No successful digital transformation without employees

Determine the digital level

A digital transformation is different for every organization. This is because each organization uses different tools, software and hardware. In addition, the digital maturity within the organization also determines the details of business transformation. Therefore, determine what the digital maturity level is within your organization. This will give you guidance in shaping the next steps. To determine digital maturity, it is helpful to identify which processes have already been digitized and what the next steps are to build on this. Determine organizational goals and, in addition, engage with employees. After all, they are the ones working with the tools. By starting the conversation, you will discover the needs of employees. And that makes it easier to accurately align needs and organizational goals regarding digitization. Dutch research shows that currently 55 percent of IT decision makers believe their organization still has many steps to take in digital transformation. Plenty of reasons to take a look at your own situation, in other words.

The impact of digital transformation

Often when digitizing and automating processes, the focus is on the business. The impact is assumed to be greatest there. However, a digital transformation also has a lot of impact on employees, for the better. For example, one of the benefits is that employees have more time left for their core tasks because of the higher level of automation. Digitalization has an impact on their daily work, so it is good to include and involve your employees during the process. After all, people like to be informed about what's going on and especially about what's going to change. And so you make sure they see the positive effect as well. Tell employees the impact of the transformation and how it supports them in their daily work. 

What employees will eventually notice as a result of digital transformation is that you no longer miss out on business opportunities. Something that is a regular occurrence in today's market. For example, Dutch research shows that 36 percent of IT decision-makers believe their organization occasionally misses out on business opportunities because of an inadequate IT environment. Employees remain eager to develop, and more automation creates more time and space for employees. In addition, you give them the opportunity to get started on potential business opportunities, something that is too often left behind now. Here, it is important to align business processes and tools properly. For example, ERP and CRM systems function as separate systems; they are separated from each other. By opening up the various data sources and integrating them into a single data platform, you ensure that employees can look up data more easily and quickly. By supporting employees in their work in these ways with the right IT tools, you ensure that they spend less time on repetitive tasks. This leaves more time for core tasks and potential business opportunities, increases job satisfaction, and you truly make a difference together.

Engage employees

Because digitizing processes has a lot of impact on employees, we cannot lose sight of the fact that some employees are less comfortable dealing with these changes. In addition, organizations often underestimate the impact on employees. Employees are used to working in a certain way and this is changing. So this is really more about a mental change. Therefore, give your employees time to get used to this change. What can help with this is organizing a monthly meeting where you go over the progress of the transformation. That way everyone knows what is happening, what is expected of them, you remove ambiguities and everyone feels involved in the process. By doing so, you really make it a collaborative process.

A big digital step forward

A digital transformation requires a lot from your employees, and not everyone can handle it with equal ease. Therefore, ensure engagement among employees and open and transparent communication. In addition, clarify the added value of automating and optimizing processes. In this way, you make digital transformation a collaborative process, ensure that employees work faster and more efficiently, which in turn has a positive effect on organizational success and, in addition, steamroll your organization for a digital future.

This article previously appeared on Baaz.nl.