Empowering change: 3 steps to strengthen the ‘human element’ of digital transformation

Organizations across every sector are undertaking enormous digital transformations in every aspect of their business. Navigating myriad change initiatives can be overwhelming for the stakeholders involved. The stakes are high and engaging your employees, customers, and partners along these turbulent change journeys are paramount to your success. This article discusses the three important aspects that businesses must consider to empower the ‘human element’ of digital transformations.

 

Successful digital transformations begin with people

Organizations in every industry are at various stages of their digital transformation journey. They are coming to realize that digitalization is an ongoing journey and that continuous innovations in the back-office and frontline technologies are now commonplace. These innovations are driving new operating models, customer and employee experiences, and ways of working and collaborating. Not only are they redefining how work is done but also the where and when of it. At the heart of these continuous digital transformations are people – without whom these digital transformations are doomed for failure.

 

Is your organization and its people ready for the journey?

Leading people along a journey from awareness to adoption in support of their digital transformation programs is critical to ensuring business continuity and value realization. Further, this journey starts on Day 1 for each technology project and runs through post-implementation support. All too often, technology projects kick-off, and some even run their course, without any consideration for the people who are expected to operate the business with these new business processes and technologies. There is ample evidence that this approach is a recipe for disaster. According to a survey¹, the biggest hurdle to an organization’s digital transformation efforts is people.

 

What are the milestones along the way?

To avoid becoming just another “failed digital transformation” story, IT and business executives need to carefully navigate the journey in their Microsoft digital transformations, right from awareness to adoption. These journeys have three components of organizational change management:

1. Human-centered Design: To activate and accelerate the transformation with a contextualized persona-based change strategy and roadmap
2. Content Personalization: To develop a library of persona-based communications and training artifacts that brings the change and new ways of working to life for each affected user group or persona
3. Adoption Cycles: To coach leaders and business ambassadors to drive communications and training events that make the organization truly prepared for the future across all user communities. These include upcoming changes to business processes, technologies, and new ways of working that unlock value for the business.

Adopting the right technology in a swift and correct manner remains essential for digital transformation but at the heart of any change are people. Simply put- any change that does not involve people is doomed to fail.