Three Steps to Digital Readiness

[Ehrhardt]

Digital readiness is the difference between making and breaking your business proposition. It reflects the maturity level of your organization and ability to identify appropriate digital services that bring value to your customers. Hence, digital readiness has become the prerequisite for remaining abreast of the market, consumer demands, and competition.

Digital readiness is part and parcel of the bigger revolution — the digital transformation that gained momentum due to the rise of mobile, cloud, IoT and big data technologies. To manage such transformation requires a complete overhauling of traditional business models and the consequent cultures. It requires a change process – one that adjusts your business culture.

REITERATING THE IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL READINESS

Digital readiness enables innovation. We know of companies who were not ready and because of this, became exemplary cases of companies that lost their edge.

The problem is not that companies have not addressed readiness in their strategies. Most corporations and organizations have strategies, except they do not take into account how digital transformation demands a fundamental change in their business culture.

So what do we need to do to adjust the business culture?

THREE STEPS OF DIGITAL READINESS

I see a three-step action plan that incorporates the result, the expected behavior, and key influencers for the change.

•The Result – Digital readiness: An organization must know what it would mean to be digital-ready for their employees in terms of new characteristics in the work environment and culture.

•The Behavior – Flexible and responsive: Identifying the behavior needed to achieve the defined result. Employee behavior is affected by culture and vice versa. Such change can be influenced by a change in leadership style and greater communication so that the employees have a clear view of the future through appropriate communication.

•The Key Influencers – Recognize key influencers that are respected by the employees: Depending on your business culture, you might think about the main influencers that are most relevant to the success of your planned adjustment. Dedicated interventions might be required to ensure the greatest impact on the adjustment effort.

Now I would like to hear from you about how you prefer to adjust your business culture to become digital-ready!

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