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Culture Eats Technology in Digital Transformation!
Organizational change management is a business discipline that focuses on both the technical and the people side of change. Pink’s Organizational Change Management certification course emphasizes the leadership skills necessary for leading people through change because it’s often the difficulty that employees have to embrace and sustain change that leads to the failure of most change initiatives.
The need for effective leadership skills and organizational change management knowledge and expertise are also emphasized in a recent IT industry article featured below.
Four Major Factors of Organizational Change Management
In her Computer Weekly article, Culture eats technology in digital transformation, author Cath Everett writes, “Investing in technology alone is not enough to bring about meaningful digital transformation, research has revealed.”
She goes on to note, “But if cultural and technical change are given equal weight and both align with organizational strategy, business change initiatives can boost company revenues by up to 44% in a year.”
This is a significant statistic and highlights the importance of how successful organizational change management can positively impact the bottom line. Cath quotes an interviewee who concurs, “…any failure to achieve ‘full alignment from a cultural and technology perspective’ will inevitably result in ‘diminished returns on investment and to existing processes.’ This means ‘it’s critical they’re aligned.”
To read the complete Computer Weekly article, including quotes from interviewees and case studies, click here.
The four major factors of organizational change management identified in the Computer Weekly article by the writer and interviewees are:
- The importance of change management – Change management activity is crucial if transformation is to be truly embedded into operational processes and employee behavior. This means that leaders need to understand organizational change management as a discipline and know how to take people through all the stages of change, including culture and employee behaviors.
- The true value of culture – According to interviewees, the problem is that too many organizations give into the temptation of allowing their digital strategies to be driven solely by technology. To successfully move forward in a world of volatility, uncertainty, and change, it’s important to have a strong north star that grounds you, whether that’s a purpose to rally around, values that make clear how you plan to execute, or a mission that clearly defines and articulates what you’re trying to accomplish. It is here that the true value of culture lies.
- The importance of culture and mindset – A big part of change is about mindset and culture. Although there may be a focus on technical skills development, a lot of it is about people learning to think and behave differently – this has to be a big focus.
- The value of communication and collaboration – You can have the best technology in the world, but if people don’t know about it, like it, or see the value in it, they won’t use it. A lot of time should be spent communicating and making people feel part of the wider collaboration – it was very important for the success of change and how things would work.
As the subtitle of Cath’s article says, “Digital transformation without culture change is an empty phrase, but get the balance right and you can reap rewards.”
Pink Elephant’s Organizational Change Management Certification Course
Pink’s Organizational Change Management certification course (offered in live, instructor-led, or self-paced online formats) includes a structured approach for leading change initiatives by providing leaders with actionable guidance on how to successfully address the all-important aspects of cultural transformation. The curriculum also includes strategies on how to gain employee commitment to the change and how to overcome resistance by deploying successful several communication strategies.
The 20/20 change model taught in the course is a four-phase method that first clarifies your organization’s business objectives by ensuring the change initiative aligns with the over-arching business objectives and embedding the change within the culture and practices of the organization.
For more details on Pink’s Organizational Change Management certification course, including course dates, click here.
Pink’s Organizational Change Management certification course is part of PDC’s integratedITSM™ Designation Scheme.
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