The top barriers to digital transformation

The world has changed irreversibly since the pandemic, and so have business goals. Setting up a flexible working program used to be nice to have, but now it has crept up the agenda of every business leader.

With changes to how, where, and when we work business functions have had to adapt. It is not only HR that has had to make changes, business-wide intersections such as finance and IT have as well.

On the back of this changing workplace, cloud management platform Workday surveyed 1,150 senior business leaders across the world to get an insight into the pace of digital transformation over the course of the past two years and the challenges their organizations are facing.

Transformation challenges

Worryingly, 55% of respondents told Workday their digital strategy is always or often outpaced by the demands of the business. This struggle is reflected in the lack of desire to invest fully in projects.

Workday found that fewer businesses are adopting a “fail fast” mentality (53% in 2021, compared with 77% in 2020), this suggests that there is now caution around future digital transformations, despite the working world continuing to change with hybrid work and returns to the office.

As a result of these findings, Workday believes that the digital acceleration gap is widening. This is because the needs of businesses are changing too quickly. Leaders, processes, and the workplace can’t keep up.

Fortunately, leaders don’t need to watch in horror as the digital acceleration gap widens, instead they can help different areas of the business with specific practices.

Problems within finance

51% of finance leaders told Workday that integrated data was one of the most important parts of planning and executing business changes. Additionally, 61% say that technology that unifies financial, people, and operational data is their most pressing need.

The need for new technology and a unified effort is evident, as 34% of finance leaders say they have little or no confidence in their team’s ability to meet the demands of the business.

As a result, installing tools that can manage this data, enable visualization for stakeholders, and enable benchmarking can make a huge difference to the effectiveness of financial teams.

This should mean that less time is spent on tedious tasks and that teams can begin looking at the next transformation rather than searching in the remnants of previous projects.

Troubles for IT teams

Naturally, implementing new HR tools usually involves IT teams, but they have issues of their own.

Often using the cloud is discussed as a way to provide flexibility to employees and even improve security.

However, just 42% of IT leaders believe their teams can adopt these technologies as they handle existing issues within the technology infrastructure.

The impact of this is seen as 59% acknowledge it can take weeks or months to change an automated business process.

Evidently, IT teams need to be empowered to make the changes that the business and employees need.

One solution is hiring talent to help bring businesses up to date. However, hiring is increasingly expensive as the ‘Great Resignation’ highlights skill gaps and the value of talent in organizations.

Equipping IT with data on their systems can kickstart the process of assessing which tools can be replaced, or discontinued, and where problems within the existing technology stack lie.

This is the first step to helping IT close the digital gap, after that teams and stakeholders need to have a clear vision of where they can go.

The woes of HR

Understanding where you need to be as a business requires talking to staff. The bridge between people and business goals, HR is also in need of assistance.

Businesses are focusing on recruitment, retention, and the experience of employees amid the ‘Great Resignation‘.

Improving these areas can require investment in benefits, pay, flexibility, and listening strategies. HR has a lot on its plate.

Workday found that 50% of HR leaders say positive employee experiences are the most important factor in driving HR change. To do this well, HR needs to be in tune with the needs of employees.

Collecting data on employees through surveys has been essential throughout the pandemic and it will continue to carry weight as the workplace adapts alongside retention woes. Understanding the needs of employees can inform HR practices and wider transformations.

After all, no one wants to invest in a product that doesn’t actually meet the needs of the business.

Pete Schlampp, chief strategy officer at Workday, reflected on the findings of the study: “Digital transformation is no longer a choice – it’s necessary to keep pace in today’s changing world.

“Yet, as the study shows, there’s an acceleration gap organizations need to address to help ensure their digital journeys keep pace with the growing and evolving demands of their business.”

The only question left is: where you’ll start with your next transformation?