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Digital transformation: a great start?

Ilse Leen Learning Specialist

Well begun is half done for a solid learning strategy

I recently read an article by McKinsey Quarterly about the digital transformation of society and how this is affecting the digitization of organizations. It turns out that companies don’t transition as easily as one may think. In 2016, only 40% of companies across different sectors had actually implemented digitization. That means that many companies have barely scratched the surface in making serious business of their digital resources. So far, the entertainment industry is the only field where digital has become mainstream; they are leading the way, while everybody else is far behind.

Are you a winner or a loser?

Digitization of your organization is crucial in the once-in-a-lifetime technology shift that’s currently happening across the world. By developing effective digital strategies, companies can work more efficiently and increase their profits.

But it’s more pressing that you may think. Most companies have to deal with their competition being miles ahead of them, seeing how those parties are digital first in offering solutions or products to their clients. That means those competitors are ahead of the curve in the mobile app economy, they’re building on social communities and are growing thanks to influencer marketing. The competition therefore is a set of true disruptors, as they don’t just change the market but redefine how it works. Think about Airbnb, Uber, Netflix, Tesla – or, as in the Netherlands, grocery delivery service Picnic. When your traditional business is unable to transform, or you’re held back because you’re only ‘moderately digital’, you’ll end up in trouble real fast, McKinsey predicts.

"The average- and bottom-performing quartiles will feel the most pain as digital further separates winners from losers.”

Learning about spaghetti and devops

An increasing number of companies has woken up over the past couple of years. They can see – or even feel – the pressing need to change their business with digitization. That doesn’t just mean developing a new digital strategy. Changing the knowledge, skills and behavior of your employees is also a crucial part of keeping up. Hello, solid learning strategy!

We’ve received a lot of questions about this topic. Sometimes very straight-forward (How can I make sure that the company-wide implementation of our CRM-system will happen without a hitch?), at other times regarding complex matter (Our IT-architecture is a bunch of legacy-spaghetti and we’re pretty much stuck in our place. Help us absorb the new strategy and change the mindset of our people.)

We see a wide array of topics mentioned: ranging from private cloud and data security to omnichannel strategy and service-based architecture. Trends such as AI, machine learning, robotics and blockchain, but also process-based transformations for Agile, Continuous Integration & Delivery and DevOps.

We clearly see there’s a need to work smarter (how do algorithms work?) and more social (how can you work together in a digital company?).

Sometimes our role will go a lot further than implementing a strong learning strategy. We can be a true catalyst for change during times when we help to sharpen both vision and strategy, making the way forward easier to tread upon when some key decisions are made.

Want to lead the pack?

Transformation as a company is something that happens from inside to the outside world – to your clients. But it also happens on the inside of your company. Learning doesn’t merely help you to transform your business: learning itself means starting the entire process of transformation.

How can we be the catalyst your organization needs?