I love elevators.
In those 50 seconds that it takes me to get to my floor in an elevator ride, I’ve been able to collect a long list of interesting “non-weather” related content. Conversations are always around various versions of how our lives have been digitised – from how we shop, learn, work and play, travel and make decisions. So basically, what’s trending in the elevator ride world globally these days (spanning Dubai, NY and pockets of Europe) is - several versions of “How Digital is this/that Company?” and “How Digital are you?”
Clearly, digital transformation has taken over the business landscape like a storm. But digital transformation is not signified bydigital products and servicesalone, rather “digital experience” in entirety. Leaders across the world are grappling with how to enable this digital experience and transformation?
Changemakers and thought leaders across the board have often commented that organizational culture and not technology is the single largest contributor to the failure of digital transformation, after-all culture determines the pace of change.
CARE is one of the models that could be used to create a digital culture that is transformative.
- Community: A globalparadigm shift is happening from audience to community. The millennials of today are digitally savvy, one that you will not engage by hosting a seminar (and them being the audience), rather through a networking dinner(where they engage as a community). The community effect is a leveller and organizations need to align themselves with this shift in order to not onlybeseen as a ‘cool’ brand, but to remain relevant in the war for talent- both attracting and retention.
- Advocacy (co-creators) & Relationships: Social and Digital technologies are inspiring people to find their voice throughmediums like Twitter, Facebook, Glassdoor or Instagram, thus moving the persona from that of a ‘consumer’ to that of a ‘co-creator’. They are called co-creators because they are influencers in decision making for others. Their voice is recognized (no matter how small) and an impact is created (less is more). They build networked (many to many) relationships through digital mediums to engage and empower their readers/ users/ followers. Even in the professional construct, their engagement is highly through many to many relationships, pivoted around informal networks and not formal hierarchies.
For a company’s relationship with its co-creators to be successful, its digital outreach needs to consistent and topical. - Engage through Market - Culture fit: As companies are moving from a product-based approach to a platform-based model, we are also witnessing a transition from the ‘product and market approach’ to that of ‘market and culture’ approach. What this means is that organizations need to understand better (now more than ever), the secret sauce of how to win in the market and how to work together. A classic example of this is Apple. While there are equally good (or even better) mobile phones out there, Apple is able to sell a seamless experience- from iStore, iTunes to the iPad. So, an organization that is able to offer a highly collaborative and digital engagement across its entire value chain- right from even before the time you want to seek out a candidate and engage with them up to their exit, will be able to create a culture that can contribute to digital transformation.
We’ve seen our productivity markers improve tremendously through this CARE model. Our hiring costs are down 25%, and time to productivity through our Digital Learning Platform has been reduced by nearly half. So, from a first-hand experience I can say that it isn’t just about the digital transformation of the company, rather it is about cultural transformation that is empowered digitally.