Why social connections and employee experience are digital transformation's power couple

Several years ago, I found myself sitting in my office with my head down, my face between my hands.

I wondered how did I get here?

I had gone straight from college to law school without any breaks.

I'd had good jobs making great money.

But after more than a decade of practicing law, a sinking, empty feeling was coming over me.

Was this it?

I was not too fond of the thought of doing it for another 25 or 30 years.

I wanted my work to have a purpose. I wanted to make a difference every day.

So, I left.

I didn't know where I was going, but I had faith to believe in much more out of life.

I do not recommend that course of action for anyone without faith.

I believe the pandemic has caused a similar awakening among millions worldwide.

They're reconsidering why they wake up every day to do it.

I have no scientific proof, but I sense that people want more from life after experiencing lockdowns and losing loved ones.

My colleague, Tim Hughes, shared a picture from his first visit with his father in a year.

The last two years have been difficult, changing mindsets and motivations.

The Employee as Customer

Human resources departments during the pandemic had to stretch much farther.

And so today, organizations must be much more than a place we go to work.

Senior executives should listen to employees as they would listen to customers and respond to create an experience suited to keep them.

Some organizations have adapted to the change, while others continue to look to the past.

Goldman Sachs' CEO, David Solomon, demanded that all employees return full-time to the office. Only 50% showed up.

The effort was not as impotent as it seemed.

According to the Forbes article, by mid-March, in-person attendance at the banks' headquarters averaged 60% to 70% over a week.

Who knows what the new normal will be?

Maybe, the backward lookers are correct?

However, the new normal will likely be very different from the old after the two years we've experienced.

We have tasted sweet freedom.

We discovered we could do-it-all without the commute and greater flexibility.

Rather than going back to the past, why not adapt to the change?

Mastering Organizational Change

In an article titled, Digital transformation has evolved. Here's what's new, author Tam Harbert shares insights from one of the world's leading thought leaders on digital transformation, George Westerman.

George Westerman is a senior lecturer at MIT's Sloan School of Business.

In the article, Harbert explains why Westerman believes some organizations thrive and accelerate away from competitors.

He calls these innovative organizations "digital masters."

Digital masters have what Westerman calls "leadership capability."

Leadership capability is the "ability to envision and drive organizational change in systematic and profitable ways."

After two years, how can a senior executive not envision another way to work than spending five days or more in the office?

That sounds like a buggy manufacturer with a Model T problem to me.

"Today's business leaders should prioritize employee experience, customer experience, and operations."

Westerman believes employee experience is now as necessary as customer experience in digital transformation.

Remarkable.

Westerman hardly mentioned it just eight years ago. Today, here's what Westerman says.

“If you innovate the work experience, you make the whole company better, including the customer experience.”

Hybrid work is the most significant innovation to the work experience in nearly 100 years.

Employees favor it overwhelmingly.

When I see obstinate decrees that workers must return full-time to the office, I wonder whether executives listen to employees or acknowledge that two years of remote work have changed behavior dramatically?

What's even more perplexing is that people have developed digital habits that employers wanted pre-pandemic, such as using cloud collaboration tools.

The pandemic accelerated this necessary transformation. ?

Why go back?

Why not look for new ways to use digital tools to improve the employee experience and continue what has been working successfully for the past two years?

Social Connections and Building on Progress Made

Patricia Lenkov?and I recently discussed human resources leaders' challenges and the potential solutions.

Patricia is the author of Time's Up Why Boards Need to Get Diverse Now and the Founder of Agility Executive Search, a boutique executive search firm in New York City.?

She regularly advises human resources leaders and boards of Fortune 500 companies.

In her decades-long experience, Patricia says she has never seen this level of attention from the Board on human capital issues.?

However, human capital issues are only part of the story.

Digital technology has made social connections so much more important.

Jim McCann, the Founder and Executive Chairman of?1-800-Flowers.com, said it this way in what may be the single best statement on how to approach talent management I have ever read.

"... there's never been a better time for thoughtful, creative, inspirational HR leaders to redefine workplace culture. This involves taking a holistic look at team members' lives and using available levers to fulfill their needs for growth, development and social connection to make their work experience as rich as possible."

I love what he said there, "taking a holistic look at team members' lives."

Isn't that what we do when we take a design-centered approach to customer experience?

Now that people in organizations have adapted to using social media and digital collaboration tools to work, HR professionals should focus on innovative ways for people to continuously learn and grow together, virtually, building on the skills and social connections already made.

The next generation of leaders has grown up with social media.

They've had 20 years of practice meeting, developing, and nurturing relationships on social media.

Integrating growth, development, and social connection is the innovation in talent development HR needs, and it's a continuation of the progress may through remote work these last two years.

Learning for people today means lifelong employability.

Continuing to develop these factors is a growth engine that can power your organization forward rather than looking back.