Opinion and Features
The recent pandemic has demonstrated that, when used effectively, digital transformation can help businesses succeed in even the most trying circumstances.
Whatever sector a business is in, using the right digital tools and technology can provide companies with new value and potential.
‘Digital transformation’ might seem overused these days and perhaps a little vague, leaving many wondering what it actually refers to. The term can mean different things for different companies. For some, it might be using a new online computing platform to better organise the company finances. For others, it could be moving to a different operational model from a physical office to a remote working setup.
Irrespective of the technology or scale, successful digital transformation programmes begin the need for senior management to understand change starts with people.
In the blog ahead, let’s explore the digital transformation framework and the role of leadership in digital transformation.
The digital transformation framework
Cognizant recently published a useful framework that can help you understand what goes into a digital transformation programme. As per the framework, leaders can initiate digital transformation in their companies by doing the following:
The role of leadership in digital transformation:
While having a robust framework in place can speed up the digitisation process, it isn’t enough. A McKinsey research report reveals that less than one-third of all digital transformation efforts succeed globally, even for digitally savvy sectors like media and tech. The success rate is even lower for other sectors.
The biggest challenge to achieving widespread transformation is reluctance from the employees to accept new technologies or policies. The company’s size is a huge factor too; the larger the size, the harder it can be to convince the workforce to accept the change.
When leading digital transformation in your company, it’s your responsibility to foster enthusiasm among the employees for the transformation opportunities.
Here are some tips to follow if you are implementing a new digital transformation strategy within a company:
You shouldn’t implement digital transformation just for the sake of it. McKinsey research says that businesses focusing on tech as an end goal are more likely to fail in their transformation efforts.
You should instead try to determine how technology can help you serve your customers better. Having customer-focused goals for transformation can help managers pick the technology that can truly help a company transform.
While embracing digital change can be a good goal, don’t throw out conventional management and communication techniques, especially if they work. Many traditional communication channels can bring the same results and keeping them in place will help employees feel comfortable.
Companies should try to integrate successful communication and management techniques with digital tools to make them more transparent and efficient.
Change often induces confusion and fear of uncertainty among employees. When companies adopt new tech to reduce costs, employees see the decision as a prelude to replacing them altogether.
One of the primary responsibilities of leaders is to get teams to see that technology can reduce their workload and help add more value to the company. Companies should invest time and resources into training teams in the technology to let them understand its worth rather than see it as a threat to their jobs.
As a leader initiating digital transformation, you must remember that it takes time to bring change at all levels and get employees on board at the same time. You must adopt an open-door policy and transparent management efforts to reassure your employees and make your transformation efforts successful.
- This article was written by Sweha Hazari.