In a post pandemic world, digital transformation of mission critical services is a huge priority at multinational companies around the world. Many global organizations did in fact prioritize digital transformation initiatives in their business models even before the pandemic had begun- but the ramifications of the pandemic have been so powerful that they have changed the culture of work in such a way that it is very difficult to survive in business without strong digital capabilities.
So, what this means is that many companies who had not yet begun digital transformation projects have now fast tracked these projects with a renewed sense of urgency around digital business. Many have chosen to go down the route of hiring a digital transformation officer or a change management project manager with many years of experience helping organizations to transform key elements of the eco system digitally. Digital transformation projects are now in full flow at many companies and the urgency of transformation goals continues to be stressed by leadership teams and executive management.
There is now a real concern that organizations without digital capabilities will struggle to survive and it is clear that they will be unable to compete if their digital technology capabilities are not raised significantly. In this article we will look at a few critical elements to successful digital transformation in business processes and examine some things that all companies should be looking at when it comes to digital transformation.
Successful digital transformation starts with Strategy
Unsurprisingly, having an effective digital strategy in place is an important tenant in any digital or business transformation project. What is surprising is the number of companies that seem to take action without fully outlining, clarifying and articulating what exactly the strategy is. Such an approach tends to lead to the unnecessary purchase of digital software packages, new technologies or platform SaaS subscriptions that do not align with the overall business strategy and then fail to deliver results in the long term.
A good approach is to start at the top and get fully clear on the overall business objectives and corporate strategy-what is the company looking to achieve in the next 5 to 10 years in terms of business services, products and the customer experience? What are the needs of the end user and consumers and what kinds of digital technologies do the digital maturity trends point towards? The answers to these questions should translate into a digital transformation strategy that will best enable an approach that aligns with the overarching corporate strategy.
Digital transformation officers or the chief digital officer therefore need access to the executive leadership team as well as hearing the opinions of CFOs and key senior stakeholders across the business. Everyone will have an opinion, and there will be many heads of departments who will be interested in securing investment for the digitization of processes within their department. The overarching strategy should help any digital transformation officer to map out an iterative journey and assess priorities-this person will then be able to make a decision on a digital transformation initiative starting point to decide which business critical unit will be the first to receive a digital upgrade. From there, a road map can be developed which will outline a number of steps/metrics towards the overall optimization and digitization of multiple departments and mission critical services inside the organization.
Management style for digital transformation strategy
The management style, culture and working processes inside the organization also have a critical role to play in any digital transformation success. It is very important that a digital transformation officer has a strong understanding of the type of organization they are dealing with. This will help them understand the appetite for digital change, the reasons why it is wanted at management level and the likely levels of commitment and support they can expect to receive. Support is about much more than financial budget; it is about buy-in from senior leadership. The leadership team (CEO & CIO) needs to be advocates for digital change and digital upgrade, and regularly communicate to the global workforce why this digital transformation journey is happening inside the organization.
A digital transformation officer will look to understand what kind of overall management style is in practice inside the organization and how this can best be leveraged to support a digital transformation process. Is the company a command-and-control type of management style or is it a bottom up decentralized type of organization? Is the management style to allow various departments their own level of autonomy to do as they wish? These are the questions that need to be asked to determine what the current style is-this is necessary as the style has to sync with the overall strategy for digital transformation and culture change.
Staff and skills are needed for digital transformation
The right people in place with the right skill sets are crucial to the successful delivery of any kind of project, but this is even more relevant when it comes to digital transformation. Specific digital skills, experience and expertise will be required. A digital transformation officer needs a full understanding of the level of skill sets and staff experience that is available to be leveraged for the project. This person will need to know if the recruitment of external and outsource skilled staff is necessary for the project delivery.
The best people might not necessarily be the most qualified, but they will be the people who are most likely and best equipped to enable the digital transformation strategy and work effectively towards all of the key deliverables on the road map. Commitment and support are needed from leadership teams here, as people with existing roles inside the organization may need to be reallocated on a temporary basis to work full time on the digital transformation project.
This is a key area that the digital transformation officer will be focused on right from the start- this person will know that they are not going to achieve the level of success they want or move with the level of speed and agility they want without skilled staff in place right from the outset. It goes without saying that digital capabilities and technical skills & experience will be very useful, but staff members who show a real capacity for quick learning in real-time and adapting to new processes/digital change can also add a lot of value to a digital transformation project. Interpersonal skills, communication skills and skills around organizational change will also be heavily in demand as digital transformation projects tend to require a broad range of skills.
The above are just a few elements that are critical to the long-term success of any digital transformation project. Such a project can be a large undertaking but any organization who chooses to focus on the above right from the start will find that they can quickly build momentum when it comes to digitally transforming a range of mission critical services inside their organization.
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