Employee Mindset and Training - key to success of any Digitalization Initiative
Success of any Digitalization initiative highly dependent on the mindset and effective training of Employees.
Employees hold the key to any successful digitalization initiative. Employees eagerness to adopt new processes and techniques, their willingness to learn, their personal objectives being fulfilled from a career growth perspective are some of the key elements which drive employee motivation in making a digital project successful. This is irrespective of the sector or geography. Its pure human science and behavior. “If I don’t see any benefit for myself, I will not participate in any change process” is the general human behavior.
Mindset also stems from what does the individual want to do in life. I have met retired people who have spent their entire life manually reviewing files and writing comments and notes on circulars, but are now very interested in the digital way of doing things. Similarly, there are many youngsters on the other end of the spectrum (although in much less numbers) who are overwhelmed by the digital ways of doing things.
Training can only be effective if the trainee is ready to learn, has the hunger for knowledge and is ready to put in efforts to climb the ladder. If the trainee has a mental block, does not see the benefits of any training, and is not convinced of the success of the new project, he will never participate in the training process which is a sure shot recipe for disaster for the entire project.
Hence there is a direct correlation between the Mindset and Training. I have put these two dimensions in a 2X2 matrix which is as below.
Biswajeet Matrix 2 (BM2) – Training and Mindset in Digitalization Initiatives.
1) Disaster – For sure, if both the Mindset is negative and training is ineffective, it is a disaster. Organizations should immediately drop any digitalization plan for the time being, and investigate the reasons for a negative mindset, re-examine the goals and objectives of the digitalization project, communicate and over communicate with the employees. Employees should clearly see the benefits of digitalization for them, and the company. After the employees are convinced, then one should restart the digitalization initiatives. Training should then be tailored to address those specific gaps which need to be fulfilled from an employee’s standpoint.
2) Success – No need to explain. If the employees are aware of the benefits of the digital initiatives, the will be motivated and will take the trainings seriously. At the same time if the trainings are effective, it will act as a catalyst and ensure that the digital initiative is a success.
3) Mushroom – This is a rare situation, but can still happen, especially if you get renowned trainers with good tools and techniques. Great trainers can also act as catalyst to motivate the employees and help them achieve things which they would not have imagined. However, as the overall motivation of the employees are low, they are not convinced or they do not see any value in the digital initiatives, all the initial success gained will die down soon. People will be back to the old ways of doing things, or they would make the new processes, even so complicated and redundant that all the gains will disappear.
4) Sail Through – This happens mainly due to the heroic efforts of the employees. The employees are convinced that the digital project is good for them, the company and the clients, so they will take the extra efforts to make it successful. They will be pulled down by ineffective training or bad training tools, but they will try their best to make the digital initiative a success. Such situation requires just a little push from the management, a little bit more investment in training and the situation can drastically improve.
The above clearly proves that what is important is Employee Mindset and morale. If employees are convinced, any digital initiative is going to be a success.
Would love to hear your views or counter points.
Thanks!