Dive Brief:
- So far, IT has been driving the “digital transformation” because of its obvious expertise in the “digital” part; however, HR plays a pivotal role in the next stage — the “transformation” part, global HR research and advisory firm McLean & Company emphasized in a Nov. 6 report.
- As organizations integrate artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies into their operations and workforce (the “transformation” part), people take a front role, and IT is relegated to a secondary spot, Lisa Highfield, McLean & Co.’s principal director of HR technology and AI, said at a media briefing.
- Organizations that fail to manage people priorities during the transformation stage — HR’s expertise — risk “overexerting, overwhelming, and disengaging employees,” an outcome that is neither sustainable nor conducive to the innovative work required for digital transformation, and likely to deplete productivity, the report warned.
Dive Insight:
If Y2K was the moment for IT, then digital transformation is all about HR, Highfield noted during the briefing. HR plays a key role because the transformation part is “really about the people,” she said.
But HR can’t do it alone, Highfield emphasized. HR must be a strategic partner both in digital transformation planning and implementation, the report emphasized. Unfortunately, particularly with strategy planning, HR is often left out of the conversation, McLean & Co. discussed in recent studies.
“AI strategy is the central point from which both technical and people-related AI activities originate,” Highfield pointed out in a June report.
However, introducing AI technologies can create tension as stakeholders often have differing views and competing priorities, an April report explained. When HR and organizational leaders come together, they can build aligned principles to guide the implementation of the technology, it said.
No one expects HR professionals to be AI experts, but they need to know enough to collaborate effectively with IT and other organizational leaders to provide input regarding the people impact, McLean & Co.’s November report noted.
So what’s the snag? Historically, digital transformation efforts were centered around technology, and HR is often regarded as not technologically capable, the report explained.
Now, however, “recent advances, including AI, have shifted the focus from technology-led approaches to the creative potential of people in transforming business … through technology,” the firm’s latest report pointed out.
This shift “brings people to the forefront” of digital transformation, the report said.
For HR, “it’s time to push the boundary” of their technological comfort zone by first identifying how big their skill gap is (i.e., what they need to know to collaborate effectively with IT and other functions) and, second, by seeking opportunities to educate themselves and their teams, McLean & Co. recommended.
This may be especially relevant for cultivating a culture that supports transformation success, the report said. As with other aspects of digital transformation, HR alone can’t drive or be accountable for a desired result, but HR does have a special connection to — and responsibility for — organizational culture, the firm said.
In particular, as a “culture steward,” HR is adept at identifying which elements of the current culture best serve the organization through digital transformation and which elements are getting in the way, the firm pointed out.
Best-serving elements may include: providing employees with a platform to share creative solutions (fostering innovation); identifying groups that may be unequally affected by the transformation and establishing mechanisms for this to be addressed; and mitigating burnout, such as by fostering balanced workloads, according to the report.
It helps to keep in mind that there is no “magic wand” for successfully getting through digital transformation, Highfield noted.
Rather, digital transformation is about progress, not perfection, and HR is critical to building employees’ agility, adaptability and resilience so they can leverage technology to its fullest extent, she said.