Long before the world became familiar with COVID-19, organizations around the globe were weighing the pros and cons of digital transformation. For many, curious but cautious steps were being taken to enter into the virtual realm. That it, until the unprecedented events of this year forced most who had delayed to take a rapid digital dive.
As a result, the world is facing a time of mass digital transformation, where decisive and swift actions are being taken to migrate the products, services and internal rhythms of numerous companies to the online space. In the wake of this remarkable shift, bold innovations have surfaced across the business landscape as well as well as a range of positive outcomes: a Forbes report recently found that digital transformations have resulted in substantial boosts in revenue, customer experience and team morale and many hours saved.
However, some of the less-reported and very real symptoms of embarking into uncharted and long-procrastinated digital territory are anxiety, fear and confusion. In many cases, leaders, employees and customers tasked with making the digital leap have been left scratching their heads, unable to fathom how the brick-and-mortar delivery of the past could successfully exist in a virtual environment.
What’s more, many historical attempts at digital transformation have been unsuccessful, and when paired with the rapid push of today’s realities, the stumbling blocks of the past have turned into impenetrable boulders.
Yet in the face of the most daunting challenges, such as those so many are facing with the prospect of digital transformation, human-centered thinking thrives. With empathy as one of its guiding principles, the method allows for organizations to drive both innovation and change forward in uncertain environments, using people as its guiding light. When put into appropriate practice, this means benefits are reaped for everyone involved, including leaders, employees and of course, customers — even when achievement seems highly implausible.
Let’s take a look at how human-centered thinking can begin to help both an organization’s people, and its customers, through a successful process of digital transformation:
An entirely necessary step in any successful transformation process, including that of digital transformation, is genuine buy-in from the organization’s people. This buy-in, especially in times of great uncertainty, relies on empathy.
Leaders must be cognizant that with any major shift comes with fear — fears around job security, roles, expectations and structure — and it is in these times that each employee not only be made aware of the changes taking place but be able to clearly see how his or her role will directly contribute to success in this new digital environment.
As stated in a McKinsey paper, on the subject of organizational change, each employee must have a purpose to believe in: “People must understand the role of their actions in the unfolding drama of the company’s fortunes and believe that it is worthwhile for them to play a part.”
Creating these connections are routinely accelerated by human-centered thinking: the method holds the unique ability to bring the uncertainty of an employee’s value into focused view. It does so by building a direct channel between provider and user, allowing employees to become familiar with the people they are solving for, to gain empathy for their unique situations that and fully understand the value of the activities that they, the employee, are performing to solve the challenges at hand.
