Findings collected prior to COVID-19 shed light on cultural and workforce challenges companies are facing

TEKsystems, a provider of IT services that address the pressing strategy, implementation and talent needs for more than 80% of the Fortune 500, released data compiled prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that sheds light on the cultural and workforce-related challenges companies face when implementing digital transformation initiatives.

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For many organizations, digital initiatives in the pipeline became swift realities over the past several weeks. New ways of working today have heightened companies’ reliance on digital platforms and have accelerated how they activate and deploy these technologies. Companies have had to pivot how employees work and collaborate in a widespread remote working environment. Now more than ever, understanding digital platforms and change management capabilities—the true drivers of digital transformation—is critical to thrive and sustain business continuity.

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The report, which is based on the results of a TEKsystems survey conducted in late 2019 of more than 500 technology and business decision-makers, reveals three key recommendations for digital transformation:

• Align expectations: Break down organizational silos. Organizations that fail to align expectations will be slow to scale and respond in crisis. Secure consensus and conviction among senior leaders regarding digital transformation goals.
• Reimagine your digital workforce: Identify the skills and expertise required to execute digital transformation efforts, determine how workforce models should align to digital business, and define what’s needed to work in a remote environment. That includes how leaders onboard and train virtual teams. It also includes the expertise to deploy digital platforms that enable remote work.
• Don’t underestimate organizational change efforts: Cultivate a culture that embraces change and agility. Companies that develop a culture that embraces agility and executes sound change management principles can reduce risk and ensure business continuity in the event of a large-scale market disruption.

Our findings correspond with what many companies are realizing today in the age of COVID-19. In order to be effective at digital transformation, companies must attain a deep understanding of the obstacles at hand, align their business priorities and workforce abilities, and cultivate a culture that embraces change and agility.

Find alignment in digital transformation expectations between executives and workforce

There’s a significant disconnect in digital transformation expectations between executives investing and the workforce implementing changes when it comes to ROI and top-line growth, according to the survey findings. On average, the C-suite expects a 41% increase in top-line growth as a result of their digital transformation efforts, whereas other decision-makers in the organization only expect a 26% increase.

Reimagine your digital workforce

The TEKsystems report found that many digital leaders believe that the technical talent needed in the new decade simply doesn’t exist, or at least not in the volume that the enterprise needs in order to drive digital initiatives forward.

• Nine out of 10 organizations believe they need at least some new types of talent.
• Two out of five companies don’t believe they have the expertise to succeed with their digital transformation initiatives

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Don’t overlook the cultural implications of digital transformation that require a shift in mindsets and ways of working

Digital leaders set themselves apart and create a clear competitive advantage by implementing the right technologies at the right time with a specific strategy and clear roadmap.

• The biggest challenge to digital transformation was a complexity of current environment/siloed mindset and behavior (39%). Competing tech priorities came in second as the largest issue (32%).

Other key findings include:

• One in three digital leaders invest more than $10 million a year on the digital technologies that enable digital transformation initiatives.
• Improving customer experience and engagement is the top (72%) goal fueling digital transformation efforts, scoring higher than reducing operational inefficiency (48%), and replacing/upgrading legacy IT systems (47%).

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