Mainbrace Constructions, says Payapps has enabled the company to stay on its toes and be agile. “Having Payapps in place will make working more collaboratively with them even easier,” says Galsim.

Productivity resilience

Investing in construction technology can improve operational efficiencies. Access to real-time, accurate data enables businesses to improve workflow, cash flow and financial management.

For example, Payapps’ customer Westplex spends fewer hours on paperwork and reconciling by automatically creating invoices in Xero with Payapps. Radi Pelemis, Managing Director at Westplex, says using Payapps has simplified the company’s claims processing and saved considerable time. “It gives us a real sense of security that we are claiming the correct values, that everything is accurate, and we are not missing anything,” he says. “It enables us to track everything.”

Likewise, technologies like Payapps help improve productivity resilience within your workforce. Builders and subcontractors are facing skill and labour shortages and are faced with finding new ways to attract and retain talent. Moreover, LinkedIn reports that millennials will make up 75 per cent of the global workforce by 2025. These digital natives are using their sway to drive technological change that makes work more efficient.

Millennials are increasingly considering an organisation’s embrace of technology and innovation as an important factor when choosing an employer.

Stephenson says graduates want to work with companies that already embrace technology because they know they’re joining a forwardthinking business that’s resilient and going to remain competitive.

“Using industry technology like Payapps can help attract new talent to your organisation while improving employee engagement and morale to reduce turnover,” says Stephenson. “No one wants to join a business using outdated technology and processes.”

“Increasing digital literacy and technology use in the construction workforce helps future-proof businesses and build resilience.

“Employee satisfaction increases due to automation in the workplace, and automating progress payments saves time while reducing errors, keeping employees motivated.”

Furthermore, technology can help foster a healthy, connected, and diversified workforce. Stephenson says when you think about health, you typically think about exercising and taking vitamins, but it’s more than that.

“Just as important as physical health is mental health,” says Stephenson. “When you think about a workforce, they all want to do their best, they all want to be accurate and efficient, and they all want to be productive –technology helps them do that in a big way.”

Adopting a more resilient business model

Several challenges have prevented construction organisations from adopting a more resilient business model – some of which can be quickly overcome with the proper knowledge.

These challenges include being time-poor, especially for subcontractors, to take the time to review existing processes and explore alternatives. Payapps discovered from their own research in 2021 that 67 per cent of construction companies lacked awareness of digitisation benefits in the construction sector. Additionally, due to cost, businesses being intimidated by construction technology, and a preference for the status quo, resistance to change is another factor preventing construction businesses from moving forward.

Providing advice for companies looking to move towards a more resilient business model, Stephenson says, “I understand that change is challenging, and many people don’t like change.”

“Still, businesses need to adopt technology to become more resilient to remain competitive and successful in this ever-changing climate.”

“Instigators like the pandemic have shown us that you must be willing and open to change to stay ahead of the pack.

“We come across a lot of people that have been in the business for decades who want to do things the way they have always done – unfortunately, those are the businesses that are going to be at risk of issues moving forward if they don’t try to harness technology now.”

Stephenson explains that businesses don’t need to rush in and change everything at once, but they need to be open to starting somewhere. During an event in the United States last year, Stephenson presented with Procore about the how technology companies are there to help you during the change process.

“Technology companies will help you and want to see you succeed in building a resilient business model,” says Stephenson. “For example, at Payapps we’ve built an ecosystem where our customers can converse with our partners or us.”

“We’ve already vetted our integrated and strategic partners to understand they have the same beliefs that Payapps do in looking after the customer – so people can have conversations with our partners about how they can use different technologies to make their business more resilient.”

Payapps global research report

Payapps is set to release a global research report in the first quarter of 2023, including Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom, that will outline the current challenges the construction industry is facing and provide insights on how technology can play an essential part in building a more resilient business for the future.

As the construction sector continues to become more dynamic and unpredictable, from the pandemic to conflicts overseas, it leads to pressures on construction businesses. Stephenson says Payapps wants to understand how it helps its clients build resilience in the face of industry challenges.

“More than just our opinion, we want the market opinion to help us better understand the developing trends in the construction industry and formulate solutions,” he says. “Discovering the current challenges preventing resilience in the industry will allow us to determine what roadmap we take as a technology provider to assist the market in moving forward.”

“We want to hear it from the coalface; we want to collect that information through a survey and then publish it to allow people to understand what level of resilience their business has.”

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