So much has changed in the past decade of technology. Remember early iPhones, or the first generation of social media platforms just hitting the mainstream? (If you’re remembering MySpace being littered with obnoxious ads, you’ll know what we’re talking about.) As recently as 10 years ago, which admittedly seems like an eternity for tech, companies lacked a coherent mobile strategy, let alone a robust mobile presence for engaging with their customers or for helping employees collaborate.
The word “digital” now means something different. It used to be synonymous with “IT.” Nowadays, a company’s digital strategy practically drives the roadmap and goals of many departments, from marketing to sales to HR.
Leveraging tech
Companies and executives have improved at embracing digital transformation. CEOs recognize how much their digital strategy influences business goals. Ten years ago, only a handful of CIOs were involved in strategic planning; now they’re regarded as some of the most integral members of the C-suite.
How can companies translate these efforts into results going forward? The answer is simple, if a bit ironic: focus on the human experience.
People first
Businesses must think critically about how their digital initiatives will affect the experience of customers and employees, as digital products have the ability to completely transform their role or relationship with the brand.
But why do many digital transformation efforts fail? Most digital technologies provide possibilities for efficiency gains and customer intimacy, but if people lack the right mindset to change and the current organizational practices are flawed, technology will simply magnify those flaws. Here are five essential takeaways for successful digital transformation:
- Figure out your business strategy before you invest in anything — Digital transformation should be guided by the broader business strategy. You may also want to consider developing an app for mobile platforms to complement your overall strategy.
- Leverage insiders — Instead of hiring an army of consultants, rely on staff who have intimate knowledge about what works and what doesn’t in their daily operations. It’s easy to see the problems when you’re the one facing them on a daily basis. Remember: happy employees are loyal employees. You don’t want to lose good employees (and their knowledge) to your competitors, which is exactly what can happen if you don’t put their interests first. Try to think of this as a long-term goal. It’s easy to get tunnel vision that puts quarterly profits over long-term growth. Don’t get myopic!
- Design customer experience from the outside in — Any digital transformation efforts must be preceded by a diagnostic phase with in-depth input from customers and/or stakeholders. Indeed, a healthy combination of points 2 and 3 is the best approach for streamlining your business. If you keep people happy on both sides, this will ultimately lead to more desirable outcomes.
- Recognize employees’ fear of being replaced — It’s critical for leaders to recognize fear and resistance from employees. What’s important is to emphasize that the digital transformation process is an opportunity for employees to upgrade their expertise to suit the marketplace of the future.
- Bring Silicon Valley start-up culture inside — Start-ups are known for their agile decision making, rapid prototyping and flat structures. The digital transformation process is inherently uncertain: changes need to be made provisionally, decisions need to be made quickly, and groups from all over the organization need to get involved. As a result, traditional hierarchies get in the way. Prioritize common sense rather than rigid rules that slow down improvement.
People-first Transformation and Digital Transformation: Two Sides of the Same Coin
An oft-cited case for the perfect marriage of people-first transformation and digital transformation is the case of Air New Zealand. Within a decade, the fledgling airline went from recording its biggest financial loss in history to being recognized as one of the world’s best airlines and shedding its financial woes.
Effectively, the company sought to roll out the red carpet not just for its passengers but everyone it worked with. Air New Zealand used a data-driven approach that worked in combination with a people-first approach as opposed to in spite of it. In 2020, Air New Zealand expanded its data-driven approach to include computer vision, ostensibly leveraging the massive potential of artificial intelligence by using Assaia Apron AI technology. By using AI-equipped cameras to record key aircraft actions on the ground, they were able to make predictions for future operational needs.
When asked about how employees factored into the approach, Air New Zealand’s Chief Digital Officer at the time, Avi Golan, said: “The focus was about talent. We spent 20 percent of our time interviewing other talent.” He added that “the goal is to find the ‘10x’ employees. These are employees who perform 10 times better than other employees.”
So how does technology actually help speed up digital transformation?
Star Trek envisioned smart tablets and virtual reality; Apple and Oculus made each one famous, respectively. Fictional character Dick Tracy popularized the smartwatch more than 50 years before they hit the market, and the same character is also said to have inspired the invention of the mobile phone itself.
In other words, we often imagine things before the technology has been sufficiently developed to make them a reality. But visionaries and entrepreneurs saw the potential in prioritizing the human experience and figuring out the technology to make it happen. This is what Apple was famous for. Before the iPod was invented, Steve Jobs basically said: we need a thousand songs in my pocket; how can we make that happen?
We could still be using floppy disks today if it wasn’t for people who said… “You know what? I think we can do better than this.“ Rather than continuing to cram more bytes of data in an obsolete medium, people sought to invent and champion brand-new portable storage devices. Put the user experience first, and then work backwards.
Figuring out the pain points
By focusing on quality over quantity when it comes to your workers and data, you can figure out the so-called “pain points” in the user experience, and you will increase customer satisfaction and ultimately post bigger profits. This is why big companies do surveys and user testing: happy customers = paying customers = healthy profits. It is in any company’s best financial interest to keep people happy. As the cliche goes: the customer is always right.
About the author:Bojan is the Head of Marketing at Infinum, an award-winning agency that helps companies transform their business with digital products. He graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology and has had his head wrapped around digital ever since. With experience in automotive, scientific publishing, FMCG and IT industries, he enjoys discovering new ways to reinvent products and services with technology.