4 Q&As on digital transformation

Digital transformation doesn’t just allow organisations to keep up with the changing world around them, it also gives them a distinct business advantage, especially when it comes to factors such as customer experience.

In fact, 56% of CEOs say that digital improvements have led to revenue growth. Research from Accenture, meanwhile, shows that 75% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a company that knows their name and purchase history and recommends products based on their preferences.

Digital transformation is, in other words, imperative. But knowing that you need to do something and knowing how to do it are two different things.

With that in mind, I’ve outlined some of the questions I’m most frequently asked around digital transformation as well as the answers to them.

What is digital transformation?

Digital transformation is such a broad term and the definition can change depending on your context and focus area.

Digital transformation will, therefore, look different for each company, but essentially it is the process of using digital technologies to create new or improve existing business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet the changing business and market requirements.

This could be driving efficiencies through robotic process automation, upgrading your IT infrastructure or improving sales through better customer experience and data analytics tools.

Here's a holistic approach to digital transformation that covers five main areas of business:

• Leadership
  
• Customer
  
• Technology
  
• Operations
  
• Culture

In order to achieve true digital transformation, all these aspects need to be assessed and considered.


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Why do companies need to embrace digital transformation?

The incentive is to remain relevant, survive and thrive. It’s basically do or die. If your company does not adapt, you may experience the same fate as some companies who had to close their doors in the retail and media sectors when they were disrupted by Google, Facebook and Amazon.

From a community and economic perspective, we might not be able to change government policy or end load shedding, but I believe it is every organisation’s responsibility to embrace digital transformation.

Companies must position themselves to contribute positively to the economy and the employment rate.

What does digital transformation mean for job creation?

A recent survey published by the ManPower Group predicted a very gloomy outlook for employment. It’s acutely the weakest it’s been in five years and down 3 percentage points compared to this period last year.

It is, however, encouraging to see those industries experiencing major disruption and companies that have subsequently undergone digital transformation are showing an uptick in hiring.

This shows a positive correlation between digital transformation and job creation and means that the strongest opportunities for job seekers will be in the finance, insurance, real estate, business services sectors where the net employment outlook is +9%.

Companies also need to place more focus on Augmented Humanity and consider how technology can support rather than replace their human capital.

How does a company go about getting digitally transformed? Where do they start?

You can start by knowing your digital maturity and understanding what it means on a practical level. A digital maturity assessment can help businesses to not only understand their own digital maturity but also how it compares to that of their competitors and industry as a whole.

Companies can then work with a consultancy to fast track their digital transformation journeys, improve their digital maturity and get recommendations on how to address problem areas.