While it seems every organization these days wants to embark on a digital transformation journey, many are attempting to do so without their best assets—their firstline workers. That’s because digital transformation—a term liberally sprinkled across many industries these days—is more than simply adding new technologies or swapping out manual processes for automated ones. Digital transformation is a top-to-bottom process of rethinking what business you’re in and how to employ technological advantage to better meet the needs of customers.
To get there, you need the full participation and engagement of everyone in your company, from the boardroom to the firstline. It’s especially important to involve firstline workers, who are directly charged with producing or bringing products and services to your customers, as well as translating strategies into tactics, and tactics into daily actions. Members of this workforce may include cashiers, customer service representatives, healthcare providers and construction teams. Simply put, they form the backbone of every major industry. As your business model evolves, and as you seek to be the disruptor in your market or in new markets, the people on the ground are going to be your eyes and ears for reporting on your progress, for spotting new opportunities and for providing extraordinary customer experiences.
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
Digital transformation doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t automatically kick in when new technologies are brought into the enterprise. If anything, many organizations are feeling the backlash incurred by high expectations about digital transformation. One recent industry survey, for example, found that 66% of companies are experiencing difficulties in achieving their digital transformation objectives, and only 18% expressed confidence they could meet these goals.
Often, these attempts at digital transformation fail to include or consider the key roles of employees from across the spectrum. Altimeter Group’s most recent survey on the state of digital transformation finds that while “employee behaviors and preferences” share the top spot as a primary factor driving digital transformation, the greatest inhibitor to such initiatives is “low digital literacy or expertise among employees and leadership.” Altimeter analysts “expect employee engagement and experience (EX) to grow in importance in 2018 and 2019.”
Where successful transformation efforts are being achieved, inclusion of firstline workers is also a contributing factor. A survey from early 2017 by McKinsey & Company finds that at companies successfully undergoing digital transformations, respondents are much more likely to report visibly engaged firstline workers: 73% compared with 46% of all other respondents.
This is confirmed by a new study conducted by Forbes Insights, which finds that 43% of executives in organizations with high levels of digitally empowered firstline workers report excellent progress in their digital transformation efforts, versus 21% of executives with few digitally empowered workers. Similar levels of progress are seen with another important component of digital transformation: 34% of highly empowered organizations report excellent progress with leveraging data analytics, versus 14% of low-empowerment organizations.
HOW TO BRING FIRSTLINE WORKERS CLOSER TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
The role of firstline workers in digital transformation takes many forms, depending on industry and job roles. For example, aircraft maintenance workers are using online tools to forecast parts requirements, optimize inventory to support service, model scenarios and manage a part’s life cycle from first installation to retirement. Sales associates have access to detailed customer profile data and inventory levels on mobile devices, enabling them to meet customer demands and provide alternatives in real time when products are unavailable. Field service workers are tapping remote expertise through immersive technologies and experiences, such as mixed reality, to address problems in the field with expertise in the corporate headquarters.
Firstline employee involvement in digital transformation is only expected to grow, the Forbes Insights survey finds. About one-third of executives, 34%, say their firstline workers are full participants in digital transformation discussions/decisions, and 37% say firstline workers’ input is sought to help map out digital transformation strategies. However, only about a fourth of executives anticipate their firstline workers will be closely involved in various aspects of their digital transformation efforts over the next few years.
Here are four ways to better integrate firstline workers into your digital transformation process:
- Rethink firstline workers’ roles: To succeed with digital transformation, organizations need to strive to capture and leverage the decisions and actions of firstline workers that move organizations forward, define the customer experience and translate strategy into daily activities and tasks. The path to true digital transformation—in which firstline workers are equipped with the latest technology tools and platforms—will require a rethinking of not only technology investments, but also of the roles and responsibilities of firstline workers. To help them succeed in today’s competitive digital economy, firstline workers require greater autonomy, information sharing, decision-making power and training. Technology is the enabler of these capabilities.
- Communicate progress, early and often: “Show—don’t tell—progress to the front line,” say Dana Maor, Angelika Reich and Lara Yocarini, all with McKinsey and authors of the McKinsey transformation study. The risk, they observe, is that firstline workers “will see only the individual pain and not the aggregate gain. Communicating clearly and creatively in a way that stimulates dialogue around the transformation’s ambition and progress further increases the chances of success.”
- Connect the organization: Make use of familiar tools that break down barriers and allow anyone to share an idea from the firstline to the boardroom. In addition, Maor and her coauthors urge executives to launch “creative, more digital approaches to engaging employees,” including social media, change-management apps or games, and live-feedback tools. These enable more personalization and open exchanges of information. “Employees can also use these tools to explore and engage with the changes being made, on their own terms and with the ability to provide feedback,” they add. Ultimately, a more connected organization is a more productive one, enabling all employees to turn their ideas into actions.
- Leverage data from interactions: Preparing and enabling firstline worker participation in digital transformation requires a strategy that involves training, technology, autonomy and information sharing. Digitally empowering firstline workers enables organizations to benefit from their unique role—first with customers, first with products or services, and first to represent a brand. The data and insights from their every interaction represent tremendous potential for innovation and growth.
Digital transformation is an all-encompassing journey that requires the participation and passion of everyone. Firstline workers, who are often overlooked, are natural leaders for their organizations’ digital transformation. These employees can be your best brand advocates and sources of vital information, so make sure they have the right tools to be part of this great journey.
For more information, read “Empowering the Firstline Workforce: Technology, Autonomy and Information Sharing Deliver Growth to Forward-Thinking Organizations.”
