Building Digital Talent and Organization
The organization of the future will look very different and work in very different ways. The role of talent within the company of the future will involve higher levels of interaction with smart technology, and organizational structure will play a key role in redefining traditional roles.
Acquiring Digital Talent
One factor more than any other will determine which companies turn digital to their advantage. Without talented employees who are able to use existing digital technologies and adapt to evolving methods and new approaches, companies will struggle. Companies will need people with digital design and technical skills, including UX/UI experts, human-centered design talent, data scientists, and data and technology engineers. Employees that are flexible, able to learn and adapt, will be at a premium. To attract, develop, and retain the people they need, leaders need to adapt their organizations in multiple areas.
Achieving Digital Organization
The most important key to unlocking the value-creating power of the company of the future is a new organizational model that is based on person-machine processes and centralized data and technology platforms. Human capacity will increasingly need to be deployed to designing, auditing, and innovating processes as opposed to operating them. The contemporary organizational model that emphasizes hierarchy, role definition, and waterfall planning models will need to be adapted or replaced. Multidisciplinary "agile improvement teams" will work with machines to improve the customer experiences and operating processes of the business.
Making Agile Work
Too often, agile remains confined to software development.
Read about uses for agile
These teams will have an end-state in mind—often fully machine automated processes that are continuously optimized using machine learning. They will move toward this state with a test-and learn-approach that rapidly improves performance. The changes will involve disruptive workforce reductions and a greater need for adaptive talent in different places. Companies will need to invest to a significantly greater extent in learning and re-training.
By ignoring culture, an organization risks transformation failure. But embedding a digital culture in an organization takes a clear methodology and a disciplined effort. Leadership is critical. Here are the five imperatives for fostering a digital culture:
How to Drive a Digital Transformation: Culture Is Key
Companies are using digital technologies to unlock new sources of economic value—but it takes more than technology alone. Senior leaders, including CEOs, must create a strong digital culture.
Learn how to create a strong digital culture
Allison Bailey
Managing Director & Senior Partner; Global Leader, People & Organization Practice; former BCG Fellow
Martin Danoesastro
Agile in financial institutions
Digital organization
MORE ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
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Harnessing Data and Advanced Technology
Companies need to be smart about how they build their data and machine-learning capabilities and their digital platforms.
Digitizing Operations and Automating Processes
Core company processes, data, and technology will need to become end-to-end and centralized, which will cause real disruption in most companies.