The significant change to “being digital” needs to come from the workforce in your company. Digitalisation has changed our lives and the way we do business, triggering the determination of leaders to update their Supply Chain and become highly skilled on relearning, exploring, adapting and scaling toward the acquisition of these indispensable capabilities.
Digital transformation is the profound conversion of a business as a whole, changes such as organisational activities, processes, competencies, and models to fully leverage changes and opportunities that fusion Digital technologies and their impact across society, carrying on a tactical and line up approach with present and future. This Digitalisation revolution is influenced by the following factors: technology innovation, company, workforce and customer change of behaviour, demand, and external environmental factors. Some changes are hard, and others are softer, like language and culture.
How can you make a difference?
When we talk about hard capabilities to adapt, the benefits are clear. Digitalisation means, for instance, being able to handle vast volumes of data to give us more consumers than existing in our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. It allows you to make the master data management process more reliable, and transparent, in such a way as to break down out-dated technology with the idea to modernise the whole process.
Programming is the central element of the Digital Technology shift because it helps your enterprise develop essential Digital skills regarding problem-solving, decision-making, Analytics, Logistics, Transportation, and much more. Digitalisation also quickens data communication pace.
A Digital transformation is an overwhelming-disruptive approach for many executives as it requires a much broader business reform. Although, it is time to urgently review many operation aspects, from top to bottom, as for example skilled talent hired or promoted, the organisational structures, operating models, product services, and so on. Legacy companies should be valued as for their competitive assets.
Regarding the development of soft skills, it is the employee's mindset that matters the most in the first modernisation of the Supply Chain to support it on a Digital design which facilitates it. Success depends on people’s abilities to learn and adapt to Digitalisation.
*Culture is, by all means, the hardest part to change in the organisation. Shifting technology, finding the right talent, discovering the precise product set and the strategy to operate could take a great effort; and even harder is the cultural transformation in businesses which enclose profound legacy and cultural roots.
* Language used on the inside of your organisation regarding products, the customer, opportunities, and the way you express that externally to your customers or client has for sure an incredibly powerful impact on how you run your business and the outcomes you can deliver. It would be best if you took the chance to completely change the language you use to address your customers and the way your company operates, as it can be a definite transformation in the culture and in the way people visualise how your enterprise works.
Take Digital transformation to the next step:
- Be aware of any issue that might arise within your organisation, reworking the language used around your business and processes.
- Change the office environment
- Break down silos between organisations.
- Make certain senior managers are more visible.
- Leadership should be seen more around the office and be more opened to junior levels.
- Establish a more informal style of management, sharing objectives and the steps for a shift.
- Auto-asses your company through the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Analytics, or through the evaluation of individuals and teams around your organisation focusing on the idea of bringing real changes.
So, send a warning sign through the organisation on the change you are trying to accomplish. This Digital transformation must turn out to be everybody’s job and responsibility, while you drill it into the mind set across your organisation.
Building a culture of constant change
To say it clear, you need to be in an attitude of continuous evolution reflecting the new facts of the industry in which you are operating. Sometimes you do this through outside actions, such as acquisitions, investments, partnerships, or other external activity or statements, or through internal operations, such as the people you promote or the way you talk to your customers about your mission.
Today, many Legacy companies realised that their boards are not ready to support and encourage a Digital transformation because their backgrounds lack Digital skills. To make a digital conversion happens, you need a complete alignment of the team through the whole organisation. However, there’s a new generation of board director evolving which is much more proactive, with a more venturesome background. There's a very low per cent of truly digital experts in a significant number of businesses, however, by mixing both, the entrepreneurs and the more traditional board profiles you get greater diversity on the executives.
SUMMING UP: we can overcome any Digital disruption in our enterprises if we put our minds to it. The setting up of centres of excellence to research or train your workforce could support the implementation of this transformation in a smoothly way. Also, to drive the entire commitment from you and your team working together hand in hand to achieve it, so to involve all the managers in the major projects.
Some people will be taken outside their comfort zone, but permit them to make small risks. All transformations begin with small steps. Start walking!
Dave Food
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