Five Reasons To Empower Your People For A Successful Digital Transformation
If you’re reading this, chances are you know that your organisation is in need of a digital transformation, or some kind of digital enablement. What you may not know is how important your people will be in the process.
As change management experts, we have personally witnessed many workplace transformations and there is a common theme in all of them. No matter what industry the organisation is in, no matter how extensive the digital transformation, and no matter how big/small the team is, the defining factor as to whether change is successful comes down to one thing: putting your people first.
Your employees are the lifeblood of your business and any kind of change that you implement must involve them from beginning to end. Instead of looping in your employees at the end of the change process, getting them engaged from the beginning can make all the difference in the success of your project. Why? Because this is how you get your team on board with the changes, instead of them feeling blindsided. By doing this, you create champions of change who will drive your transformation across the organisation.
This article explores the five reasons that your employees are key in any digital transformation.
Reason 1: Connection Comes First
Think about it. Your employees are interacting with your customers and clients on a day-to-day basis. They are witnessing first hand the experiences, struggles, successes and challenges that your customers face when interacting with your business. While the right technology and processes are important in improving your customer experience, it’s your team who will be able to identify any issues that need to be addressed in the customer journey. Not to mention the fact that happy employees result in happy customers. The human element is the most important aspect of change. Technology is merely an enabler and not the core purpose of digital transformation.
Reason 2: Organisational Structure Matters
If your people don’t properly understand their role within your organisation, your digital transformation will fall flat on its face, wasting both time and money. Before you start any kind of change, you should begin by ensuring that your organisation has a clear structure, and that those job roles are clearly defined. As soon as someone says “that’s not my job” or “I didn't know I had to do that,” you know you’ve got a problem that needs to be addressed. A clear company structure results in efficiency across all aspects of the business and should not be ignored.
Reason 3: Retention Is Key
There are many reasons why having a high turnover is bad for business. Not only is it expensive to constantly be recruiting and training new employees, but it can also result in a toxic work culture when people are constantly coming and going. High turnover is a clear sign that your team are not engaged, and if your employees aren’t engaged it means they aren’t invested in your change. Focusing on employee engagement is the key to retention.
Reason 4: The Bigger Picture
If your team aren’t aware of your company’s Vision, Mission & Values, they can’t properly understand your business goals and, therefore, can’t properly participate in change. It’s important that your Vision, Mission & Values guide your digital transformation to keep you on track to reaching your business goals.
Reason 5: Inevitable Growth
When you prioritise your people, you put your business in a position to grow. When your business has a clear structure, your values are defined, your team are engaged and empowered, and your customers are being taken care of, you are ready for digital transformation to turn your business into a market leader.
In summary, you could say that say digital transformation is enabled by technology, but led by people. It’s your people that drive digital transformation. By giving them autonomy, communicating with them often, sharing your mission and placing importance on the people to people connection, the changes to come will be simpler, faster and welcomed with open arms.