Barriers to digital transformation are due to a lack of digital competence within the top management and the board of directors

According to projections for 2022, the primary impediment to digital business transformation seems to be a skills shortage as firms strive to launch a wave of IT projects. If the COVID-19 response accelerates and broadens digital change, organisations with mismatched talent strategies run the danger of falling behind. In 2020, boards of directors listed digital and technology disruption as their primary business objective, followed by the people necessary to implement technological transformation. COVID-19, which elevates digital projects to digital imperatives, places increasing pressure on human resource directors to work with their CEO, CFO, and CIO in redefining skill requirements (Alos-Simo, Verdu-Jover, and Gomez-Gras, 2017). Change and adaptability are necessary components of a business's strategic success. This will be reflected in the future composition of the board of directors and senior management. Board members must be aware of the administration's responsibilities in the case of a company's transition. Unless the board has appropriate ordering competence, the administration will not keep its obligations as specified in the order (Alves, 2020). According to a recent study, private company boards of directors lack digital skills, which might be one of the reasons that major digital business transformation fails.

Digital abilities are crucial in various fields, not just sales and information technology (Bai, Quayson, and Sarki). Most firms remain in the dark regarding the transformational capabilities they need and the supply, demand, availability, and placement of such talents. According to a recent TalentNeuron survey, the inability to identify critical skills was the most significant impediment to workforce transformation by 53% of respondents (Beneki, Papastathopoulos, and Tsagris, 2018). Over a third of individuals surveyed said that they could not identify market leaders.

As technology progresses, its reach expands. Digital use is expected to increase over the next five years, according to polls. According to Boulton (2018), the workforce's abilities have shifted substantially due to this massive and rapid digitisation. Numerous leaders cannot deal with the repercussions of their actions. Those responsible for hiring and establishing strategies to address this shift have fallen behind in the digital transition (Bouncken, Kraus, and Roig-Tierno, 2021). Without addressing this issue, top leaders will be unable to adjust to the changing work patterns, processes, and organisational structures resulting from digital transformation.

As a consequence of digital technology, businesses are restructuring (Hess et al., 2016). Numerous firms are struggling to adapt to this development. Corporate culture and human resources are more critical than technology components to implement a digital transformation successfully.

According to Huckstep (2019), CIOs continue to struggle to succeed despite recruiting sufficient full-stack developers and web managers, robotics experts, and other DT-related positions. Businesses are increasingly focused on improving the user experience, and as a result, they are scrambling to identify and recruit employees with the necessary skills and abilities (Iansiti and Lakhani, 2021). While there is a talent shortage, it cannot be attributed to technological competence. According to Isensee et al. (2020), workers' self-organisation for learning and working terms must be encouraged to adopt new organisational forms, leadership styles, and management systems.

Companies will only succeed if their top management and board members recognise the importance of linking strategy with business processes and intellectual capital. Technology is only a tool in the company's overall goal-setting process. The ability to grow in a strategic direction will depend on the competence in change management and digitalisation skills of top management and, ultimately, the future makeup of boards of directors. When it comes to a company's transformation, the board of directors must grasp the duties that they will be entrusted to the administration. Unless the ordering competence on the board is sufficient, the administration will not be able to fulfil its obligations under the order as well. As a result, this is a vital competency that must be present on firm boards of directors, according to the study literature.