I decided to write about HR Digital Transformation primarily because of the many questions I receive about HR technology and what the company should be doing about it.
The fact is companies are always looking for ways to improve productivity and efficiency and generally believe that technology is central to achieving these goals. However, there is constant pressure to evaluate what the company should be doing with technology and which areas should have the highest priority. With so much pressure and change, I have witnessed a high degree of "tech fatigue" among business executives.
There seems to be a constant worry about the budget for technology versus the budget for the primary function of the department. There is a tendency with tech to kick the can down the road, and when change is forced, the cost to catch up is greater than expected, resulting in short-term fixes and lack of commitment.
Unfortunately, the pace of technology change is only going to accelerate. So, rather than resist change, the most successful managers and executives will be those who openly embrace it. This requires a paradigm change in thinking. On the budget issue, it should not be one versus the other. It should be one and the same.
Generally, even when change comes faster, it is still evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Managing change requires a constant effort to monitor the current state of technology advancement and to look for obtainable but continuous steps to implement as part of an on-going digital strategy.
The monitoring process requires not only the IT department, which should be charged with the leadership of this strategy, but also technology-minded leaders in all business departments. For smaller companies, the tech-minded business leadership role can be shared or even partially outsourced to a trusted business partner. In fact, regardless of size, having an external trusted technology advisor is highly recommended. This is becoming so critical, that often a board of directors' position is reserved for such an advisor.
"Unfortunately, change is only going to accelerate. So, rather than resist the change, the most successful managers and executives will be those who openly embrace it."
The point is to have a well thought out digital strategy with critical support from business leadership, from the top to all business managers.
The strategy, while dynamic, must have a future view of the state of the department, business unit and company, aligned at all levels and functions. Essentially, any successful strategy must have a direction and a goal. For HR Digital Transformation, this is also true.
My purpose in writing this collection of short articles is to help educate, provide context and provoke conversation around my point of view (POV) about HR Digital Transformation, in the hope that it will prime the proverbial pump to get the business to "think digitally."
In a 6-part series, I discuss the topics relating to HR Digital Transformation from hopefully a somewhat new perspective. Here is a listing of the topics. I hope they prove to be informative and useful.
