Why it starts at the top
Why it starts at the top
1: Close the leadership gap
Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
Digital transformation is not a military strategy, but Sun Tzu’s words will resonate with leaders whose businesses urgently need to change.
Pressure has been building on companies even before 2020. Now, it has become intense as the pandemic focuses minds and balance sheets on digital readiness.
But businesses should not rush their decision-making. For long-term success in digital transformation, they will need a rounded strategy and strong leaders who have a clear and overarching vision for the business.
Strategy needs skills
Many senior executives learned their craft in a pre-digital world, which means some do not always have the skills, background or experience they need to shape their digital transformation strategy.
But leaders can assimilate knowledge from elsewhere in the business and, in doing so, avoid a rush to ad-hoc digital solutions, which may solve immediate problems, but will not move the organisation forward in any coherent way.
Companies lack relevant experience
Only 48% say their company leadership has the right skills, background and knowledge to drive digital transformation
And too often, their approach to strategy is siloed
Only 49% say they have clarity of the overall strategy for digital transformation
Companies need to look ahead to future problems, not just solve current ones
55% say they tend to take a reactive approach to talent for digital transformation, rather than anticipating future needs
Our research finds that organisations urgently need to address this skills problem strategically and from the very top. Ignore it, or tackle it piecemeal, and their digital transformation programs will grind to a halt.
So, how exactly can companies make a digital transformation plan that coordinates talent effectively and fits those skills into a coherent strategy?
Show that leadership is invested
The first step is to give leadership a voice and to make sure that voice is heard by everyone in the organisation.
This requires breaking down the boundaries between functions and connecting everyone with the CEO’s vision.
In practice, this might mean hosting regular virtual or hybrid town hall meetings in which the CEO is in conversation with a leader for a digital initiative. This will show that there is buy-in on digital transformation plans from the very top of the organisation.
You want your subject-matter expert at the C-suite level owning the conversation, but you absolutely want the CEO co-owning it, because it shows it’s part of their overarching company vision.”
Louisa Moreton, Partner, Finsbury Glover Hering
You want your subject-matter expert at the C-suite level owning the conversation, but you absolutely want the CEO co-owning it, because it shows it’s part of their overarching company vision.”
Louisa Moreton, Partner, Finsbury Glover Hering
Show joined-up thinking
A coherent approach to digital strategy requires board-level executives to communicate how their organisation’s digital goals and priorities align with a broader purpose and mission.
“We have a documented and signed-off digital strategy that broadly falls into four areas: digital workplace, data, business services and processes,” says Moira Huggins, Head of Generation IT at EDF. “Digital transformation is all encompassing. The word digital will stop being used before long – it’s going to be business as usual.”
Competition for digital skills is more intense than ever, and companies report a constant need for new skills. At any time, there are thousands of digital projects to execute around the world, but never enough people to work on them.”
Jilko Andringa, CEO, Brunel
Competition for digital skills is more intense than ever, and companies report a constant need for new skills. At any time, there are thousands of digital projects to execute around the world, but never enough people to work on them.”
Jilko Andringa, CEO, Brunel
Why brand and reputation are talent magnets
Josh Serfass, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at mining exploration and development company, Integra Resources, says his industry can be an important enabler of digital transformation by supplying the materials needed for new technologies, such as solar panels or batteries.
But mining sometimes has an image problem: people see it as carbon-intensive and damaging to the environment. Serfass believes that a bold stance from company leadership on the sector’s digital mission could help to attract talent that stays.
Integra Resources, for instance, has joined the CleanTech Alliance – one of the few companies in mining to do so. “It allows us to attract and retain people,” says Serfass. “Because it shows them that we’re doing things differently.”
“Younger generations want a job where they are working for a company that they believe is trying to be a positive contributor to the world,” he says.
Create a cross-functional team of leaders
Research from McKinsey finds that “it isn’t sufficient for companies to have a single technology leader responsible for driving a top-performing and digitally-enabled business strategy”.
Effective digital transformation is a team sport. It requires leadership teams that span multiple disciplines and that come from a variety of backgrounds. The complexity of transformation demands a breadth of capabilities and diverse technical and soft skills.
A collective approach, where technology capabilities are not concentrated in a single person – or team – will help companies compete. And when that collective approach starts right at the top, that is half the battle won.
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