Digital transformation leads to human transformation
It’s not just about digital transformation. The consequence of the digital transformation is as important: the human transformation!
There is only one topic the business world is talking about today: digital transformation. The world’s digitisation has sent out a disruptive shockwave like we have never seen before. Mainly service companies have been thoroughly shaken over the past few years. The most famous examples of this disruptive trend are Uber and Airbnb, but in reality there are thousands of smaller companies that have changed industries just like these two. And we will see the exact same shock go through retail and health care in the coming years. Ultimately, each and every industry will feel the changes of digitisation. The moment that every device, every piece of clothing and in the end every one of us has a built-in sensor, will make the Internet as we know it disappear. At that moment everything will be connected and connectivity will become the very oxygen of our society. Only between 2020 and 2025 will we truly find out what this is going to mean.
In other words: if companies want to carry on, it’s crucial that they think deeply about the consequences of digitisation for their industry. They who think that this doesn’t apply to their sector or company, will be hit hard by reality. Digital transformation has taken up its rightful place on the list of top priorities in many businesses.
Human transformation as a result of digital transformation
Because of the great urgency and importance of digitisation, some of us have forgotten a part of their success that is at least as important: the human component.
Today’s most successful companies attribute their accomplishments to their strength in this department. If these companies were to invest only in the digital component in the coming five years, and not enough in the human one, they’ll position themselves in the corner of purely digital super heroes. It goes without saying that Zalando, Amazon, Google, eBay and their counterparts will always be stronger digitally than average companies. If your business is evolving in that direction, there is a major chance it’ll lose the battle.
Most companies face a double challenge, however: they just have to weather the storm of digital transformation, but at the same time they must change the human aspect of their company.
Digitisation will mean that 50%-70% of today’s jobs will no longer exist in 10 years’ time. In other words: the result of digital transformation will be human transformation. The role of people in companies will structurally change because of major digitisation.
Digital and human competencies are extremely complementary
I stand very positively towards this evolution. I don’t think it’ll cost jobs. Most people look at it in a linear way: if a job is done by a robot, there’s a person who doesn’t have a job anymore. We all need the mental strength to realise new jobs will appear that we don’t know exist today. Just like 9 years ago, when nobody had heard of the word ‘app’ and now, the mobile market is worth 3.3 trillion dollars. These days millions of people earn money thanks to the app industry and 10 years ago we didn’t even know what it was. We’ll see more of these evolutions popping up in the coming years.
For companies, this means they don’t only have to think about the changing role of the digital component, but also about the changing role of people. It’ll be interesting to use the digital and all its strong points in the customer relations of the future as well as employing people with all their skills. The digital component is good at automatising, customising and efficiency. People are skilled at empathetic communication, creativity and building personal relationships. These competencies are extremely complementary.
Double priority
Companies that are aware of this double transformation invest in both dimensions. Imagine that digital progress were so great in 5 to 7 years that most companies were ‘good enough’ on a digital level. If we reach the moment where digital becomes a commodity, what will be the most important differentiator then? I suspect it will again be the human dimension. Companies that realise this will invest as much in the digital aspect as in the human one in the coming five years. After all, the result of digital transformation is human transformation. The goal is to reach the point ‘When Digital becomes Human’.
If you agree with this idea, please recommend my post. Thank you!
