Digital Transformation is not about Technology at all, it is all about the People's transformation

Every Digitization project needs to be preceded by an HR Change Management process. Unless there is receptivity and acceptance among employees, the Digital transformation project is likely to face several hurdles.

Every Digitization project has to begin by addressing the 1. Employee Value propositions 2. Customer Value propositions 3. Vendor Value Propositions. This journey should begin with the philosophy “Employees first and Customers second”.

In every Digital transformation project implementation scenario, there are existing legacy systems (let us call these brownfield systems) and some areas wherein new systems (greenfield systems) are considered for implementation.

There usually are a host of people issues to be wary of during the Digital transformation process, let us look at some possible people issues:

In brownfield Digitization projects, where existing legacy systems are operational:

1.?????Some employees are in their comfort zone with existing legacy systems and would like to continue with the status quo. They argue that if the requirements are being managed, why spend money and effort to bring in a new system?

2.?????Few employees would actively try to sabotage any new system proposed by highlighting weaknesses and potential failures and would quote past instances or other organizations’ similar efforts that had failed.

3.?????The organization’s existing culture may not be conducive to undertaking a digital transformation project. Existing culture, wherein departments may be working in silos with their command and control hierarchy. Support and participation can only happen if there is tacit and explicit support and directive for change from the linking pin leadership. A culture of Interdepartmental collaboration, which often could be lacking might create hurdles for Digital transformation.

4.?????Existing legacy systems generate data, which is not considered accurate as it has multiple sources and no validation process exists. It is having multiple versions of truth!! Each employee holds to his version of the truth and mistrusts data from other sources/departments

In green field areas, i.e. where new IT systems are being considered for implementation to improve operational efficiency. Some possible People issues to confront could be:

1.?????As the new IT systems are being introduced, they would provide an opportunity to think in a “Blue-sky” zone, few from the leadership team, who have very divergent thinking processes, suggest very wide and imaginative requirements, making the progress slow. The consensus on what could be developed quickly at first instance becomes a challenge. The team accordingly is sometimes confused and unable to move on due to a lack of a unified thought process.

2.?????Often competing choices are presented and each comes with its pros and cons and any choice made looks like a compromise. This process also takes a long time and sometimes employees criticize the final choice made and are reluctant participants during implementation. Some may even actively try to sabotage the progress or delay progress.

3.?????The value proposition to various stakeholders is unclear to employees; hence, they are not enthusiastic about implementing these systems. ?

Unless a structured HR Change Management program is not in place before the commencement of the Digital Transformation project, the project is likely to encounter several people issues.

The IT implementation projects typically follow the “Agile” implementation methodology. The Agile manifesto has the following four key values:

·????????Individuals and interactions over processes and tools: Communication plays a key role here — when people interact with each other regularly and share their ideas, they build better products.

·????????Working software over comprehensive documentation: The idea is to accelerate the launch process and make product tweaks in the early stages, improving the software in future iterations.

·????????Customer collaboration is considered superior to contract negotiation.

·????????Responding to change over following a plan

Similarly, any Change management typically has six components:

·????????Leadership Alignment,

·????????Stakeholder Engagement,

·????????Communication,

·????????Change Impact and Readiness,

·????????Training, and

·????????Organization Design.

A structured Change Management and HR transformation project could be hugely beneficial and facilitate any Digitization/IT Project implementation.?Blending in these values and following a structured HR transformation process ensures the success of the Transformation efforts.

We help organizations undertake Change Management, Employee Engagement, and facilitate Organizational and Digital Transformation projects.?