Cultivating digital cultures
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-11-2019-0083 |
| Published date | 16 December 2019 |
| Date | 16 December 2019 |
| Pages | 2-6 |
| Author | Jeff Kavanaugh |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Viewpoint
Cultivating digital cultures
Jeff Kavanaugh
Today, almost every organization is involved in digital business. A total of 95 per cent
of recent Infosys survey (Infosys KnowledgeInstitute, 2019)[1] respondents say they
are digitally improving their business. But for most of the large companies (with
annual revenues of at least $1bn), digitizing the business is not about disruption or
transformation. Instead,they are using digital technologies to meet focused objectives such
as improving customer experience and increasing productivity. This is contrary to much of
the earlier rhetoric that large companies must quickly make an exponential change to
survive against the digital upstarts.Large, complex organizations do need to transform, but
they have found that the best route is through focused initiatives.They use a combination of
traditional metrics, agile methods and new technology where they are proven to operate at
scale.
However, not all digital initiatives succeed. Digital transformation is multi-dimensional and is
not only about technology. It requires skills, organizational culture, leadership, financial
benefits and all of them have to come together. At the heart of it are people and the culture
that help people thrive to ensure the success of these initiatives. This effort requires that the
most significant pillar of the digital transformation, the employees have the right technical
and soft skills, are engaged with the right work and also empowered to create the digital
culture.
Digital cultures are about ideas, actions, collaboration and flexibility. Developing the right
skills for people and fostering an organizational culture is critical to ensure the success of
digital initiatives.
Soft skills are as important as the technical ones
The digital initiatives require people with sophisticated technical skills. And with more focus
on creating superior customer experiences, soft skills have become just as important as
technical ones.
That is a tall order which requires a unique combination of technical know-how and
emotional intelligence. Contrary to technical skills, which have a shelf life, soft skills once
developed and practiced can continue to improve. These are foundational skills that are
inherent, and many leaders believe they can be developed with the right training and
mentoring.
Teamwork and leadership have become particularly high-value skills in the current fail-fast
environment in which companies are expected to pivot quickly, and employees must
embrace agile ways of working and collaborating with others across cultures, customs and
time zones. Digital transformationprojects are complex and have large-size teams; success
of these projects is hugely dependenton team members exhibiting these qualities.
Soft skills have become so crucial that some businesses use tools to test whether
candidates are well-rounded. For example, AQAL Capital, a German company that invests
Jeff Kavanaugh is based at
Infosys Knowledge
Institute, Infosys Ltd,
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas,
USA.
PAGE 2 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jVOL. 19 NO. 1 2020, pp. 2-6, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 DOI 10.1108/SHR-11-2019-0083
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