Why you should consider your employees when digitizing

Digital transformation is no problem from a technical perspective—provided you work with a reasonably open IT platform that can be flexibly expanded and networked. Although the potential of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence or the Internet of Things (IoT) is far from exhausted, the solutions are known, mature and manageable. As a result, digitalization projects rarely fail due to technology. The problem is more on the human side, in other words, the “how” to deal with the challenge. 

Blind actionism keeps you just as far away from the goal as hesitation and procrastination. Rather, three factors are crucial for success: a vision of how business models work in a digital world, the goals derived from this, and the people who will in future be working with digital technologies in digital processes. However, if your team is hesitant to accept the changes that will result, it may all be jeopardized. If the transformation is to succeed, everyone involved should be committed, actively engage with how things stand, and develop creative ideas. So it is better to try to win over and inspire your team. Not an easy undertaking, as many people are skeptical about this kind of development and are fearful of finding their place in the digital working world. On closer inspection, you have the coherent arguments on your side—provided you communicate them from the very outset.

For most people, digitalization presents more opportunities than risks. It is best to start with routine activities. These processes are often easy to digitize and promise high economies of scale. If these sorts of tasks are carried out by machines in the future, any grief for their passing is likely to be short-lived. Who wants to do the same thing day in, day out anyway? Instead, digital technologies relieve your employees of the mundane and create space for creativity, innovation and conception. Employees will find the time to develop and implement their own ideas. Their jobs will be more interesting, more varied and more challenging. There should therefore be few hurdles to leap to win people over.

Modern, cloud-based workstations also provide more flexibility. Whereas you used to always have to be at the office to access the operational infrastructure, your employees can now work in the digital world at any time and from any place. This contributes to a better work/family/leisure time balance. For example, commuters can work from home and save time on tortuous commuting days.

The digital transformation has what it takes to positively change the working environment of many people. However, there is no automatic mechanism to achieve this. Everything rests on how your company deals with digitalization and organizes this change process. This also includes taking any side effects seriously and reacting quickly—three examples:

• Problem: when modern technologies are used for process automation, this can lead to more complexity, higher job requirements and additional responsibility.
  Solution: upskill your employees so that they can even master complex, IT-supported work processes. Make sure that digitizing individual positions does not result in an excessive build-up of work.
• Problem: flexible working means that employees are always available. The boundaries between professional and private life get blurred, so relaxation periods are shorter.
  Solution: agreements on working hours and on-call time will clarify company expectations and protect relaxation periods.
• Problem: automated processes and flexible working-time models limit interpersonal contact.
  Solution: meetings, working groups and coordination meetings promote communication and togetherness and make sure everyone keeps a holistic view of the overall process. 

Digital transformation is primarily concerned with transformation. Digital technologies as tools only come into play as a secondary consideration. This is why it is so important that your employees support digitalization projects. If we succeed in communicating the many advantages of the change process, the opportunities are great. In fact, digitalization is unlikely to lead to job losses in any more than a few cases, because

1. New fields of activity emerge elsewhere.
2. Companies in the process of digitalization rely on employees with experience in the industry.
3. Demographic development means that vacancies cannot be adequately filled in the short term.

Instead, many jobs are expected to be upgraded. In the end, tasks will become more demanding and will be associated with more freedom of design and responsibility. At the same time, digital technologies pave the way for more flexible working models. If you do everything right, your employees will number themselves among the beneficiaries of digitalization.

Do you want to know more about how to bring your employees with you on the journey to digitalization? Then just leave us your contact details, give us a call, or send us an email. Then we can talk with you about what the change process in your company could look like.