The right people and the right processes are crucial to successful digital transformation. It’s not just about the right technology.
The war for talent
Rethink your hiring strategy: digitalisation projects require new skills. To fill the gap in an increasingly competitive market, companies must have innovative hiring strategies that cater for individuals with different concepts of company loyalty, longevity and career development. Those with in-demand skills command higher salaries and are harder to retain. The location of these new employees and how their roles fit into the wider global organisation can also raise challenges with related tax and legal implications that need to be considered. Think about alternative forms of remuneration, benefits and retention terms that will attract and retain the best people.
Protect knowledge: your team members could radically change as you digitalise your business. When talent moves on, you must ensure confidential information is protected and knowledge is retained. Team defection could be a huge setback for your transformation project. Put in place measures to ensure all proprietary know-how and trade secrets, strategic plans and confidential business information is protected.
The third-party conundrum and the need for clarity
Collaboration with third parties can provide you with the right skills. But be sure to establish the terms of your relationship at the start to ensure an effective partnership that delivers agreed value.
Partnering is not risk free. You may face legal issues relating to IP rights and ownership, data protection and compliance as well as commercial challenges involving contributions and collaborations, exclusivity, termination and exit strategy. Plan for these so you’ve covered all eventualities.
“To get maximum value from your investment, it’s essential to have clarity on the fundamental IP and confidentiality terms that will underpin your collaboration, and to find the right balance with the collaborator’s need to use and share information on opensource and community projects.”
- Frédérique Potin, Of Counsel
Achieving a digital cultural shift
- Align the team: internal alignment across departments and business units will help the team to speak with one voice and avoid inconsistent messages. Not everyone will have digital experience, but they must all understand the challenges, objectives and approach.
- Acquire talent: the recent trend of acqui-hires, where one company purchases another purely for its employees’ expertise, can be challenging. How you retain key staff and acknowledge differences in mindset, working practices and culture must be carefully considered to avoid unwanted negativity, distrust and high churn. In addition, diversity and inclusion objectives could be altered and should be reassessed.
- Conduct a cultural audit: to achieve a digital cultural shift, employees need to be empowered and included in the change process. Money, time and effort can be wasted where lack of integration leads to low or no engagement.
- Conquer digital barriers: the ability and willingness of your people to adopt and accept new technologies is crucial. If they fight against it, your digitalisation journey will be at risk. A change programme that trains staff, shares best practice and defines efficient processes will reduce the risk of this not happening.
- Dedicate resources to change: reskilling and upskilling is a key step in any digital transformation journey. But to make this a success, your people must be willing to embrace change. Help them on their own journeys through promoting best practice, training and practical guidance.
- Use professionals: an internal or external change manager is an essential part of any digitalisation project. The skills they bring will not only drive a robust methodology, structure and process but they will also increase employee adoption and help to measure success.
“There are numerous examples from around the business of teams pivoting to work in a different way (e.g. our retail stores giving now a digital customer journey). Those kinds of stories have given BT a clear idea of the speed which we can move and the way we can transform internally, where there is a real common purpose as to what we’re trying to achieve.”
– Edward Heaton, Legal Director, Corporate Transactions at BT
Involving HR and legal right from the start
The above challenges should be addressed carefully at the very start. Not including HR and legal in strategic discussions and initial plans will prove costly. They must be part of the solution. Critical to the success of change projects is ensuring workforce communications, restructuring, talent management, and reskilling are included in the project plan. Failing to include these teams and elements from the outset could slow down or derail your digital transformation project.
Law+: understanding culture
Our data scientists and legal engineers turn your data into dashboards providing easy to use and accurate insights into organisational culture, including diversity and inclusion but also priority conduct risk indicators. Data driven insights help you to proactively manage risks and promote a positive culture in your business.
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