Enterprises need to build human resources who share the same vision and beliefs, and cooperate with new technology solutions for successful digital transformation.
Dr. Le Hung Cuong, Deputy General Director of FPT Digital (a subsidiary of FPT Corporation) said that the key thing when executing digital transformation is to ensure a close connection between business, technology and people.
“This connection in businesses is clearer and clearer after more than two years of adapting to the pandemic in a working environment that combines online and in-person,” emphasized Mr. Cuong.
However, according to a survey of more than 1,000 businesses on Digital Transformation 2021 by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the digital transformation barrier of most businesses is related to human resources. Specifically, 30% of enterprises lack the commitment and companionship of all levels of personnel, 52% of enterprises lack internal human resources and it is difficult to change business habits and practices. The problem of building cohesive personnel in the process of digital transformation and having enough digital capabilities becomes more urgent than ever because businesses need to grasp new opportunities in today’s volatile environment.
In the digital transformation process, people play a leading role and participate directly, from planning the roadmap to implementing and performing. Therefore, it is also possible to understand why most of the barriers in digital transformation are related to the human factor.
Barriers to consensus building
The lack of commitment and companionship occurs when personnel at all levels may not be able to share and fully grasp information; do not properly understand or agree on the reasons, strategies and goals that their businesses need to transform, leading to low determination and the risk of program breakage.
Digital transformation is a long-term journey, so it is imperative that businesses prepare their human resources carefully. Along with the requirements for knowledge and experience, it is necessary to have high consensus and determination from leaders to employees at all levels and stakeholders. However, the larger the enterprise, the more difficult and complicated it is to build consensus. Therefore, raising awareness and vision of digital transformation for all corporate personnel, going from senior leadership to middle management to “play the leading role” is the first action if businesses wants to lay a solid foundation in the digital transformation journey.
Difficulties in building digital capacity
In digital transformation, technology creates a digital working environment in which the working method as well as the work completion evaluation criteria of each individual, each department will be much faster, more transparent and flexible. The tasks are constantly updated, giving a picture of the production and business activities immediately, so it will be very effective if people and technology cooperate two-way. This requires changing old habits and habits to be ready to promote in the new environment.
Dr. Nguyen Huu Hung Cuong, Consulting Director of FPT Digital shared, in the two-way interaction between technology and people of the digital transformation process towards business goals, it is necessary to assess the level of digital maturity for businesses with changes in business practices and digital capabilities.
“To do this, we use 139 evaluation criteria, of which more than 50% are related to people from the angles from corporate culture, customer service to operational strategy and operating mechanism”, Mr. Cuong said.
“After working and approaching many layers of personnel of hundreds of businesses, what we often shared by all levels of personnel is that they are worried about whether their current job will be competitive with technology. He also wondered if the new customer management features due to the application of technology would have an impact, especially for sales staff who already hold customer relationships that are considered to be an individual’s advantage, whether their capacity can use new technology without affecting performance”, shared Mr. Nguyen Huu Hung Cuong.
Solve the problem of barriers with human factors
In order to remove barriers about the human factor, in parallel in the process of digital transformation, businesses also need a transformation on this factor. Specifically, businesses will have transformations in awareness of the value technology brings, belief in technology application, digital knowledge, digital skills and digital capabilities.
According to FPT Digital’s digital transformation methodology, Dr. Le Hung Cuong shared that human transformation is a continuous and parallel process in the digital transformation process, going through the stages of Incubation, Spread and Maintain. In particular, Incubation will be the first stage to remove barriers related to awareness, build commitment and build mutual trust in the organization’s digital transformation strategy, going first are senior and mid-level leaders who lead digital transformation.
In the spillover stage, leaders will play an important role in sharing and leading all levels of employees to understand, build knowledge, skills, capabilities, and implement digital transformation. Retention will be the next stage, after people in the organization have achieved transformations that are in sync with the digital transformation process.
In order to transition through each stage, building a consensus human resource with a high spirit of determination in digital transformation, there are many approaches businesses can take such as building a flexible digital culture, continuous training, extensive communication or setting up an appropriate organizational model. However, conducting training to provide an overview of the digital transformation program will be a suitable launch step so that right from the start, personnel have a clear understanding of the goals and are aware of their role in the roadmap program to achieve the goal. Here, training also plays a role in communicating and imparting knowledge and potentials that digital transformation can bring to organizations and to themselves. An effective training course will create direct connections and interactions, going from theory to practice about problems and opportunities that are really happening in stages, departments and in the business.
“Many senior managers at enterprises have recognized with us the value of overview training sessions, helping departments to understand strategies, goals, and roadmaps; understand what platforms need to be deployed, what solutions to convert, thereby helping them connect with each other and have the same vision of digital transformation,” said Mr. Le Hung Cuong.
With concerns about the changes that digital transformation creates to culture and habits, an overview training course at the enterprise was organized, helping staff to understand that in this journey, who need to bravely step out of their comfort zone, practice open-mindedness and the will to learn to be ready for new tasks. On the other hand, technology needs human experience to operate, perfect and optimize. Technology does not replace people but will help them in some stages so that they have time to innovate and even step into the new field that the digital transformation model is aiming for.
“Thus, in parallel with technological transformation, businesses need to build digital capabilities for their employees, help them understand the potential that new technology brings, and facilitate building cooperation between technology and relevant levels of personnel”, concluded FPT Digital Consulting Director.
Source: Vnexpress
