Digital Transformation: Driving Behavior Change

Companies everywhere seem eager and ready to invest in digital transformation strategies, but are they achieving results? The numbers so far seem to indicate that the answer may be a resounding “no.” Studies continue to show that up to 80% of transformation efforts fail to achieve their intended goals.

Ahead of the American Biomanufacturing Summit 2019, Generis Group spoke to Kim Huggins, partner at ALULA, to discuss why digital transformation is one of the most complex and disruptive initiatives an organization can experience.

On June 18th, Kim will present at the American Biomanufacturing Summit 2019 to examine the drivers of a successful digital transformation and to discuss why behavioral change is required at all levels of an organization. Her session, Achieving Digital Transformation: Critical Drivers for the “New Way of Working”, will also cover the 4 Essentials for Strategy Execution and the 6 Qualities of a Digital Culture.

Below, we discuss why digital transformation initiatives fail, what companies can do to prepare, and how ALULA can help companies execute a successful digital transformation.

Your session at the American Biomanufacturing Summit is, Achieving Digital Transformation: Critical Drivers for the “New Way of Working”. What is one key takeaway you want to leave attendees with?
ALULA wants attendees to understand that digital transformation is much more than a strong digital strategy and technology. Digital transformation is really about a new way of working. This requires:

• Leaders to lead differently.
• Behavior change at all levels of the organization.
• An organizational culture that attracts, retains, and up-skills the right talent.
• Functions that trust and see the value of partnering across the organization.

Your session touches on examining the 4 Essentials for Strategy Execution and the 6 Qualities of a Digital Culture. Can you briefly explain each of these?
Our experience in working with clients indicates there are four key elements for strategy execution that are essential. They include providing:

• Clear Direction so teams understand that new ways of working are needed, and why.
• Competence to work in the new way.
• Opportunity through resources and tools to work differently.
• Motivation to adopt and work in new ways.

Culture can make or break your digital strategy.  Our research indicates there are six qualities of a digital culture. Three of these qualities are foundational and must be present throughout the transformation. They include innovation, collaboration, and agility. To accelerate your digital transformation, these three qualities also must exist in the culture: customer centricity, courage, and data acumen.

Why do digital transformation initiatives struggle to gain traction, or fail entirely?
In a recent poll we conducted of senior executives going through a major digital transformation, we found that the business case is often clear and there is some level of alignment among leaders about the importance of digital transformation. We also discovered that in many cases:

• There isn’t a clear strategy in place for long-term execution.
• Leaders aren’t prepared, or ready, to lead through the transformation.
• There is little clarity about the critical behaviors needed at all levels of the organization to drive digital transformation.

How can companies prepare for digital transformation?
First, take an outside-in view of your customer’s needs and expectations to ensure that you are building a strategy around those needs, rather than around what you think will work from an internal perspective.

Next, don’t underestimate the impact of culture and strategy execution in the planning process. Invest as much time and effort on the cultural and strategic execution components as you do on defining and preparing digital strategy and technology selection. This is one of the most complex transformations your organization will go through and a tremendous amount of behavior change is required for it to be successful.

Finally, allow ample time for the transformation. The journey to digital transformation is going to be longer than you think. There is a tremendous amount of change required to support the new way of working, and often, it is one of many large and concurrent change efforts taking place, all demanding time, attention, and resources.

Why does a successful digital transformation require behavior change at all levels of a company?
Frankly, you can’t implement digital transformation without changing behavior. Technology strategy is relatively straightforward but helping everyone in the organization, from C-suite to frontline, to work in a new way requires every employee to think and act differently.

A company undergoing a digital transformation is completely changing the way its organization does business. The shift involves new technology, revised processes, and new management systems. Most importantly, it requires new behaviors.

ALULA’s behavior-based approach focuses on each point of the business process to understand what people need to do differently in order to work successfully in a digitally transformed environment. Whether change is needed for digital transparency, data integrity, technology adoption, or leadership, ALULA team members help identify, implement, and reinforce the business-critical behaviors needed to drive success.

Learn more at www.alula.clg.com