| | DECEMBER 20218CIOReviewCarolyn MooreIN MY OPINIONDON'T FORGET THE PEOPLE IN YOUR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONBy Carolyn Moore, Global Director - Organizational & Cultural Transformation, ArcadisDigital transformations are more than just process automation: they create fundamental shifts in organizational structures and ways of working. For these reasons, digital transformations need to be as much people- and behaviourally-focused as they are about application development, enterprise architecture, and process optimization.The thing is, for many businesses bringing their people on the digital journey is viewed as a frustrating challenge that "takes too long", "costs too much" or is "too hard". Many companies therefore take the approach of establishing digital teams, labs or studios separately to their main business.Economies are experiencing a highly-accelerated war for digital talent reflecting the increasingly fast pace of digitalization across multiple sectors, as businesses scramble to bring in external digital capability to supplement ­ or even replace ­incumbent employees. This is not a sustainable approach as the pool of suitably qualified and experienced potential employees is finite, and it will take years to bridge the gap. All businesses need to build a digital backbone, create connected ecosystems, focus on product development and service design, and failing to engage your current workforce in your digital strategy is probably the biggest mistake a business can make right now.The thing is, most people leading digital transformations come from a tech background, and very few people within the traditional HR, People or Organizational Design functions have the combination of digital expertise and capability to drive large scale transformation. So, the "people stuff" ends up in the "too hard basket", or at best an after-thought of process-led change management.What if there was a better way? The good news is that there is a better way. According to Thomas H Davenport and George Westerman in their article Why so many high-profile digital transformations fail (Harvard Business Review, 09 March 2018) many businesses fail to realize that digital transformation requires a multi-faceted approach that also enables constant iteration of how the business operates ­ not just the development of a new digital product. And who knows your business operations best? Your employees. And who knows your customers best? Your employees. Bringing your employees on the digital journey should not be distilled to a mere "reskilling" exercise. Building ways to engage employees in your company's digital transformation program can generate new innovations, identify digital process optimization opportunities, and can improve the engagement of your clients in your digital offerings. In other words, by combining the expertise of your current workforce with the expertise of digital natives, your business is tapping into a value-creating digital environment that connects directly to your operations and your clients. Or put more simply: bringing your employees on the digital transformation journey has no downside.This is further supported by research by the World Economic Forum that has
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