Embracing Digital Dexterity: 5 Tips for Successful Change Management in the Digital Workplace

Digital transformation has become a necessity for organizations in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. As organizations embrace new technologies and processes, employees often get lost in the complexity of tools and technologies, leaving investments wasted and increasing employee fatigue. According to Gartner®, “only 24% of workers have a high degree of readiness to adopt new, technologically driven ways of working.”* To overcome this, effective change management becomes crucial to ensure a smooth transition to the digital workplace. At the heart of this change lies in the concept of digital dexterity — the ability to adapt and thrive in a digitally-driven environment.

When an organization runs a new transformation initiative, sometimes parts of the change strategies, like adequate communication, are overlooked. As an effect, without enough communication or training, IT can be met with employee dissatisfaction and poor employee experience. Therefore, to ensure success, organizations must build a comprehensive change management strategy that leads to a digitally dexterous workforce. Here are some tips to achieve it:

1. Analyze gaps and communicate the need to change: Organizations need to recognize that the primary cause for failure of a digital transformation project is inadequate employee experience. For instance, after a major software release, if IT support is flooded with requests for assistance, this indicates that training and education regarding the solution features weren't effective or enough to help employees use it efficiently. A small survey would help show that employees aren't frustrated with the solution itself, but they are struggling to understand it. This will help identify the challenges in current workplaces and create a better messaging strategy for digital transformation. Emphasize the benefits and opportunities that digital dexterity brings, such as increased productivity, enhanced collaboration and improved customer experiences. For example, one of the recent roles that's been gaining prominence is that of the Chief Experience Officer who's catalyst to drive the culture change required to ensure employees embrace new technologies rather than resent them.
2. Set investments based on value: Build a budget by identifying the right technology to help provide a seamless employee experience. Investing in a change management solution can help improve experience and optimize costs. With an effective platform deployed, employees will have a better understanding of the technology and less likely to give up. This will result in a decrease in support costs as employees will have a better understanding of the technology and will be less likely to be making errors. With advanced data validation, automation and contextual guidance capabilities, a good change management solution will significantly accelerate end user adoption.
3. Empower and train employees: Digital dexterity relies on empowering employees with the skills and tools they need to navigate the digital landscape effectively. Provide comprehensive training programs that focus not only on technical skills but also on building digital fluency. Enable those with the most demanding skills, such as machine learning, automation, cloud, IoT and data analytics. Additionally, build an expertise in mobile device management and UI developers, to give end users a great experience with their preferred device. Encourage employees to embrace continuous learning, offer mentorship opportunities, and promote knowledge sharing across teams. This investment in employee development will enable them to adapt to new technologies and workflows with confidence.
4. Build an effective communication strategy: Healthy communication practices are vital for digital dexterity. It's important to recognize that change in the digital workplace is required at all levels of the organization, including senior leadership. Regular emails, flyers, videos, infographics and other knowledge materials customized by personas and roles provide a better way to learn and adapt to change. Celebrate successes and share stories of how digital transformation initiatives have positively impacted the organization. By fostering a culture that values learning and growth, organizations can create an environment where employees feel empowered to adapt to change and contribute to the digital journey.
5. Monitor, measure and adapt: Change management is an ongoing process, and it's essential to continuously monitor, measure the outcomes and adapt strategies. Check the processes that can be optimized versus creating new processes that address relevant stakeholders. Define the measures of success based on employee experience and maximizing productivity. Regularly assess the progress of digital transformation initiatives, gather feedback from employees and make necessary adjustments. Stay informed about emerging technologies and industry trends to ensure the digital workplace remains agile and responsive. By maintaining a culture of continuous improvement, organizations can drive sustained success in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Case in point

One of our large manufacturing clients was transitioning their IT service management systems with their workforce spread globally in 26 countries. With the transformation in place, they had short timelines for change management and had to deal with the cultural shift of the workforce for self-service. With the help of NTT DATA, they developed a cohesive and comprehensive OCM strategy and plans to align the workforce with the new business model and prepare them for the upcoming changes in an accelerated timeframe. We aligned our client’s vision with the project goals and set priorities, set up a dynamic network that facilitated a two-way communication that ensured the workforce is informed and engaged. In addition, development of an audience-specific communication and training strategy not only helped employees with faster adoption but also ensured productivity of highly impacted stakeholders.

Time to change

As organizations navigate the complexities of the digital workplace, effective change management is paramount. From new employee onboarding to training on new application features, there are multiple use cases that warrant the introduction of a suitable change management strategy. By embracing digital dexterity and the recommendations made above, organizations can create a culture that thrives in the face of digital transformation. NTT DATA can help streamline OCM and end user adoption with significant gains in data integrity, employee productivity and experience. Our People and Organization Consulting practice, customized for digital workplace services, helps leaders to assess the level of adaptability within their organization and build adaptability over time, using effective organizational change management (OCM) practices.

Know more about how NTT DATA enhances the workplace experience for enterprises.

^{*Gartner, Assess User Technology Adoption Readiness to Increase Digital Dexterity, by Craig Roth & Matt Cain, 9 Aug 2022}

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