Businesses today are operating in a world where everything is digitized. They realize that the need to go the digital way to engage with their clients and maintain relevance in the industry is the key to success. Acknowledging this change is one part of the process but the other equally important part is becoming a part of this transformation at the required pace.
According to research, automation will take over many jobs including professional jobs in the near future. A survey conducted to see the probability of accounting and auditing jobs becoming automated in the next 20 years, pegged the score at almost 94%. For some tax preparation roles, this likelihood climbs to almost 99%. Many other (and non-related) industries saw similarly high estimates. Another study done by the Oxford University estimated that 'mobile robots and 'smart' computers -that learn on the job- make it likely that occupations employing about half of today's US workers could be possibly automated in the next decade or so.
Respond to the change
The first step towards accepting the digital disruption is an assessment of the company's digital maturity. This includes understanding the way technology is being integrated in the business now and the larger picture of how the digital movement will affect the company. For this the companies, will need to rethink the entire business plan and method of operation. The digital strategy that the company develops must be comprehensive beyond marketing. Keeping the profit motive in mind will not be wrong but this needs to be done in conjunction with meeting the demands of the customers, suppliers, employees as well as investors. The focus needs to be on innovation.
Hertz, the car rental company started self-service kiosks in 2007. In 2011, it added the digital innovation factor to these kiosks by moving to dual-screen kiosks—one screen to select rental options via touch screen, a second screen at eye level to communicate with a customer agent using real-time video.
Taking the Employment Game to the Next Level
The workplace itself is undergoing a significant change in times of digital transformation. In the UK alone, 4.64 million people are self-employed while in the US, 34% of the workforce is freelancing. These numbers are growing by the day. It is expected that by the year 2025, 72% Millennials will be a part of the workforce. Now these are the people who are technologically comfortable and can accept change with ease. The perception of an employee being physically present at the workplace is also changing as is the concept of a working day. These fundamental transformations affect the way businesses work and the sooner the companies accept this fact, the better it is for their growth.
Companies must learn how to attract and retain the right talent in a market that is constantly changing. The skills that an employer looks for should be relevant for today as well as for tomorrow.
Tech Talent Tirade
The key lies in hiring the right technology talent. Over the next five years, enterprises will invest about hundreds of millions of dollars—and some more than a billion dollars—to fuel digital transformation. Acquiring top engineering talent can yield double-digit investment savings by accelerating the transformation process by even 20 to 30 percent. However, finding such talent can be a challenge. Before starting the hiring spree, digital businesses must identify the key capabilities they need. This will determine the skills and strengths that new talent must possess.
While this may vary depending on geography, market, and target audience, there are some skills that should be a part of every digital business' talent pool.
- Machine Learning Engineers – Companies are quickly adapting machine learning. P&G collaborated with the Los Alamos National Laboratory to create statistical methods to streamline processes and increase uptime at its factories, saving more than $1 billion a year. Thus, businesses need new age engineers who can read and interpret data and program in scalable computing environments.
- Experience Creators – Customer experience remains a key focus area in the digital age. Thus, companies will need talent that can deliver this experience. These roles will often include UX designers, who'll deliver human-centered designs, and front-end engineers who'll translate these designs into exceptional experiences.
- Agility Coaches – Agile development lies at the heart of digital technology engine. Thus, organizations will need scrum masters and agile coaches to scale the agile culture across different teams. These coaches have good convincing skills and can communicate effectively. Their key responsibility is to put in place measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to track progress.
- Full Stack Developers – The rapidly changing technology landscape needs developers who are fluent across all technology components including web/mobile user interface, middleware microservices, and back-end databases, and have an expertise in more than one area. These people have at least eight to ten years of software engineering experience and deep expertise with one to two core programming languages (e.g., Java, .NET, Node.js, et cetera).
Success in the digital era
Companies that are willing to transform themselves and embrace new technology have been successful. The UK grocery retailer, TESCO acquired Blinkbox, a video-streaming service; We7, a digital music store; and Mobcast, an e-book platform. This enabled the company to quickly acquire skills to keep up to date with the digital media.
Another example is Walmart which missed the bus on the digital wave initially and fared poorly compared with the competition from Amazon. In 2011, it established WalmartLabs, an "idea incubator," as part of its growing e-commerce division in Silicon Valley. The unified company-wide e-commerce platform that was built, thus, helped Walmart increase online revenues by 30 percent in 2013, outpacing Amazon's rate of growth.
The ball in now is in the court of business houses to rise to the challenge or bear the brunt of the digital change. The aim should be to pursue innovation and make changes in their own business model (to the extent of completely disrupting it) before competition can get better of them. Without a digital plan in place, companies will only end up losing business. The threat of digital disruption is more serious than it might appear. This is because technology changes at an exponential rate giving rise to new platforms that the companies need to incorporate in their scheme of growth.
Authored by:- Prakash Menon, President, Global Retail Business, NIIT Ltd