GOING DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

How to get your employees glued up on the Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation allows your organization to adapt to a competing business environment and meet sustainable growth goals. 

We can change our technologies, our infrastructure, and our processes. But without addressing the human element, lasting change will not happen. If employees don't keep up, they will be left behind and the chances are that your digital transformation will fail.

Digital Transformation is far more than just providing digital gadgets & smartphones to employees. It requires a change in culture at an organization, at all levels from the CEO down to the lowest hierarchy.

Ultimately digital technologies are used by people, and success is directly dependent on how your employees are using that technology properly and harnessing its full potential.

Many employees are skeptical about the benefits of digital technologies, believing them to be a threat to jobs. In many instances, Robotics and artificial intelligence are perceived as being replacements for them. Such fears can easily translate into a lack of engagement with new technologies.

They need to feel safe in their roles, and to understand that digital transformation is intended to enhance their work life, rather than any threats.

Here are some of the ways to get your employees glued up on digital transformation:

Create a Dialogue & encourage open communication

Digital initiatives should start with evangelizing what, why & how of digital. Emphasize this information to get them on board right from the beginning.

Leaders should actively ask employees what they’d like to see in terms of digital improvements.

Establish an open door policy and proactive messaging from the executive team.

Address the concerns upfront

It’s important to anticipate as many questions as possible and have answers ready for them. With all the talk around digital, it is natural for them to wonder:

• Is my job safe in this age of digital & automation?
• How is this going to impact me and my co-workers?
• What if I don’t have the skills to perform?

Invest in Upskilling

It is critical to implement a thorough training program for employees, to learn about the new products & technologies that improve the end customer experience. Like customer journey mapping, it will be a good idea to create employee journey mapping, their day in office and address the pain areas.

Allow Fail fast & experimentation

Allow them to fail fast which does not affect their performance reviews. Employees can then freely experiment without fearing the consequences of mistakes. 

Empower Employees

If your employees have everything they need to do their work as best they can, they will feel valuable. Employees should be allowed to take some decisions in the best interest of customers and organizations. Employees can work remotely, use their own devices, and utilize digital tools to interact impactfully with consumers and each other. Make sure each employee knows how her work contributes to the overall success of the project.

        

Improve Employee Involvement

More often, the digital immigrants will struggle with the latest digital transformations technologies but their insight and experience are invaluable for young employees and organization. 

Address the questions like which tasks are taking too much of their energy?  What information would they want access to while serving customers? How do they think digital technology could make their jobs easier?

Celebrate even the small success

Celebrate each and every small success to make it visible at all levels to increase the morale of the team and show the value to other employees.

 

Ensure you have your people on board for this digital transformation journey, else you won't make it far!!

Interview with Sandeep Raut, Founder & CEO - Going Digital

Sandeep Raut – Founder & CEO – Going Digital

published by Onalytica

Key Topics: Digital Transformation, Analytics

Location: Mumbai, India

Bio: Sandeep is Digital Transformation, Analytics, Big data, IoT & Mobility evangelist with over 30 years of experience in IT Consulting and delivery

HOW DID YOU GET TO BECOME AN EXPERT IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

I had started writing my own blog simplified analytics since 2011.  I read a lot about the digital transformation from various blogs and tweets to keep me updated. I have conducted several customer workshops on digital transformation maturity assessment, customer journey mapping & digital roadmap development.

Various publications like IDG, Onalytica, Thinkers360, Enterprise Management 360 have recognized me top 10 influencers and the thought leader in digital transformation.

WHAT AREAS OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ARE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT?

Digital Transformation vision setting, Maturity assessment, customer journey mapping & multi-year multi-wave digital roadmap development.

WHICH DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION INFLUENCERS INFLUENCE YOU?

Ronald van Loon, Brian Solis, Dion Hinchcliffe, Daniel Newman, Mike Quindazzi, Vala Afshar, Evan Kirstel, Tamara McCleary

OUTSIDE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WHO ELSE INFLUENCES YOU?

Data Science – Kirk D Borne, KDnuggets

IoT – Evan Kirstel

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR OFFLINE INFLUENCE

I have been a keynote speaker at various events including India Big data analytics summit and various B schools in Mumbai.

