Chris Towers, Founder & Head of Events, Roar Media
One of the biggest takeaways from our online Digital Transformation Conference series over the last few months has been the sticking point of ‘people transformation’ within any type of digital or business transformation. Change management is extremely difficult but needs to be approached incredibly carefully and with great leadership.
Often leaders can navigate away from such change or transformation due to sensitivity issues or throwing caution to the wind in a sense that they are afraid to approach what could be the unknown for them. Of course people and/or culture change is going to be sensitive, you are dealing with a wide demographic within your workforce and that is never going to be easy – but approaching the leadership ‘duty’ is essential!
Here are three points that resonated with me over the course of the series:
Create change advocacy
We heard from Daggerwing Group‘s Cheryl Ferguson, Ning Wong. Change Strategist, Michelle Mahony and more on managing change through COVID and to make your workers advocates of change.
Walk the talk
Jyoti Sharma at EY drove home the point of organisations needing to move culture transformation from an ‘agenda item’ to a top down execution imperative in order to survive the pandemic.
Instil inclusivity
Microsoft employees Janka Koen and Jhansi Reddy in separate panel sessions reflected on the importance of inclusivity from all angles in order to execute successful business change.
In summary
Change management of the workforce is always going to be one of the most difficult areas in business to approach but in essence will eventually determine the success or failure of many organisations. Creating a culture of innovation moving into 2021 and beyond is imperative as organisations take on a newly defined consumer and behaviour. Putting the right strategy in place for your workforce is critical and something that needs careful planning and often with the help of people outside of the business so you can see the bigger picture!
To hear more on leadership in business register for our next Digital Transformation Conference, Europe in January where we invite digital workforce leaders to share insights on their approach.