Why HR is at the Center of Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is primarily about mindset, people and processes and not technology. HR is in the people business and any successful digital transformation relies on significant contributions from HR professionals in your organization.
Digital transformation is about customer centricity
Digital transformation is neither a single project nor a single technology. It’s not about modernizing legacy systems or slapping a mobile experience on applications. It’s the process of infusing digital into your operations to focus on rapidly addressing customer pain points.
Ultimately, it’s the people and business processes at the heart of your organization that will truly drive change and digital transformation.
People are most important for digital transformation
Any enterprise-wide change like digital transformation cannot succeed unless:
- The mindset of the organization changes. People are resistant to change – they’ve been doing things one way for years and it’s hard to get them to buy into new approaches. Success requires employees who understand the urgency and are eager for and willing to embrace digital initiatives.
- Employees acquire new skills. Through a combination of hiring younger, digitally savvy people to training existing employees, it’s crucial to upskill your workforce so that they’re comfortable with newer paradigms like mobile-centric customer support or collaboration with colleagues worldwide.
- Processes change to infuse digital into the organization’s operations. Business-as-usual is no longer viable. Manual, redundant processes expend organizational energy on wasteful activities. Upgraded, digital processes such as electronic new employee onboarding and digital time-off request forms focus your talent on what’s important – customers, students, and patients.
HR plays a dual role
Digital transformation is much more about the mindset, people and processes in the organization than any specific technology. Considered this way, it’s obvious that the most strategic department for true digital transformation in the organization is the HR department. As Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trend report makes clear “HR has the dual challenge of digitally transforming HR operations on the one hand and transforming the workforce and the way work is done on the other”.
In other words, not only must they digitize their own operations, but they are crucial to enabling the rest of the organization to transform by educating its people, upgrading their skills and infusing new talent.
Also Read: 4 HR Digital Transformation Trends for SMBs in 2019
Digitally Transforming HR is crucial for talent acquisition
Today, organizations succeed by improving the customer experience. HR is no different; the biggest challenge is improving the employee experience so that the organization can attract and retain world-class talent. Younger, digitally savvy workers are used to sharing information in a transparent way and to slick, always-on, self-service experiences. Just like their personal lives, they expect an integrated, digital experience in the workplace and a focus on collaboration, individual empowerment, and instant, 24×7 access.
When it comes to improving customer service, businesses invest heavily in automation e.g. chatbots to bring operations closer to the customer. HR is no different and must invest in process automation to get rid of paperwork, manual tasks, mountains of forms and slow, inefficient approvals in order to improve the employee experience.
Transforming the workforce begins with HR
Infusing digital into your organization ultimately comes down to your people. The workforce must embrace new paradigms like collaboration, sharing, and empowerment rather than old hierarchical, siloed structures. This means upskilling existing employees so that they’re comfortable with both technologies as well as new ways of working together. It means strategically hiring with an eye towards 21st-century skills like teamwork and culture.
As younger generations represent larger segments of the workforce, organizations must focus on things like employee well-being, career growth, and social impact. None of this will happen without HR at the forefront. HR leaders must turn away from the one-size-fits-all approach and develop programs targeting specific employee segments and personae with content specific to their jobs and careers.
HR also needs a seat at the table – it’s no longer just about revenue and profit but also about being a good corporate citizen. This isn’t merely altruistic: “social capital” is critical to attracting top talent and to fostering loyalty among customers. Once again, it comes down to people. HR plays a key role in encouraging transparency, promoting collaboration and building relationships – key aspects of a socially responsible organization.
Also Read: Why Should ‘Integration’ be the Crux of Your Digital Transformation Strategy
Conclusion
Digital transformation is about customer centricity and an organization’s mindset, its people and processes are at the center. The HR department must fulfill a dual mission: digitally transforming itself to improve the employee experience while simultaneously transforming the workforce to improve the customer experience.