WHAT ARE GOING TO BE THE KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INDUSTRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS?

The artificial intelligence-based digital transformation will be key. Everything we do will have some aspect of AI.

IF A BRAND WANTED TO WORK WITH YOU, WHAT ACTIVITIES WOULD YOU BE MOST INTERESTED IN COLLABORATING ON?

Whitepapers, webinars, speaking.

WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST WAY FOR A BRAND TO CONTACT YOU?

email rautsan@gmail.com or call my mobile +91-9820037894

Ask the Expert: What are the most important elements to consider when undertaking a digital transformation?

CEO and founder of Going Digital Sandeep Raut tackles the obstacles and essentials companies must keep in mind with regard to digital transformation to Enterprise Management 360

Ask the Expert: What are the most important elements to consider when undertaking a digital transformation?

Gone are the days, when companies used to decide strategy and then execute it for the next five years as planned. 

Today company’s life on S&P 500 is just 15 years and it is further going down. Digital businesses like Uber, Airbnb did not exist before 2008 but now they are multi-billion-dollar poster children for digital disruption.

Many organizations today have realized that digital transformation is essential for their survival & success. But many of them forget that the focus of a digital transformation is not digitization or even technology, it is “THE CUSTOMER”.

Here are various aspects every business needs to consider when undertaking a digital transformation:

• Set a clear vision: Oftentimes, companies that are successful have painted a clear picture of what they want or need to be, when they digitally “grow up.” Vision is in line with the company’s business & growth strategy.
• Culture is a key determinant: We can change our technologies, our infrastructure, and our processes. But without addressing the human element, lasting change will not happen. Culture is the operating system of the organization. It is like air, it is there but you can’t see it.
• Leadership support: Most of the companies C-Suite is over 50 now and are digital immigrants. They have slowly adapted to web surfing, emailing, texting and the instant world of social media. Hence it is difficult for them to drive the digital transformation. They need to set the tone by collaborating with managers on designing an organization-wide digital strategy while encouraging ongoing innovation. A dedicated Chief Digital Officer is one way to go.
• Be customer obsessed:  With technology and customer habits changing so quickly, developing a deep and detailed view of customer behavior across all the channels is the foundation of digital success. Walk-in customer’s shoes, to identify instances where things could go wrong and address them quickly.
• Inter-Department collaboration: It is essential that all departments work together to bridge gaps, break down data silos, and make important connections. Absolute over communication within employees is a critical aspect to be covered. Ensure that all the customer touch points communicate with each other to have a single version of customer truth.
• Fail fast & Succeed faster – with the digital era, failure is accepted & it is seen as part and parcel of a successful digital business. Failure must be fast, and the lessons of failure learned should be even faster. It allows businesses to take a shotgun approach to digital transformation.
• Lastly, remember Digital is a long-term commitment. Don’t cut the investments & pull back employees on billable roles in just one quarter saying it’s not working. This is the mistake most of the companies are doing. Nurture the efforts like a newborn baby as she takes over a year to walk on its own. Have the patience to see the results.

Difference between Digitization and Digital Transformation

I have seen many businesses saying they have embarked on digital transformation while in reality, they have just digitized some of their processes.

There is confusion over the two terms, Digitization & Digital Transformation.

The two terms are often used interchangeably when their actual meanings are totally different. In fact, they point to two very different ways of responding to disruptive technology.

Let me talk about Digitization: It is doing the same things, differently.

To digitize is to convert analog data into digital form. If you scan physical papers into electronic files, converted typewritten text into a digital form, switched from cassette tapes to MP3 files, or moved from old style camera film to digital photos, then you have digitized your data. It also means automation of manual processes like filling any application form by hand to entering data directly on digital media like iPad or web portal.

We now browse the internet for information, take pictures with our smartphones, and send emails from our laptops. This is digitization.

Digitization has made communication faster and easier and opened up new channels for real-time information. In the industrial sectors, digitization has involved the application of new technologies to existing business models to make them operate better. 

