Research shows that technology investments alone are not enough to bring about meaningful digital transformation.
But when given the cultural equivalent of technological change, and with a consistent emphasis on alignment with organizational strategy, a business change initiative can boost revenue by as much as 44% in a year . Telstra , the telecommunications service provider, came to this conclusion after conducting a survey of 301 British IT and security professionals.
Diana Kearns-Manolatos, global head of digital transformation research at management consultancy Deloitte Center for Integrated Research, agrees. She defines digital transformation as " the use of technology to continuously develop and reshape business capabilities . "
But in her view, the most important thing to " maximize value creation " is " strike the right balance between business strategy, technology enablement and cultural change. "
Kearns-Manolatos describes these three points as the " three pillars " of success .
Rob Robinson, head of technology services provider Telstra Purple , put it more bluntly. In his view, any practice that doesn't " fully align from a cultural and technical standpoint " will inevitably " negatively impact return on investment and existing processes . " That said, " maintaining alignment is critical " .
On the other hand, more than three-quarters ( 77% ) of survey respondents believe that technology plays a key role in enhancing or transforming ( 82% ) corporate culture. Other equally critical factors included training ( 29% ), staffing resource allocation ( 27% ) and facilitating collaboration ( 26% ).
The importance of change management
In other words, change management cannot be ignored if transformation is to be truly embedded in operational processes and employee behaviour.
Matt Williams , Telstra 's general manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa , believes it is " not enough " for IT teams to simply assume that change is coming . Instead, " the entire organization must be aligned to embark on the transformation journey together. "
One of the most important considerations is how the business can improve conversation efficiency at every level.
Camille Mendler , Principal Analyst, Service Provider Enterprise, Omdia , said, “ This consideration has to be at all levels to determine what is working, what is not, and where to start building new ideas and new opportunities to improve efficiency. For example, field workers can Gets the least amount of budget, but is often an important target for productivity improvements. ”
If you can fully exchange opinions and discuss work with suppliers, you can also get similar value returns. According to Mendler , " The most successful companies in the digital field have set extremely high requirements in terms of communication with suppliers. This is by no means a purely buying and selling relationship, but a highly interactive cooperative relationship. "
true value of culture
The problem, says Kearns-Manolatos , is that too many organizations fail to defend their judgment and end up getting lost in the lure of a purely technology-driven digital strategy.
“ While most organizations understand that technology strategy alone should not drive business goals, they fall into the trap of “what should our AI strategy be?” or “do we need to hit the metaverse?” To complicate matters further, each C -level executive in the organization has different areas of focus, and their goals may conflict, diverge, or even compete with one another. "
Therefore, Kearns-Manolatos recommends developing a " universal language " to ensure that everyone can use the same terms to discuss the same " technology-agnostic directives " to accurately express digital transformation. This approach helps remove an over-reliance on " hot " technologies or methodologies (such as Agile) and prevents departments from saying nothing but nodding.
Other common pitfalls include introducing " grand, overly complex schemes , " or " failing to audit sufficiently to understand where assets are located, " Mendler added .
But Kearns-Manolatos also acknowledges that " value is a highly individualized concept " and that " decisions that are valuable to one do not imply value to others " . From this perspective, each organization's approach to value should be based on its risk profile, while investment decisions should take into account " specific business objectives, measures and constraints. "
In her opinion, " To successfully move forward in a turbulent and uncertain changing world, the most important thing is to find a solid and stable "North Star" that will always point the way. Including the unity of purpose, the values of the way of execution, and even the clear and clear definition and articulation of instructions ” This is where the real value of culture change lies.
Let’s look at two examples of organizations that valued cultural values during the digital transformation phase:
Case Study: Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer has always aimed to improve the skills of employees and establish a broad digital culture, hoping to grow into the most data-driven retailer in the industry.
The transformation began in 2019 when new chief digital and data officer (now digital and technology officer) Jeremy Pee became head of enterprise data and launched the 'Beam' strategy. The goal of this move is to help the company " achieve a leadership position in the field of data-driven and digitalization . "
The strategy has three components, each of which is weighted equally. The first is to use the right technology to ensure that users can access the information they need. This involved adopting Databricks data warehouse and business intelligence tools on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform .
The second part is to ensure that employees at all levels can acquire effective data processing skills in the context of increasing digitalization. As for the third part, it is to deliver value through data, so that company leaders can establish the habit and sensitivity of using data to solve problems and promote business.
