Digital transformation: Tech’s ultimatum

People-process-technology: Boosting adoption and buy-in with training and road mapping

People, process, and technology need to work together in order for companies to achieve a successful technology implementation. In fact, 72% of executives responding to the Crowe Executive Outlook Study say they are focusing their people, processes, and technology on the mission of turning volatility into opportunity.³ If these key components are misaligned, the risk of failure increases. Often, the “people” piece of this trifecta requires the most careful and thoughtful management.

A system is only as valuable as its usage, and if people find a system onerous, they won’t use it. Success on the people side, then, depends on the clarity and usability of the technology post-deployment. Inevitably, some workers will be resistant to adopting new systems. It is incumbent on implementers to identify pain points in people’s workflow and show them how the tech will make their work better.

A phased approach can help define what needs to be handled and when, and how much time needs to be dedicated to implementation and testing alongside other day-to-day tasks. Front-end planning should be extensive – but also should allow room for evolution over the course of the project. Implementation is a journey, and companies need to be ready and willing to pivot along the way.

Digital adoption tools can help companies keep pace with change

Consumers have been trained to work with technology that is continually changing and improving. Mobile phone users, for example, are familiar with routine prompts for a software update: A notification informs the user that a software update will occur at some point in the near future. Once the new version of the software is installed, upon visiting different applications, the user is automatically prompted with information about what has changed, along with tips about how to use the updated app.

Companies should embrace a similar training model when it comes to tech upgrades in business. Digital adoption tools can provide the same type of learning experience for employees. The first time employees log in after system changes have been made, they should be automatically taken through a tour of what has changed, what the new tools are, and how to use them, with in-application learning, hinting, and nudging.

The real-time, experiential, and hands-on nature of this type of training, at the point of consumption, aligns with the way people are accustomed to learning. This format also is much more conducive to retention than traditional models of training, which require people to sit through learning modules and remember and apply the concepts later – a format that often results in immediate knowledge loss, frustration, and challenges.

Start with a strong digital core: Customer service and internal collaboration

Countless examples exist of interesting, one-off solutions that solve a narrow problem in business, and those can be worthwhile. However, it would be difficult for the average organization to keep pace with the constant changes in technology and AI with one-off solutions alone. Having a strong core software, therefore, is an important starting point.

Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms are important because they help bring in revenue. There are a lot of strong players in that space, with Salesforce, Microsoft, and NetSuite leading the charge. Companies have found success using applications with a significant selling platform when those applications are integrated with other tools such as interacting with customers and video conferencing.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) also is foundational to long-term success, and businesses need a digital core that allows for adaptation. A good initial opportunity to embed AI is to take advantage of the offerings of a company’s existing vendors. In addition, the platform needs to be current with upgrades. Given the speed of upgrades, companies can quickly fall behind if they are not up to date.

In April 2020, when companies suddenly shifted their workforces to remote work arrangements, many clients reached out to Crowe for help. Among tax clients, many were used to working together in a conference room to get provisions done or keeping files on individual employees’ laptops. Processes needed revision, and tech enhancements were needed to enable a rapid shift to remote work.

As the pandemic progressed, resource challenges emerged as people shifted to different roles. Crowe helped companies put in place “plug and play” solutions that enabled people coming into roles new for them to ramp up quickly. Crowe specialists encouraged clients to make sure multiple people are involved in training and to have good documentation so that turnover was less disruptive and painful. Companies often don’t anticipate that a key person will leave, so they don’t prepare for it. The erratic job market of recent years has proven that these departures can and will happen.

One client – a sizeable U.S. multinational company – wanted to maintain the size of its tax department in a growth environment but knew doing so could create efficiency challenges. Crowe was able to establish a process that addressed the client’s challenges and fears so it could shorten its close process from several weeks to a single week. To accomplish this, the Crowe team carefully investigated its needs and the problems in the existing process. The experience underscored the people element in digital transformation – understanding people’s pain points and acknowledging them can increase the chances of success.

Companies should establish digital transformation success metrics early on. Usage is everything, so companies need to have specific goals in mind for who will use the solution and for what purpose. To that end, user adoption and net promoter scores are good metrics to track.

Additionally, any investment should have a business justification expressed in specific business metrics such as improved revenue, margin, customer engagement, or employee satisfaction. Companies that don’t have business metrics in mind preimplementation probably are lacking a North Star. Indeed, other than basic adoption metrics and the net promoter score, everything should fall at the feet of the targeted metrics.