Don't ignore employees' concerns over digital transformation

Posted by Channelnomics on March 8, 2018:

Too many organizations are focusing solely on technology and not on the cultural shift that accompanies business transformation, experts warn

Organizations are too often ignoring the cultural shift necessary for any digital transformation, according to recent insight from Gartner.

The analyst firm noted that companies that adopt a tunnel vision approach to technological transformation are putting "the success of a digital business initiative at risk".

Gartner says organizations frequently neglect bringing employees on board with such projects, when in reality, "for any transformation to be successful, people need to buy into your vision".

As part of its advisory, Aashish Gupta, research analyst at Gartner, said culture "forms the backbone" of all change initiatives for digital business transformation.

"Staff trapped in a 'fixed' mindset may slow down or, worse, derail the digital business transformation initiatives of the company," Gupta warns.

Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of global IT provider World Wide Technology (WWT), agrees that many organizations make big investments in technology without thinking about the business outcomes they're trying to achieve.

"It's key to map innovative, leading-edge technology to business outcomes if you want to create new business models and unique end-user experiences," he tells Channelnomics.

Kavanaugh is a proponent of 'ideation', which he says creates inclusive innovation and a culture of collaboration.

"Ideation is visual thinking designed to unleash the art of the possible where everyone at the table - usually representatives from IT and lines of business - have an equal voice. Through this hyper-brainstorming, different stakeholders empathize with the needs of others and prioritize actions that will have the biggest impact on the organization," he explains.

"I can tell you from experience that incorporating ideation into everyday life at WWT has accelerated our ability to unearth and execute new ideas, and it's the starting point on our customers' journey from idea to outcome."