Digital Transformation:
Delivering a Future Proof Business
CIOs at Fortune 50 companies have spoken about digital transformation as a means to future proof business for the better part of a decade. And now, after the forcing function of COVID-19, everyone gets it as they strive to keep their teams productive while working remotely. “It’s a place where you’re moving faster, making better decisions, and competing in the digital era,” says ServiceNow’s Chris Pope. It affects every part of the business, from operators to legal to HR. Executives are focused on protecting revenue, ensuring business continuity, and driving productivity. Companies like ServiceNow, which help IT teams create great experiences for employees, have a leg up in this environment, when everyone needs to come together virtually.
As a result of more consistent communication and productivity, digitally transformed teams have more easily shifted to protecting revenue… and ensured business continuity.
Protecting Revenue
The jolt of a stopped economy instantly shifted executives’ mindsets from growing to protecting revenue. Companies with leaders who challenged static workflows and executed a successful digital transformation pre-COVID-19 – think transitioning employees to Office 365, leveraging ServiceNow, adopting Webex/Jabber (or even Slack), and there are many more examples – have had a distinct productivity advantage in today’s remote work environment. These executives got a head start driving digital change throughout the business… and employees got a head start understanding how to use the new tools, including collaborating in an asynchronous communication world. As a result of more consistent communication and productivity, these digitally transformed teams have more easily shifted to protecting revenue… and ensured business continuity.
Without employee adoption, big budget technology programs intended to deliver big savings result in a big loss. CIOs cannot afford to ignore employee communication and cultural needs.
Ensuring Business Continuity
On the whole, employees at the lucky companies with CIOs that had completed digital transformation transitioned relatively seamlessly to “micro offices” at home. These executives had the luxury of planning for much of the inevitable disruption while employees were in centralized locations (AKA offices) to ask questions. Today, their CIOs seem downright prescient. The opportunities for building community in person and asking questions face-to-face had their advantages. Yet, even these companies still have employees with a skills gap and most are still in the midst of the collaboration change management and shift to an asynchronous communication culture. Moreover, many CIOs see the need for an ongoing focus on cultural change management and have established Workplace Experience teams to better serve employees.
Companies with leaders who challenged static workflows and executed a successful digital transformation pre-COVID-19 – think transitioning employees to Office 365, leveraging ServiceNow, adopting Webex/Jabber (or even Slack), and there are many more examples – have had a distinct productivity advantage in today’s remote work environment.
Driving Productivity
Like with any transition, it takes time and training to help teams learn how to effectively communicate across new platforms. There’s an adjustment period. To speed up the transition process, CIOs with successful digitally transformed businesses have typically created new departments focused on Employee Workplace Experience (AKA Customer Experience) to keep productivity and revenue high, while improving efficiency. Workplace Experience teams strive to proactively communicate and educate their employee bases. Without employee adoption, big budget technology programs intended to deliver big savings result in a big loss. CIOs cannot afford to ignore employee communication and cultural needs. The CIOs from the Fortune 50 who successfully transformed their businesses for today’s digital world know this… and are still focused on driving adoption for their programs.
Ellebridge Optimizes Workplace Experience
Ellebridge helps these teams drive effective adoption of technology programs by partnering with HR and internal communications teams. We translate “tech speak” into easy-to-understand communications that increase employee productivity.
Many companies are still in the midst of their digital transformation – and that’s OK. While rife with complexity, the work from home scenario can still offer CIOs significant wins.
Ellebridge Can Help
Want to lead your technology team to big wins for your business? Ellebridge can help. Contact us to learn how we can help your team transition from reactive to proactive.