Unlocking the Full Potential of Digital Transformation: The Importance of People
The process of digitizing company assets has been ongoing for some time, but the idea of digital transformation has gained increasing popularity over the past decade. A 2020 report from McKinsey indicates that organizations have significantly accelerated their adoption of digital technologies since the COVID-19 pandemic began. This is largely due to changes in customer behavior, as digital interactions have increased by 2–3 times compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Do companies realize the positive impact of digital transformation?
Despite the widespread adoption of digital technologies, many companies are still struggling to demonstrate the true value of their digital transformation efforts.
Company X claims to have utilized their owned media platform for digital media campaigns, but they are uncertain about the effectiveness of their platform usage yet.
Company Y has been collecting customer data on their website for over two years but does not know how this first-party data can be used to enhance the brand’s online experience and increase online conversions.
Why is the demonstration of true value hard?
The biggest challenge in proving the power of digital transformation lies in the “people” component. Digital transformation is an iterative process that involves the development of platforms, processes, and people. While the deployment of new platforms is fairly easy, setting up the right processes and developing the right people can be much more challenging.
Governing and setting up the right processes for leveraging new platforms can be accomplished with the help of outsourcing and learning best practices from industry experts. However, companies find the people component most challenging to be properly ready in alignment with the efforts into other factors.
Individuals within organizations must be trained on how to effectively use these new technologies, develop and improve usage and processes over time, and ask the right questions and hypotheses to be tested and answered leveraging the assets. Without this human element, companies will keep struggling to realize the full potential of their digital transformation efforts.
In addition to training individuals within organizations, it’s also important to develop a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement. Companies should encourage their employees to test new ideas and approaches and provide the necessary resources to support these efforts.
How can “People” be improved?
Here are key areas where both employees and leaders can make an effort to improve the “people” component:
If you are an employee, focus on:
- Asking the right business questions: To ensure successful digital transformation, employees should be able to ask incisive business questions they would like to resolve by deploying new technologies and processes.
- Endless education: Companies must prioritize training and education for their employees to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge to use new digital technologies effectively.
- Collaboration: Digital transformation efforts are most successful when they involve cross-functional teams working together towards a common goal.
If you are a leader, focus on:
- Leadership: Strong leadership is essential for driving successful digital transformation initiatives. Leaders should set a clear vision and strategy for digital transformation and provide the support and resources necessary for employees to achieve their goals.
- Empowerment: Employees should be empowered to experiment with new ideas and approaches and given the resources and support necessary to do so.
Ultimately, the success of digital transformation efforts depends on a combination of factors, including the right technology platforms, efficient processes, and skilled and empowered individuals. By prioritizing the people component of digital transformation, companies can overcome the challenges of demonstrating value and reap the benefits of a truly transformative digital strategy.
