The Age of Digital Transformation Is Unstoppable: Why the Need for Workforce Digitization

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Digital Transformation Strategy (145-slide PowerPoint presentation). Digital Transformation is being embraced by organizations across most industries, as the role of technology shifts from being a business enabler to a business driver. This has only been accelerated by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Thus, to remain competitive and outcompete in today's fast paced, [read more]

Also, if you are interested in becoming an expert on Digital Transformation, take a look at Flevy's Digital Transformation Frameworks offering here. This is a curated collection of best practice frameworks based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. By learning and applying these concepts, you can you stay ahead of the curve. Full details here.

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In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we are approaching the age of automation. Together with this is the impending penetration of digital technology into the labor force which can threaten to destabilize crucial aspects of how employees work by. This can undermine the stability companies depend on to be agile.

With the coming transformation, executives can resolidify their companies by developing a robust Digital Transformation Strategy. There is just a need for executives to adjust their leadership behavior, embrace digital workforce platforms, and deepen their engagement with digitally enabled workers.

Facing the Current Digital Landscape

Workforce Digitization and the powerful economics of automation require a sweeping rethinking of organization structures, influence, and control. According to a recent study made by McKinsey Global Institute, most industries have yet to fully digitize their workforce as these are lagging behind the leading digitized sectors. Digital Transformation is just not happening in most industries. Organizations have to realize that in Workforce Digitization, automation can devastate established assumptions on stability.

The hallmark of an agile age is the ability to be stable and dynamic. The McKinsey research further showed that the workers’ roles and the processes that support them are the bedrock aspects of stability. These are the first and fourth most important factors that differentiate agile companies from the rest.

However, with the onset of automation, the workforce is destabilized. Jobs are disaggregated into component tasks and companies are forced to reassemble remaining tasks into something that makes a new kind of sense. On the other hand, job destabilization can have a dual-faceted impact. Organizations can either become more agile, healthy, and high performing or it can collapse into internal dysfunction.

The direction organizations will go will depend on how it can utilize Digital Workforce Platforms.

The Workforce Platform: Leading Organizations to Stability

Proper use of Workforce Platforms can help leaders restabilize the workforce and reconceive organizational structures to achieve stability. It has 4 core benefits of achieving stability.

1. Collaboration. Workforce Platforms can be effective staffing coordinators with a multiplex of roles. It can maximize the visibility and mobility of the best people within the organization.

2. Retention. It can bring science to talent management through the scientific process of retention. Workforce Platforms can help employees grow and develop as their career progresses.

3. Succession Planning. Workforce Platforms are effective in increasing employees’ engagement in their work through Succession Planning. Through Success Planning, organizations are ensured that strategic capabilities, institutional knowledge, and leadership skills are retained within the organization.

4. Decision Making. A vital core benefit, it can create conditions where employees feel valued by their organization and are happy in their environment. This is crucial as it can create conditions where employees feel energized and empowered.

Workforce Platforms are effective in leading organizations towards achieving agility. It moves companies to go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to human resource and talent management.

Maximizing the Benefits of Workforce Platforms.

Benefits gained from Workforce Platforms can further be maximized. This can be achieved when there are appropriate support processes in place. There should be dynamic scheduling and appropriate leadership decisions. Our leaders are our organization’s architect. Being able to make the right leadership decisions can lead organizations to successfully maneuver their transformation in this age of automation. At this stage, Leadership Development plays a vital role.

Interested in gaining more understanding of Digital Transformation and Workforce Digitization? You can learn more and download an editable PowerPoint about Digital Transformation: Workforce Digitization here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

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Want to Achieve Excellence in Digital Transformation?

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Digital Transformation is being embraced by organizations of all sizes across most industries. In the Digital Age today, technology creates new opportunities and fundamentally transforms businesses in all aspects—operations, business models, strategies. It not only enables the business, but also drives its growth and can be a source of Competitive Advantage.

For many industries, COVID-19 has accelerated the timeline for Digital Transformation Programs by multiple years. Digital Transformation has become a necessity. Now, to survive in the Low Touch Economy—characterized by social distancing and a minimization of in-person activities—organizations must go digital. This includes offering digital solutions for both employees (e.g. Remote Work, Virtual Teams, Enterprise Cloud, etc.) and customers (e.g. E-commerce, Social Media, Mobile Apps, etc.).

Learn about our Digital Transformation Best Practice Frameworks here.