7 Ways to Help Employees (And Yourself) Pursue Digital Transformation

The rapid development of technology is an extreme source of pressure for today's leaders. To compete in modern affairs, you must keep up. To take full advantage of technologies you are currently using and keep abreast of innovations, you need to be aware of technology.

The challenge is to track the evolution of technology as systematically as possible. Fortunately, this can be achieved through resources you already have access to. Here are a few simple ways to integrate technology into your business.

1. Determine the needs of your company

You need technology to meet legal and other requirements. You need technology to achieve the goals of strong internal control. You capture large amounts of data, investing in powerful technologies. Your company is more and more integrated with a CRM. Most of your main processes can be controlled by integrated high-tech systems.

In addition to changes that can help or slow you, there are a growing number of innovations in SaaS (in software as a service), IaaS (infrastructure as a service) and other cloud hosting solutions. And, of course, the online threats are becoming more and more inventive.

2. Check your resources

Recognise the many resources available and check them according to your needs. These sources include: websites, tutorials, specialised press, books, training courses, videos, knowledge partnerships etc. As with any search, you will use some resources once. Others you will save for later use. With a good strategy in place to make your training a daily routine though, you will find that it only takes a few minutes a day to learn to use it.

3. Interaction with technology

New ways of working in the digital age start from the top. Management must develop programs to give leaders the creativity needed to speed up innovation. Managers should take part in programs that enable them to develop digital action plans. Leaders need to develop behavioural models to help their teams:

• Being ready for experiments

• Opening in-house and inter-firm educational partnership

• Allowing more autonomous commands

• Contributing to the introduction of management models at high-level to adapt to technological change

• Introducing new paradigm for employees, suppliers, and agents through new mediums (e.g. Facebook messages, Instagram stories etc)

• Exploring SEO, E-commerce and other sales tools to better understand patterns that drive sales

• Take advantage of user data and other powerful tools (e.g. mapping routes, listening to social networks etc) to manage digital conversions

4. Invest in 'lifelong learning' for the team

Digital transformation is more than just technology. It is also about how management communicates, organises and improves employees. Lifelong learning must be integrated into work processes, including for non-tech companies. These are activities a business can use to capitalise on an environment of constant innovation:

• Invest in regular training measures, presented in formats that meet the needs of their time.

• Targeted skills for all: Distribution of digital media, search engine optimisation, social platforms, numerical analysis etc.

• Use incentives. 'Gamify' learning models, leadership communication, and other motivational campaigns to speed up the time needed for development programs.

5. Promote flexibility of employees

The maneuverability of the team is a test of the company's potential success in digital transformation. Employees must be empowered to progress steadily.

The best way to put this change in place is to establish a set of daily actions and behaviours that help employees act quickly. It is recommended to track digital resources 7 days a week, including websites, social networks, and customers' websites. Implementing live monitoring and increasing the frequency of reporting helps track consumer's behaviour.

6. Invest in the "employee experience"

One way of improving productivity is to draw experience from well-established multinationals to map the employee experience. This forward-looking approach aims to attract and keep key talents. This concept means greater openness and fluidity of work for employees, supporting their growth.

Companies use such initiatives to understand the motivation of employees with user search, travel maps, and personal development. The goal is to transform the experience of employees within the company during their most important stages of work.

Besides, initiatives such as job shadowing programs are used to improve the understanding of the company. It gives employees a better view of their roles. And the program also increases the mobility of employees. Both are necessary for a flexible work environment where organisational structures often change.

7. Changes in data security

The data security issues CFOs face is a good example of the pressure companies have to respond to. This increases the volume of existing technologies the team must manage. The financial department must use IT skills tailored to the role of each employee. The ways to reduce risks and maximise the benefits of protecting the company's knowledge are as follow:

• Recruiting a financial team with strong technological knowledge

• Encouraging interaction of your IT staff and trusted external experts (SMEs)

• Understand which technologies get affected by the financial functions of the business

• Beware untested technologies which can drain resources

• Remain close to your IT team and external SMEs. Keep a continuous view on technological risks

• Run RSS feeds that publish frequent software updates

• Join groups of technology users and take part in the discussion of problems and how to solve them

• Work with other CFOs in companies that use identical technologies. They can be aware of the problems suppliers face