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Digital Transformation: Having the Right People on Board Can Make All the Difference
What’s the key to kickstarting digital transformation in an organization? It’s people, according to Thomas Davenport and Thomas Redman in an article for Harvard Business Review. It’s people with the right skill sets. In particular, it’s people with skillsets in the following four key areas: technology, data, process, and organization change capacity.
Technology – The ability to create a transformation plan to digital requires a deep understanding of both the organization’s current IT infrastructure and how modern technologies can be used to revitalize it.
Data – Organizations are generating significantly larger amounts of data. People need to be skilled at data acquisition and analysis. They need to be able to take on roles of data customers and data creators.
Process – Digital transformation has the potential to re-engineer processes to reduce costs and cycle times while increasing overall quality. The current processes need to be understood and, using them as a starting point, redesigned to integrate better into a digital framework.
Organizational Change Capacity – Within the organization human characteristics like leadership, teamwork, and emotional intelligence are important to be able to achieve success.
Davenport and Redman said that “so far, we’ve discussed the technology, data, process, and organizational change capability domains as if they existed in isolation, which of course they don’t. Rather, they are part of a larger whole. Technology is the engine of digital transformation, data is the fuel, process is the guidance system, and organizational change capability is the landing gear. You need them all, and they must function well together.”
Akhil Gupta, Vice President at Major Bank, said that “digital transformation is only possible if you have your stakeholders with you. You need to have proper change management in place and you need to communicate properly what it is that you are going to do. In addition to technical experts such as developers, you need people who can articulate the benefits and the pros and cons to the people who are most impacted.”
Davenport and Redman also warn that “even the best talent does not guarantee success. But a lack of it almost guarantees failure.”