During this time, Marks & Spencer also established a centralized data science team focused on customer data and enterprise data. The former has been more mature, centered around the company's Sparks loyalty program, personalized marketing campaigns and digital customer journeys.
The more people buy, the more data companies get, which is a huge benefit to businesses. With a rich accumulation of data, companies can use it to add value and solve specific problems.
The Importance of Culture and Attitudes
In 2020 , Marks & Spencer also launched the BEAM Academy, hoping to broadly improve the skills of employees in various data and digital fields. To this end, they have prepared tailor-made training content for three main study groups:
Practitioners, including data scientists, analysts, and engineers. The focus is on mastering the skills and technologies needed to drive a data culture.
Leaders, they need to learn how to lead their teams in a data-driven way.
Support centers and in-store associates. In early January of that year, a three-hour training session on digital fundamentals for support center staff officially landed on future.now . In April of the same year, Marks & Spencer launched a version of the two-hour course for in-store employees. The goal is to help them understand the company's digital strategy, the business benefits of the Sparks initiative, and each employee's role in it.
Much of this has to do with mindset and culture. Courses appear to build skills and skills, but they actually teach employees to think and act differently —and that’s the real focus of the training.
The academy also hosts regular events, including hackathons, which bring together staff from different disciplines and business units. Through such activities, participants learn by doing, developing a more experimental way of thinking and problem-solving in groups.
Beam also acts as a branding effect in the company, allowing employees to connect with data as soon as they hear it, thereby lowering the threshold for communication.
As for why all data training activities should be classified under the name "Beam" , it is because Marks & Spencer found that people particularly like this word.
The company said that the word Beam is not an ordinary acronym, but expresses a more abstract way of thinking, just like the feeling of a beam of light hitting data.
What's more, Marks & Spencer 's plan is far from a one-off initiative, but rather an increasing emphasis on this alignment and convergence as data becomes embedded in the core of business and decision-making.
Case study: Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trusts
Introducing a more collaborative culture was key to automating the treatment referral process for Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust.
The aim of the scheme is to improve the quality of care patients receive in the Trust's musculoskeletal ( MSK ) physiotherapy services. Due to issues such as organizational boundaries and historical funding allocations, patient wait times typically range from 6 weeks to 26 weeks, depending on where people live.
In addition, 3,000 referrals are rejected each year for lack of necessary clinical information, such as x- rays. Some patients were also referred to the wrong clinician or server, causing the whole process to start all over again.
To address these issues, Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust launched a plan to replace traditional paper-based referrals with a digital process. The aim is to allow clinicians - including GPs, primary care physicians, consultants and physiotherapists - to safely and efficiently share patient electronic medical records with the support of the Fund's single triage team.
In order to break the traditional siled workflow and ensure that all stakeholders can participate in the clinical pathways supported by the new system, the fund also established the North East London MSK Alliance, represented by members of the local NHS trust and integrated care committee .
NEC Rego, an AI -based referral management platform , will subsequently go live in October 2022 , supported by the DigitalHealth.London Digital Pioneer Grant Scheme . The platform is integrated with the local general practice patient management system, and can pre-fill (authorized adult) patient records and scan result information for clinicians to ensure that all data required for the referral process are prepared in advance.
Further integration with the NHS Electronic Referral Service's national appointment system means the platform is able to identify the correct patient service based on clinical information and send the conclusions to the triage team for approval.
The value of communication and collaboration
But Rebecca Coughlan , Therapy Manager of the Trust's Outpatient Services , said a key prerequisite for getting the plan right was ensuring " clear lines of communication " between GPs, consultants, physiotherapists and ICB members from the start . This " can make everyone's work easier . "
“ You can buy the best technology in the world, but if people don’t understand it, don’t like it, or don’t feel the value in it, they’re not going to use it. We spend a lot of time talking to teams and letting them Feeling part of a wider system of cooperation - this is very important for the success of the project and the smooth functioning of the system. ”
So far, the new system has halved the processing time for the triage team, increased the accuracy of recommendations by 70% , and shortened the waiting period by more than a month.
Additionally, GPs can now complete referral forms with auto-loaded clinical file attachments during patient consultations in less than a minute and a half. This equates to a saving of 3.5 minutes per patient, with an estimated total time savings of 3,000 hours a year — equivalent to a practitioner's full yearly workload.
The next step is to establish a clinical review panel established by members of the task force to specifically assess the effectiveness of each pathway and ensure that it meets the stated goals.
The trust is also exploring the possibility of rolling out similar automated systems for other departments.