Many organisations are going through digital transformations due to the long list of benefits such as improved efficiencies, optimised processes, and less opportunity for error.
But, going through a digital transformation is harder than it appears on the surface, and there are three common barriers that prevent an effective digital transformation.
Phocas produced a compelling piece talking about this, highlighting that “According to a recent FSN survey, only one third have made significant changes to their planning, budgeting, and forecasting process in the past three years.” Digital transformations are essential in every organisation and sector, so why are they falling by the wayside?”
These are the top three barriers that could be getting in your way…
Time is money, and if key stakeholders and individuals in your organisation who are required to execute the digital transformation are time-poor, you’re already starting on the back foot.
This can create a chicken and egg scenario as you have to start your transformation at some point, but without the right amount of time, you will lose momentum and fall even further behind.
When working with time constraints, your process management and organisation will largely dictate how successful your digital transformation is.
Phocas also highlighted cultural challenges as a common barrier, citing that for digital transformations to be executed well, you must have a top-down approach with senior stakeholders bought in and delivering the right message, so the whole organisation can be on board.
Pushbacks equal time constraints, which can make it even harder to kick-start let alone complete a digital transformation if the individuals within the organisation aren’t aligned. The key is to have senior stakeholders driving the transformation and keeping it a priority until the projects are completed.
Time and cultural challenges aside, you have to ensure that you have the right amount of budget to invest in the resource – whether this is human capital, technology, or operational support to help execute the transformation.
Additionally, having the right human resource in post is crucial to mitigate all three common barriers, as the right skill sets and attitudes can help to push a digital transformation forward even in testing times.
Whether you hire individuals on a permanent basis to help drive the transformation, or you engage a consultancy or independent contractors to execute it – you must ensure that you have allocated enough budget (even if you have to overestimate) so you can complete your digital transformation with minimal hiccups.
We speak with hiring managers and those in C-Suite constantly about their struggles with digital transformations, particularly in the current landscape where a lot of organisations are overstretched, have high targets as well as ambitious growth plans – trying to achieve all of these things can seem impossible at times.
We are well-versed in the digital transformation market both from a permanent and contract perspective, and have unique insight into what other organisations are doing as well as the solutions we have proposed to them.
Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding the digital transformation market and how we can help you.
