Is your workforce ready for AI tech transformation?

In today's rapidly evolving and transforming technological landscape, business practices are undergoing significant changes. These changes affect customer attraction and retention, product and service offerings, tools and procedures, as well as, workforce composition and work environments. Many initiatives now rely on digital technologies and skills to drive business growth.

The lack of digital skills among workers is hindering the transformation of companies globally. To thrive in this rapidly changing market, organisations need to update their workforce management practices to align with new digital innovations and processes.

Constellation Research states that leading companies' ability to adapt to digital technological disruptions is crucial for long-term success. Many organisations are rethinking their use of technology and processes, highlighting the need for a new talent development strategy. No organisation wants to be left behind due to inadequate or slow adaptation to the changing technological landscape.

It is against this backdrop that we delve into the guide to preparing the workforce for tech transformation.

Guide to preparing the workforce for tech transformation

Evaluate the skills of your workforce: You need to know the technological skills your workforce possess that are of great benefit to your business. These skills might include software knowledge, CRM experience, Microsoft Suite expertise, or familiarity with internal proprietary systems.

Cultivate emotional commitment: To fully engage in a tech transformation, the workforce needs more than a strategic direction and incentives. They must feel happy about the future and be inspired to participate in your digital transformation agenda. Leaders must appeal to their emotions, specifically their desire to connect their activities to the larger purpose of the enterprise.

Jon R. Katzenbach, founder of PwC’s Katzenbach Center, notes that many leaders avoid addressing emotional commitment because it's challenging to understand and manage emotions on a large scale. Leaders, often rational by nature, might not easily assess emotional reactions to change. However, any leader, regardless of their temperament, can foster positive emotions organisation-wide.

Endeavour to know what excites and motivates your workforce. Apart from a paycheck, know their major target for coming to work. Many likely believe in the company's mission, identify with its purpose, and feel proud to be part of it.

Align technology with your strategic goals: After selecting a new technology, explain its adoption to key stakeholders. Highlight the benefits for both the company and the entire workforce. Employees resist change if they don't see its connection to a strategic plan. Explain the positive benefits, such as perks, conveniences, and improved workflows, to support your decision.

When helping customers switch to automated scheduling, we communicate key benefits like scheduling efficiency, employee engagement, and real-time communication. Since new technology affects each department differently, we help customers identify key stakeholders to support the new solution. Choose a variety of employees who excel in communication and networking, not just the technology enthusiasts.

Provide on-the-job training to your workforce: Continuing education can enhance the workforce's skills and have a significant impact on them. This education can occur in the workplace, through a professional association, or at a higher education institution. A report from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics found that 66% of adults surveyed believed a work experience program was very useful for improving work skills.

Recruit internally: When you recruit your workforce internally, it costs significantly less than hiring externally for the same role. Corroborating, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Human Capital Benchmarking Report, cites an average cost-per-hire of $4,129. Additionally, external hires typically command salaries 18% to 20% higher than those of internal candidates in the same position, as demonstrated by research from Matthew Bidwell, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Create a tech transformation roadmap: Digital technology adoption includes many challenges, such as costs and technical debt. Organisations need a digital transformation roadmap to navigate these issues. This roadmap outlines the transformation vision, sets priorities, defines goals for each phase, and creates a timeline for achieving them.

Ensure leadership alignment on vision: Leaders must agree on shared goals to ensure smooth change. Unified leadership is essential for commitment to the new vision. Leaders should demonstrate their commitment by their actions. If they expect the workforce to work in the office, they should also be present. If they want employees to give up assigned seats, they should do the same. To build trust, leaders must show trust.

Identify skill gap: Companies aim to hire a properly trained workforce with the skills to perform their duties competently. However, it is impossible to cover all necessary skills, leading to inevitable skill gaps in all workplaces and industries. These gaps can impact a business's success by affecting employee performance in daily operations.

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Monitor results and adjust: As a leader in workforce technological transformation, you must ensure your efforts are effective. Achieve this by tracking the transformation process and intervening when necessary to make adjustments. Tracking results can be challenging because the value can be hard to measure and benefits may be intangible. Your measurements should include both actions and results. Collect data from frontline employees about the behaviour changes they observe in themselves, their peers, and their supervisors.

To succeed in a rapidly evolving technological landscape, companies must update workforce management to align with digital innovations. This involves evaluating current skills, fostering emotional commitment, aligning technology with strategic goals, providing on-the-job training, recruiting internally, creating a tech transformation roadmap, ensuring leadership alignment, identifying skill gaps, and monitoring results.