In today’s world, companies race to deliver their products and services to the market faster than their competitors. Gone are the days where companies used to deliver their products in five years time-frame. In this fast-paced business world, everyone is under constant pressure to change the way they operate. Long-term strategies are no longer acceptable. This situation made digital transformation absolutely necessary.
To keep up with the time, companies need to change their processes, infrastructure, technology, and most importantly- people. If ‘people’ element is not considered, the business may fail to deliver lasting changes. You might have observed big companies making headlines due to failure in managing a healthy culture. These headlines serve as a reminder of what should be avoided.
The most successful digital transformations have one thing in common- they are grounded in cultural change. So, the question is, how to transform work culture? Cultural change doesn’t happen overnight. To help move things smoothly, here are some working strategies to change the work culture to support digital transformation.
Hit The Working Areas
The essential step in driving the cultural change is to breakdown the organizational silos. Rather than changing everything together, bring in simple, small, yet effective changes. In the process of change, you can take advantage of employees who are aligned with the new cultural values. For instance, you can rearrange the seating so that other employees can sit with those who are aligned with the required culture. The crux is to spotlight those who are already exemplifying the desired behavior.
‘Connectedness’ With The Culture
When you want digital transformation in the company, there is one thumb rule for it- culture trumps strategy every time. Don’t start the transformation process by focusing on strategy; instead, prioritize the cultural alignment of the transformation. Analyze and acknowledge the existing strengths of your culture and adjust your transformation based on it.
Communicate The Benefits
Any major change is not readily accepted by the employees. Throwing change on their faces and compelling them to adapt to it won’t work in a long-run. Nor bribing people to be loyal to you would work. It is essential to communicate the benefits of the change. Explain why the change is necessary. Try connecting them to the issue and making then understand the goals and mission of the company. People will contribute towards organizational goals if they are recognized for the value they add. Remember, it is essential to get this step right.
Integrate Formal and Informal Intervention
When you are bringing changes, it is essential that you promote both formal and informal behaviors and aspects. While changing IT systems, processes, decision flows is important; bringing in new rules, KPIs and Incentives is also imperative. Further, the informal part is mostly neglected by organizations. But, they should focus on communities of interest, ad hoc conversation, networking, etc., as well.
Measure and Monitor the Evaluation
At each stage of your journey, measure and track the progress. Monitoring and measuring would allow executives to identify the correct course and tangible evidence of improvement. All these steps will eventually aid in maintaining positive momentum over the long haul.
Your people must be the heart of the organization. Make sure to bring the people to the center. This will enable the adoption of new technology, will lead the path to innovation, and will help the business attain a sustainable competitive advantage. Change is difficult, and you cannot make a single jump from current to end-stage. It is a gradual process that requires a proper strategy. Follow the steps above and build a path towards digital transformation.
Pratham Software is a leading custom application development company that offers its services to organizations around the world. The businesses can get the advantage of the services as we also help in formulating adoption strategies that make the transformation smooth. You can get in touch with our executives for assistance on application development and implementation.
