Digital transformation starts from above... or fails

Those who know me know that I'm not an expert in digital transformation, my business area is around the Branding, both personal and corporate. But we could say that I have witnessed the implementation of several processes of digital transformation, which allows me to point to a reality that can be painful for many companies:

If digital transformation doesn't start with the company's management staff, Things won't go well

The company, through its it-responsible, Marketing and HR. Hh. or general management decides to launch a process of digital transformation. Sometimes they do this by analytical factors and competition, sometimes because the neighbor has done it (Competitor) and we won't be any less. It's important to internalize what digital transformation means, and keep in mind that it's not just about skills but about a different way of doing things. I very much agree with the three fundamental areas of digital transformation that define Mckinsey:

• Creating value in the new frontiers of the business world
• Creating value in processes that implement the vision of customer experiences
• Developing new skills that strengthen the structure of the organization

The principle

The search process begins, the company that will lead to the implementation of the process and training is chosen, often with an impact of significant costs: imagine, for example, that an internal corporate network is implemented: although there are content management modules (Yammer...) adaptation and commissioning costs for a business with diverse product and service ranges are high.

Lack of mindset

One of the problems facing such processes is that often the time of implementation until regularization is long, and therefore the benefits of the process take time to perceive each other, frequently causing complaints from anti-change agents (there are, and there are many). The cause of the slowness of these processes is that they are carried out without a previous phase of mindset (mentalization) to prepare managers and other professionals for the digital change management.

Lack of training

There are many companies that envisage an effective and regular continuous training system, making it easier to implement processes, but unfortunately a large majority will see the training needed to adapt to this new moment as a cost and not as an investment.

Limiting beliefs

It also often happens that one of the brakes is certain limiting beliefs that equate the digital transformation of the organization only to social media management. Obviously external online communication management is an important digital competence, but not much less is the only.

The importance of the Department. Rr. Hh.

In this context, the Dept.. RR.HH., given its transversality ,must commit to the process, because in short we are talking about fitting in and adopting new skills on the part of professionals all over the organization.

Start with and from above

A good friend who works in a Department. Rr. Hh. of a large company told me that Heads they didn't see with good eyes that the employees were wasting time on the computer screen communicating with other professionals over an internal network. Again, the lack of mindset, the difference between cost and investment and the mistake of starting the process from below.

Personal Branding and Digital Transformation

Of course the personal branding is an important competition in a process of digital transformation, although the vast majority of companies that offer these services do not consider it a core skill.

For that same reason for a few months I have collaborated with the area of AdQualis Human Results, that has created a team specializing in digital transformation specialized in HR. Hh. that will take into account such important competition as managing employee's brand and his role as ambassador organization and its brands.

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