Digital technology is changing how we work. To remain competitive, agile, innovative, and responsive, organisations need to be part of the digital revolution. It is reshaping the world right before our eyes in no small measure.
Almost overnight, entire populations were told to stay at home, and a fully digitised environment became a necessity for businesses to continue operation. To some extent, this was inevitable with the current rate of innovation, but it is no doubt that COVID-19 has accelerated this process. As society starts to emerge from the pandemic, this new digital reality is here to stay. Digital capabilities will be necessary to perform 90% of jobs in the near future, regardless of the sector.
The digital transformation strategy of every organisation needs to be well prepared to accommodate varied aspects of digitalisation. It requires a defined objective, an all-encompassing business plan, as well as a workforce ready to take on the challenges that come in the way of achieving the digital goal.
There are two significant facets to it – a cultural change, starting at an organisational level and trickling down to the individual level, and an actual shift in technology, with an infrastructural update using new technologies in processes and operations. However, the real power of digital transformation lies at the human level, with people who execute it.
For organisations to successfully transit through the digital journey, they need to be digitally ready, not only by tackling the associated challenges, but also ensuring they build a culture that supports digital capabilities.
Digital readiness, therefore, is the ease in which employees and organisations can transit to digitised workflows, using software and other technologies to enable digital transformation.
The eventual goal is to streamline the way business is done, and customers are served. For an organisation to completely transform every facet of its business to be in sync with digital technology, its employees have to onboard the digital readiness train. Employees are the building blocks of any business, and it is essential for organisations to proactively train them to undertake the digital transformation, for their personal, as well as professional growth.
The quest for digital transformation begins with a Digital Assessment to identify the state of digitisation and recognise the next steps in becoming a truly formidable force in the future market.
Organisations seeking to move into this new digital-first reality require an assessment to provide one simple, yet crucial perspective – provide bearings in a digital age. It is, therefore, essential to assess the optimisation potential in determining its digital readiness and maturity.
The two most important aspects of a digital readiness assessment are the evaluation of behavioural and cognitive competencies. An employee needs to have the ability and the will to learn and excel in the age of digital transformation. Not only do employees need to be resilient to transforming technologies, but they also need to possess mental agility, an openness to learning and manage change, a collaborative and inclusive outlook, and an innovation-focused approach to truly imbibe the digital way.
Therefore, it is vital to assess the four drivers of digital culture; vision and Strategy, process and structure, leadership and people, and customer experience, to measure how the culture of the organisation is positioned to manage and sustain digital transformation.
Digitally mature organisations look beyond just investing in quality digital tools. They relentlessly focus on deriving new business value from digitisation, through continual optimisation of operations. To achieve this, they do not just implement edge solutions. Instead, they use Digital Assessments to integrate digitisation into core operations and, in the process, reshape the entire organisation. It helps them to maximise productivity, performance, and ultimately generate industry-leading results.
After completing a Digital Assessment and successfully implementing a digital transformation strategy to become digitally mature, organisations can now say goodbye to busy work and welcome real productivity. Employees thrive in a digitally enhanced work environment, quality training, practical onboarding processes, and user-friendly tools to bring the best out of teams.
At pcl. we support organisations in conducting digital assessments (readiness, culture, platforms) and developing a digital strategy for proper alignment between digital journey and business goals.
For mor information visit: https://digitaljurist.ng/
Jason Ikegwu, Associate Partner, Digital and Technology Consulting