How To Train Employees To Foster Digital Transformation in Your Business?

With technology advancing at an unprecedented pace and the need for organizations to gain optimum efficiency and productivity, digital transformation is taking businesses by storm.

When it comes to digital transformation, employees are the most crucial stakeholders that drive the digital change in organizations. It is critical to encourage and motivate them as the better employees embrace the cultural and functional shift, the better are the chances of your organization succeeding at its digital transformation initiatives.

When it comes to getting employees ready for the digital change, organizations mostly focus on hiring new talent who have a good hang of the latest technologies and can drive your organization into the transformation seamlessly. But it is important that as you adopt the digital transformation services and embrace the latest technologies, you do not lose the engagement of older and senior employees. As you lose their engagement, you lose their knowledge and years of experience and insight.

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So, how to get your employees ready for the digital transformation of your business? Let’s find out below.

Address concerns and answer the “why”?

First and foremost, engage your employees and get ready to answer a lot of questions. Since digital transformation affects the daily working of employees, it’s natural for them to ask questions like,

• Is my job safe?
• How will the change impact me?
• What if I am unable to cope up with the changes?

Once you have addressed all the concerns of your employees, the next step includes making them understand the larger picture behind digital transformation. The “why” behind your organization’s digital transformation initiatives, be it improving productivity, boosting profit or something else, needs to be explained effectively. You also need to communicate clearly that every employee must get onboard and be on the same page, as everybody will have a key role to play in successful innovation.

Lead by example –

Start by encouraging your senior staff to embrace the use of the latest digital platforms and channels. Encouraging the senior members to explore the possibilities of new digital platforms and trends, allows them to build their own digital strategies and roadmaps for their departments. It also sets an example for other team members to experiment innovation and embrace a culture of digital growth.

Communicate and collaborate –

No transformation initiative can be successful without proper communication. It is important to keep the floor for discussion always open. The open dialogue should be held at every level of the organization and should involve every employee. Senior members should always take the employees’ views on what digital improvements they would like to see in their surroundings.

For instance, a retail company recently asked its employees their biggest pain-point. The staff shared that the lack of real-time information to answer customers’ queries was their biggest pain-point as they had to make the customers wait while they searched for inventory information. Employees suggested having tablets in place with real-time data availability. Since their input was critical, the senior management implemented the system and the transformation was successful.

Invest in training –

The digital skills gap is a common problem that organizations driving towards digital transformation face. Therefore, it is crucial to implement a thorough training program for employees at all work levels. This will not only help them master the relevant skills but will also reassure them that the technology will transform their lives for the better. This is how you can proceed towards it:

• Evaluate the existing skills of your employees
• Evaluate if you have the right workforce that can handle digital transformation; if not, consider hiring new talent
• Evaluate the programs that will add value to the existing skill set of the employees
• Start offering on-the-job training to employees

Tie digital transformation with career goals –

Another great way to motivate employees is to link digital transformation to their career goals and KPIs. For instance, if an employee is expecting promotion, rather than tying his/her advancement to traditional KPIs, add a related digital goal. This will encourage the employee to embrace digital technology much faster.

Have a detailed rollout plan –

Design a detailed rollout and a deployment plan that allows for transition time while your employees adapt to new technologies. In addition to training, your rollout and deployment plan should incorporate hands-on guidance and feedback sessions through the first few weeks of using the new solution. Here are some ways you can achieve this:

• Stay connected with your team throughout the deployment phase. You can consider having 10-minute stand-ups to keep a pulse on how things are moving.
• If there is a success story in any team, reward it. Capture the lessons learned and share it with other teams. The more you can showcase the positive side of how technology tools are transforming your organization, the easier it will be for employees to embrace change.
• Conduct formal assessments such as surveys, interviews, and town hall meetings to understand how digital transformation is affecting employees. Since digital transformation is a long process that takes months and sometimes years to completely execute, having ongoing feedback can help you refine your strategies.

Ultimately, digital transformation is not just about adopting technology. It is the way a company structures itself, encourages its employees to embrace change, invest in their training, and foster a growth culture in the organization.

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