Digitization is doing what you have always done, but using technology to make it more efficient. The business model does not change, but operational efficiency is improved.

Now let us talk about Digital Transformation: It is transforming business activity with technology. Becoming digital is a totally different exercise from digitization.

DX is the process of changing existing business models with new digital technologies like APIs, Analytics, Mobility etc. 

It goes deeper, creating new strategies and processes which lead to a new and better way of providing value for your customers, doing things faster, easier, and smoother. E.g. moving from snail mail to real-time social media or chatbot. 

Businesses can use DX to expand into new markets, offer new products, and appeal to new customers. It is the process of moving to a digital business.

DX also means using the data collected from digitization for actionable insights and then changing the way we do business.

Digital transformation is not a one-time action, but a continuous process. It brings in the new business models and it will change the way business is carried out & it will go a long way in satisfying their end customer, which is the very purpose of being in the business.

Digitization in Fitness Industry

Remember as children we used to play more physical games & ground activities like football, cricket, and even some local games. As we grew we were more physical in our daily activities which had helped us to be physically fit.

But in last few years digital has changed this picture. My children are glued to iPads, smartphones most of the time. Digital technologies have brought a tremendous shift in the way we spend our daily chores. We order our foods online, we call cabs on our smartphones, no banks branch visits are required now as we do most of the financial transactions online, and in the age of Whatsapp, nobody uses the post to send a news to anyone.

This convenience and comfort have brought a sedentary lifestyle & health issues, but more people are wanting to live a healthier lifestyle without burning a hole in their wallets

The fitness industry is also adopting this digital change.

Some global fitness franchises launched an on-demand streaming service in the USA and UK that lets people access the group’s workouts online any time from a computer, tablet or smartphone.

Instead of going to the gym now, consumers work out on their own time in their own locations, but trainers and coaches can access their workout data from anywhere, providing quick feedback and tips to guide them along their fitness journey. The exercises are also available in different levels of difficulty: simple, medium and difficult.

Digital devices are more and more playing the role of a personal trainer. Anyone who wants to train just needs the right fitness app.

Freeletics Bodyweight app is more than just a training program. They have a community of over 12 million Free Athletes spread all over the globe. The app provides users with a unique social platform that allows Athletes to connect, motivate and inspire one another and achieve and share their progress and fitness goals.

An athletic apparel brand Athos has a full-body suit fitted with tracking sensors connected to an app that shows which muscles are firing and how much an exerciser is exerting himself or herself.

Another company, Focus Motion, is building products that connect with a smartwatch to automatically track motion and give real-time feedback on an exerciser's form or pace.

Equinox was the first chain to partner with Apple when it launched its Healthkit smartphone app in June 2015. The app syncs with members’ wearable technologies to track fitness data, analyze member behavior, and provide users with recommendations, tips, and content to improve their fitness routines. The digital coach in Equinox’s mobile app uses artificial intelligence to learn customers’ habits and keep them engaged.

Fitbit, Apple, Garmin, Samsung, Nike & and Adidas are among the major suppliers of digital fitness market.

Fitbit tells you you've completed 80% of your daily 15,000 steps goal. So you walk around the house and make an excuse to go to the shop to achieve your goal.

The Nike came out with Fuelband, a fitness-oriented tech device which helped consumers to set fitness goals, monitor their progression, and compare themselves to others, all with integration into Nike+ online community and phone application.

For those who still prefer to visit the gym have been helped by wearable technologies, which give real-time feedback on the workouts. From shirts to shoes, wearable technology is now embedded in several types of fitness apparel. Profiles for runs or cycle rides are recorded using the GPS function. The data for distance, speed, duration, calories burnt off and heart rate is captured to support the design of personalized training programs 

Modern-day gyms are now equipped with workouts that are digitized for their clients to get more out of their exercise equipment. Going digital enables the user to choose the level of difficulty of their workout just by pushing some buttons.

Today sensors are inserted into pieces of clothing like socks, shorts, leggings, sports bra, etc. These are designed to improve the efficacy of wearable trackers, making them highly discreet and increasingly accurate. The algorithms are mimicking a personal coach, tracking activity and technique while simultaneously picking up clues to predict the possibility of injury.

