Most organizations focus too much on integrating the latest technology in their business processes, and too little on improving the overall employee experience. As a result, it isn’t surprising that despite companies spending $720 million globally on employee engagement initiatives, only 13 percent of employees are actually engaged.
Every successful digital transformation strategy is about making technological, cultural, and physical changes in an organization in order to improve employee engagement
Technology undoubtedly plays a pivotal role in digital transformation, but it can only be useful if it is able to solve the changing needs of employees. Companies that successfully implement digital transformation are the ones which focus on employee experience and choose the right technologies, for example, the right intranet solution.
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation is integrating technology in all the internal processes of an organization in order to change how the company delivers value to its customers. It is a cultural change that involves digitizing business processes as the organization moves away from paper-based and siloed legacy systems.
While it can seem daunting to change long standing business processes the company was built on, digital transformation is now crucial for businesses if they want to stay relevant and get ahead of the competition.
From enterprises to startups and SMBs, companies are now readily implementing digital transformation initiatives to improve efficiency, save costs, and provide better services to their customers.
It is also important to remember that digital transformation cannot happen overnight. It is a multi-step process that can take anything from weeks to months. The key to successful digital transformation is empowering employees by implementing technology that can adapt to constantly changing employee requirements.
Why employee engagement should be a priority for organizations
1. Aligning talent with the right technologies
To support digital transformation initiatives, organizations need the right people with the right skills. After all, the digital experiences of employees can shape their overall view of the company. If employees are bogged down by too much manual work and are left to using incompetent or underperforming tools that create more probelms than they can solve, it can lead to decreased employee engagement and make it difficult for organizations to retain talent.
Similarly, when candidates are planning to consider a job offer, they take note of the different technologies and applications that the company uses to support their employees’ daily work needs.
Potential employees form an opinion about the company’s digital experiences right from their first point of contact with the HR team. After all, the recruiting and onboarding processes of a company are a reflection of its culture. If you don’t have the right technology to support the internal operations of your organization, it can become very difficult to hire and retain better talent.
2. Putting employees first
Most companies want to take a customer centric approach to digital transformation, but they often forget that it is employees who deliver customer experiences. If companies want to transform their customer experience, it needs to start with an optimum employee experience.
Business leaders need to have open discussions with employees to understand the current issues and bottlenecks they face and what technologies or applications can help them deal with existing problems.
Just implementing the latest technology is not enough; you need to invest in a technology that can help employees perform better at work.
In fact, organizations where senior executives readily communicate with employees across all the levels are 8 times more likely to achieve digital transformation success, as compared to those that don’t.
3. Higher engagement leaders to higher revenue
According to a report on employee engagement in the US, disengaged employees can cost organizations $450-550 billion every year. There is a significant correlation between engaged employees, company revenue, and its overall success.
By considering employee engagement as an integral part of the digital transformation strategy, companies can improve productivity and revenue as well.
A successful transformation needs engaged employees
Employees are an essential part of successful digital transformation. Implementing the right technologies that can help employees manage their day to day work responsibilities more seamlessly can improve employee engagement and allow them to deliver more valuable work. Creating a culture that encourages a digital mindset also allows organizations to improve their digital maturity and customer experience.
This Article is written by Susan Leonard, Associate Director – HR, Kissflow
