In light of the significant impact digital transformation is having on organisations of all sizes, we frequently speak with our clients and associates to compare perspectives. We asked Tina Marron-Partridge, Managing Partner, Talent and Transformation at IBM Global Business Services, to share her views and insights on the effect digital transformation is having on talent strategies and the unique opportunities this presents to HR leaders.
Digital transformation truly delivers when combined with new paths to data, insight and personalisation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI). As AI becomes more widely adopted in the enterprise, we find ourselves at an inflection point, with the majority of our clients and our own inter nal HR functions moving from AI pilots to implementation at scale. We see that in many industries, digital trends are starting to mature and the next wave beyond digitisation has begun. The rise of new and exponential technologies – including AI, blockchain, the Internet of Things, robotic process automation, virtual and augmented intelligence, 3D printing and others – is teeing up another era of business architecture change. At IBM, we define the result of such revolutionary changes as ‘The Cognitive Enterprise.’ People will need to be in the frontline of this digital and cognitive era. They will need to be enabled to engage in ever-higher-value tasks and decision-making that is better and faster. As in past cycles of technological disruption, the legacy workforce will need to learn new skills, engage with new technologies and reshape career trajectories. All this, combined with a need to ensure employee engagement and experience, forms the backbone of business change.
Looking more closely at the impact of digital transformation places new expectations on HR. We’re seeing more organisations leverage the power of AI in relation to talent – augmenting the capabilities of their leaders and managers with insight on employee sentiment, performance, attrition, diversity, skills and compensation, thus assuring data-driven real-time insight for decision-making. By making use of predictive analytics and AI, conversations are changing from being subjective to data-driven. By providing leaders and managers with greater insight into their workforce, data is helping organisations to personalise and optimise their employee experience. Despite so much capability and opportunity to transform work and experiences, many organisations are finding the biggest barriers to progress are their own people and culture. They need different mindsets and skills to take advantage of new business capabilities. HR must step up to help address this.
The impact of digital transformation on talent strategies brings opportunities, as well as challenges. The digitisation of work and life is driving a need for new types of talent with new skills. Yet, despite the pressing need for digitally fluent employees to deliver innovation at an extraordinary rate and pace, talent with in-demand skills is limited. To ensure we have digitally skilled talent in place to drive organisations forward, there is a critical need for exponential learning. Leaders must also actively create an internal culture that supports the need for agility and constant change management amid ongoing disruption.