Holofit uses the virtual reality technology that transports its users from boring reality in a fitness center or hotel gym to real-life destinations, sports events or imaginative worlds. Users get to work out in space or underwater, in the Grand Canyon or in the historic recreation of Babylon, making progress while forgetting they are working out at all.  They have also added the gamification and sports competition through its SportPlay application so you can take part in competitions like Tour de France.

Social media platforms like Facebook and photo/video sharing platforms like Instagram are making a trend of posting your fitness efforts and encourage your friends and families to participate.

There is also a growing trend of companies offering workplace wellness technologies and programs that are helping achieve better productivity and reduced attrition.

Further, this smart data is being used by the Insurance industry for wellness and prevention of disease.

The fitness industry has come a long way with digital.

How to address the reluctance for Digital Transformation?

Digital Transformation is in full swing now and adopted by almost all the industries to improve the customer experience. But not everyone is sailing smooth. In fact, a majority of Digital Transformation initiatives face resistance to change and remain in the status quo.

Change is rarely comfortable, for the majority of organizations & employees. It is a normal attitude that when things are going well, why change? Like with any transformation, the lack of interest for change or the fear of consequences puts breaks on the changes you want to bring about.

Status quo comes from various different levels

·      Organization Leadership: Even at senior level, leaders feel why an external consultant coming into the organization and teaching us what to do, how to communicate with the customer or which business models to choose from. Hence leaders are reluctant to adopt digital open heartedly.

·      Cultural change: The unwillingness of senior managers to accept cultural change.

·      Line Managers of IT Department: Most of the time, IT managers are focused on keeping the lights on and maintaining legacy infrastructure and systems. Digital brings in new demands from business and their priorities are different when it comes to new initiatives.

·      Individual Employee: Many big companies have veterans in their organizations serving more than 15-20 years in the same company. They resist the change of anything new coming their way. Benefits of digital transformation for individual employees and teams are often not so clear - and uncertainty surrounding the future often results in fear to adopt digital

·      Too much is changing, too fast, hence it is hard to keep up

Let us see how to address these status quo scenarios.

·      Ask senior most leader or CEO to drive the change for Digital with full support from the board.  Leaders need to present a clear and compelling vision of what success will look like

·      Let business owners take the call and IT be just an enablement instead of driving the initiatives.

·      Get all your staff involved in digital. Convince the employees that Digital is for their own betterment & help them do their job better

·      Create an enterprise social network to evangelize digital across the organization

·      IT can help build their competencies and capabilities.

·      360 degrees communication: Communicate project success and celebrate them which increases transparency, motivates team members & employees to get a sense of the journey and progress on it, as key milestones are attained.

·      With top management’s support for further projects other passive stakeholders are attracted to adopt the change. Senior executives to communicate with employees across all levels of the organization

·      The organization has to decide which new tools are the most appropriate and efficient to acquire and use to avoid changing everything at once

Digital Transformation brings in the new business models and it will change the way business is carried out.

How Digital Technologies are booming the Real Estate

Digital disruptions are impacting all the industries and pushing organizations to change or die. 

The residential real estate industry was built upon personal relations and contacts. Knowing the trustworthy estate agent personally, was more comfortable for buyers to make investments.

Today the scenario is changing. Several online estate agencies have been set up, which allow owners to buy and sell properties digitally.

At every step in the process of finding, visiting and buying a home, property managers are now focused on enhancing the customer experience with help of digital technologies.

Digital technologies are used for real estate portals, to find a trusted agent, view potential properties and invest as required.

Some property managers allow their agents to shoot, edit and upload video footage of their properties using their mobile devices. This resulted in the increase in reach and quick selling.

Digitization can help you increase your reach from a bunch of agents and investors to thousands of individuals who have interests in purchase and sale of Real Estate.

Digital has come into real estate as well:

·      In searching the properties – Buyers can go online on MagicBricks.com, 99Acres.com to rent or check out the property before buying.

·      Virtual tours of the property – commonfloor.com gives you live-in tours saying see your next home from every angle. This reduces time and expense for owners and creates convenience for the buyers.

