We are grateful that specific tools and software helped organizations navigate the pandemic! However, the actual digital transformation of the workspace didn’t occur when the world walked towards a pandemic. Instead, it happened after it -how did organizations manage in the phase when a few were under a hybrid model, some under a completely remote model and the rest were planning to resume their “back to office” routine.
Why? The tools and systems that organizations opted for formerly were due to instant requirements. However, the real transformation occurred when these tools managed to sustain themselves within the organizations. In addition, these tools made employees comfortable with this new way of work and helped them develop better.
Either way, this modification has majorly impacted people- because everything comes down to what they get well-acquainted with and what increases their productivity and motivation to work.
The best way to understand this change is by listening to some industry experts about their point of view on this entire situation. Through The Shape of Work podcast, we tried to do the same with people belonging to similar fraternities and got some insightful interactions.
We have listed a few learnings for you in this article.
The change that the digitized world brought in
We discussed with Gaurav [Director at Practico] the extent to which digital transformation, in general, has changed how we function in our daily lives, be it buying something online or making remote work comfortable for the employees. There are tools through which everything has become possible virtually.
Companies have transformed these experiences, and people are used to them. People feel the experience virtually.
Challenges on the way
Bhagvan [Director of Product Engineering at ValueMomentum] discusses digital transformation’s challenges. That includes understanding the change, social inequality, data privacy concerns, and misinformation.
Employers mainly face the challenge of creating a more flexible model for their employees, what is needed to speed and scale, how can they ensure diversity inclusion and employee skill enhancement, etc.
A well-strategized plan can help overcome these issues. Ensure that your initiative is more flexible, people-centric, and secure.
The key essential to a successful digital transformation – the people behind
Any transformation a workplace goes through, specifically digital, must be human-centric. It cannot be done only based on technology.
Anish [President, Digital Platforms, Information Technology- Jio Platforms Ltd] explains behind everything comes humans, be it any decisions or actions. If you cannot keep revolving this transformation around the people working for you, you will not be able to achieve the primary goal. It has to be human-centric because behind everything is humans.
What’s the best way to do that?
“Include empathy as a one-guided principle in your actions.”
Transformation allows innovation and change. Employee buying is the key to each digital transformation. Give special attention to the employees who are not well-acquainted with tech- how do they get used to it? Focus on that as an organization and follow a human-centric approach towards what you want to build.
AI for employee upskilling
AI can play a significant role in reskilling. The development in AI is magnificent. AI bots can perform tasks like humans through the internet and specific software.
As Shaakun mentions, AI has helped personalise learning to a great extent. For example, upskilling and reskilling can now be based on preferences and choices. And these choices can be incorporated into an organization’s Learning & Development program.
The only requirement for AI is to be able to grasp what one needs to learn to adapt to the current scenario and the latest trends.
Building new HR technologies
Manual processes in HR have reduced significantly through the decade. As Suman [Vice President – Human Resources, Byju’s] mentions, many solutions exist to increase productivity, collaboration, encourage learning, etc. However, one of the most significant benefits that HR tech focused on was providing an effective work-life balance to the employees.
HR strategies are now targeted toward tech-savvy millennials, who account for 60-70 percent of the current workforce.
How to resolve failing digital transformation initiatives?
“Most digital initiatives fail in the planning stage.”
– Shaakun Khanna, [𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲]
This is due to improper planning. The digital transformation initiative must be flexible enough for any later stage change requirements.
Remember that it can be called for any adaptation or change; if there’s no room for that, this digital transformation will fail. So Shaakun asks us to over-communicate with the stakeholders, use newer applications and let people migrate to them.
Digital transformation pitfalls
Vaidya mentions that one of the most common reasons behind the failure of a digital transformation is that individuals look at it in a “this is how a particular procedure works” way. That is not the case. It is primarily due to a lack of understanding within or outside a company.
Companies enforce adoption often to avoid this. However, it isn’t that beneficial.
“A meaningful partnership between business and technology is digital transformation.” – Vaidya Aiyer, Founder and CEO of Pillir
Yes, attempts toward digital transformations might fail time and again, but eventually, it contributes to better workplace culture and saves time and money.
The pandemic led to workplaces revolutionizing themselves and understanding why being employee-centric is crucial.
