How do you get everyone on the digitisation train?

Digitisation is a form of change. Specific to any change is that resistance can never be ruled out. How you can respond to this as a company, you will read in this blog.

The fear of change

At home, we embrace digital innovations without detours. Installing the app of our smart thermostat has become automatic, banking transactions are almost all done with our smartphone and today we also prefer to turn on the TV with our phone rather than the tray. So why is it that there is still resistance to digitisation within companies? One answer: the fear of change. So the impact of an app you install privately is less drastic than the implementation of a software solution that changes the way you may have been used to working for years. And you may be in danger of becoming redundant yourself because of that tool and the changed processes....

Don't forget your staff

Digitalisation is the logic of things for young companies. They have simply grown up with it. It is different for companies that were around before the millennium bug. For their employees, the step from analogue - with stamps, physical archives and paper work orders - to digital is much less obvious. They mainly find the existing processes easy and only at a later stage realise that digitising these processes makes their work easier. In this case, every change process involves a change in mentality. You can only achieve this by clearly communicating the content, steps and benefits of the planned digitisation. That way, you get everyone on board with the digitisation story.

Dealing with resistance

The fact that not everyone is eager for digitisation can have several reasons. Some employees are afraid they will have to make way for a computer, others fear they will not master the digital solutions and still others are by definition creatures of habit who prefer to keep everything as it is. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the people who in se love change and improvement. They become your ambassadors to get even the (initial) detractors on board. They help you frame the change, explain its purpose and list the benefits. Moreover, as a sidekick, they can guide their colleagues through the change process.

Don't change for change's sake

Digitisation is necessary to stand your ground against your competitors, but that does not therefore mean that you have to follow the exact same path as your competitors. Focus on your own processes, your own offerings and your own customers to digitise your own organisation. Also communicate within your organisation why you are going for the chosen solution. It is a first necessary condition within change management. The second condition is good leadership. This includes informing and communicating as well as guiding, directing and supporting. Finally, to get - and keep - everyone on the same wavelength, it is very important to aim for sustainable change. Investing in a solution that you have to discard a few months later or whose usefulness is negligible is something nobody wants, of course.