As a professional data entry service, we know that having quality data and efficient data governance is vital to have a strong digital transformation strategy. Currently, businesses all over the world are embracing digital transformation with the objective of improving productivity of employees and efficiency of business process, providing better customer experience, deriving valuable business insights and minimizing cost. It has opened new possibilities to improve their production processes, how to position themselves in the market, and how to communicate with their customers.
The digital transformation program would help business organizations to evolve to a new and innovative setup. However, considerable work has to be done to make the business managers and employees accustomed to the new change. This means that even though people have accepted the new ways of working, companies are not fully equipped. So, to make the transition easier and smoother, companies should first get rid of all obstructions by offering all coaching and support to the team so that they can fully engage with the digital transformation process. Make sure to include frontline workers so that they will have a clear picture of what needs to be done and what fits into the big picture.
A global survey was conducted by Boston Consulting Group that included 5,250 people working at companies in China, France, Germany, the UK, and the US. According to the survey, to face the new global crisis created by COVID-19, businesses are frantically switching to digital transformation to survive. Globally, 89% of managers and 84% of employees believe that digital transformation helps companies to get through the economic slowdown that the pandemic has created. They also believe that this new change will help businesses to get through these uncertain times and safeguard jobs as businesses relaunch their operations. As per the survey, companies should increase their investment in reliable technologies to survive the crisis. 83% of managers and 77% of employees believe that increasing the spending on technology for remote work and remote meetings helps businesses to grow. 70% of both managers and employees prefer increased budgets for technologies to support client relationship like managing information requests and providing after sales service.
Rebuilding the Business for the Future
According to the survey, 57 percent employees and 78 percent of managers say that business are embracing the digital transformation and majority of them are willing to be part of it. 86 percent of managers are willing to undergo the transformation process (US with 90 percent and China with 91 percent) and 76 percent of employees favor the digital transformation process.
Business managers’ and employees’ enthusiasm for digital transformation influences their expectation and perception of their organization’s approach to undertake the digital transformation process. In companies that have already undertaken the transformation projects underway, 37% of managers and 35% of employees feel their organization’s efforts lag behind those of their competitors.
Companies can speed up the evolution process by offering more training and upskilling that helps employees to pick up the capability. For any company to have a successful digital transformation strategy, they should first focus on refining the skills of the workers as well as hire professionals who can perform the tasks flawlessly. However, the reality is that managers and employees consider training and upskilling as the least successful elements for digital transformation process, along with hiring people who have the appropriate skills.
The survey points out other trends in digital transformation:
- Even though 89% of managers are involved in digital transformation, only 65% of employees are actively participating in one or more digitization activities in their department or unit.
- While 82% of managers say they would use agile methods, only 66% of employees say they would do so. This gap shows that employees are not trained adequately on new ways of working that are related to digital transformations.
- Workers in China have the most forward-looking approach to digital transition. 99% of Chinese managers and 87% of Chinese employees are involved in the digital transformation projects. While 35% of multi-country managers feel their organizations are behind the competition, only 19% of Chinese managers feel the same.
Dual Track Approach
According to a report by Harvard Business Review Analytics Services, most of the business leaders feel that a dual track approach is essential to ensure successful adoption of digital transformation. Ed Jennings, CEO of QuickBase Inc, says it is time for businesses to move faster and drive operational agility. Although many businesses are undergoing the digital transformation process, siloed data, onerous processes, and rigid systems are holding back people on the frontlines. So, businesses should expand their conventional approaches to empower employees to reach their full potential.
As per the report, 80 percent of business leaders believe a dual track approach is important for digital transformation:
- Business wide orientation: The first in dual track approach is focusing on identifying and implementing the new technology in the entire organization. A change in work culture and business workflow can be a complex and time-consuming process but it is vital for the success of the transition. The positive results of the current transformational change may take some time to become evident, and this delay can easily discourage many executives. All business leaders are not impatient but often they lack the second part of the dual track necessary to get them by.
- Rapid cycle innovation: The second approach is a parallel track which improves areas that are often overlooked in large-scale transformation tactics. It includes the organization’s ability to quickly connect and modernize hundreds of crucial processes that cross both business workflows and work groups, as per the report. This can be achieved with a rapid-cycle innovation that encourages business professionals to come up with something new to propose and create new apps for updating existing workflow processes that supports long-term transformation process. Around 48 percent of executives surveyed said that distributed innovation is important for speeding up responses to competitive pressure.
Due to the continuous and fast technological transformation, the market has radically evolved. This has changed consumer habits, needs, desires, ways of communicating and consuming. So, to meet the growing needs of the consumers as well as to remain competitive, digital transformation is a must for all businesses. If your company has not switched to digital transformation, then begin the process by first converting all vital data into its digital format with the help of a reliable data entry company. Accurate and good quality data helps businesses to make informed business decisions that are vital to improve performance, increase productivity and access new markets.