·      All the Frequently asked questions about the proposed project can be answered in a direct chat with use of emerging technologies like chatbot powered with artificial intelligence

·      Old fashioned hardcopy of blueprints are now replaced by Building Information Modeling (BIM) which uses 3-D computer modeling. This helps architects and contractors to collaborate more easily and make on-the-fly alterations to existing designs. Maintenance becomes very easy as the BIM model contains all construction data in a single plan.

·      With Social media presence, buyers can get multiple reviews and comments on the properties and even ask the agents to take them on a video tour of the property through WhatsApp, FaceTime, Skype etc.

From the buying or selling when we come to occupied properties, digital technologies are used for the betterment of occupants.

·      Smart Buildings: Facilities including power management, lighting, physical security, fire safety and IT infrastructure.

·      Smart Energy: Automatic lighting control, may vary from obvious night-time auto-activation to dimming based on crowd density and weather conditions. Nest offers a number of innovations like motion detectors to adjust the heat settings when the family has left for the office or schools.

·      Smart Meters - Every home will have a smart meter to control the power usage and report in real time.

·      Smart Water System: IoT sensor enabled water systems which measure the flow, pressure, level and chemical content of the water to improve quality and usability

·      Smart Access: Users can open home doors or office doors by just touch of a finger or even with IoT enabled sensors ensuring garage doors are opened when users are approaching

From living rooms to the yard, we are embracing the digital technologies which are helping the booming real estate industry.

Digital Transformation in Recruitment

A few years ago, the impact of digitization was only established in top industries like Banking, Insurance, and Retail. Now times have changed – the recruitment industry is also adopting digital transformation.

Everyone is a candidate at some point in their journey. Whether you are an employer or a candidate searching for a job, the digital transformation is helping the recruitment industry to implement smarter hiring strategies.

Recruiters are the brand ambassadors of a company as they are the first people with whom a candidate interacts. But getting the right people with the right skills, at the right price, has been a long-running headache for recruitment teams.

It’s a competitive marketplace for talent, with demand for skilled labor far exceeding the supply of qualified candidates actively looking.  This makes it more important need for recruiters, to master new digital techniques to find, reach and engage right skilled potential candidates.

Candidates seeking jobs in the market are also now tech-savvy and expect fast and easy application processes and communication. Their behaviors and preferences are changing. Power has transferred from recruiter to candidate.

There are multiple ways digital can help:

Assess the digital footprint of the candidate: Recruiters can use this data to get important insights into the skills of potential candidates. Correlations between social media profiles can reveal important aspects such as interests and hobbies, as well as an overview of the candidate’s personality. How suitable is the candidate to an organization’s culture can be assessed based on her/his social media sharing habits on subjects like gender, age, race, and politics.

Online language/skill assessment:  It is one of the easiest ways for companies to filter through the pool of candidates efficiently. Recruiters can ensure the quality of their hires via psychometric and other tests.

Online job portals:  Monster, Glassdoor, Indeed, Naukri and TimesJobs have helped in reaching out to candidates across different geographies and industries. They have also helped in building good candidate pipelines for recruiters. LinkedIn has started this revolution long back and has the credibility of companies as well as candidates equally.

Advantages of Digital Transformation in Recruitment:

·      Your website messaging can be targeted to different candidate personas

·      Candidates can easily engage with your company on social and mobile

·      Helps create the company brand in the digital world

·      Machine learning is helping is processing piles of applicants to find the right candidate

·      The organization can nurture candidates over time by relevant job alerts, talent campaigns

·      Social media presence generate the better response from talents to the brand

·      Digitization helps in ease of entire recruitment process and in turn happy candidates

·      Job seekers get an inside view of a company through a site like Glassdoor, which includes information on compensation, organizational culture, career progression, learning opportunities, etc.

·      Through the use of Big Data, learning companies can find suitable candidates, cut recruitment time and costs

·      Consolidated database of CVs becomes a powerful mining tool and cost saver

Digital is helping to convert the chaos of recruiting into “Smart Recruiting”.