How technological transformation is leading to reorganisation of talent

Technology is transforming talent and leadership needs in organisations. Every company, be it a small or medium enterprise to legacy corporation, is becoming a software company, and is fundamentally changing its business model. To face the constant evolution of digital and technology, companies are building digital leadership and capabilities such as big data, mobile computing, cloud computing, social media integrations and artificial intelligence (AI). According to our Digital Pulse survey, although companies across industries are expecting continued disruption in 2017, financial services, health care and industrial firms are bracing for the most significant technological change. Mobility firms such as Ford blend the line between hardware and software; agricultural companies are digitising business models; new-age fintech companies are leveraging traditional banks’ underwriting capabilities; and data science is increasingly used to supplement talent acquisition decisions.

With the emergence of disruptive technologies, a growing number of digital and tech roles are created that require strong technology acumen. However, lack of digital and technology literacy has been a significant barrier in India, and addressing this is essential to raise adoption rates for empowering technologies. Few companies have the in-house talent to ideate and develop new applications and processes using digital systems. As a result, globally employees’ skills are either automated or getting redundant. In India, digital/technological skill development appears to be a key reason to switch organisations.

To foster transformational, strategic leadership, organisations have started acknowledging that technology is a crucial part of their cultural DNA. And so, bringing functional experts such as digital board directors, chief digital officers, chief information security officers and chief analytics officers is increasingly warranted in board-room discussions. Based on our survey conducted on the roles of technology executives in Fortune 500 companies, the higher a company is on the Fortune 500 list, the more likely they are to have a qualified technology executive in the boardroom: 39 per cent US Fortune 100 companies have such expertise.

Puneet Kalra Managing Director, Russell Reynolds Associates

Practices such as DevOps and Agile serve as a huge enabler in building a cultural framework for businesses to scale up and thrive. As business processes become more data-driven, senior people across business functions need to be digital-savvy and domain-oriented to stay relevant in their roles. Automation, robotics and AI are advancing quickly, dramatically changing the nature and number of jobs available, and so the point it is not about just technological innovation but how to use technology to improve organisation effectiveness.

Technological transformation is largely impeded by structural and talent issues. Nearly half of the respondents say functional silos, organisational inertia and a lack of digital expertise distributed across the organisation are holding the technological implementation back.

A majority of organisations have recognised company culture, as it impacts decision-making and strategic integration, as a major driver of transformation. To instil digital in all parts of an organisation is still a challenge that has to be addressed, instead of building a standalone, siloed digital function at the top. As we look at the psychometric profiles of Fortune 500 executives in tech industry, parameters such as innovation, disruption and social adeptness are over-indexed. Our research shows transformational leaders show significant differences in innovative and disruptive characteristics (34 and 32 per cent) as compared to other senior executives.

Furthermore, they are also bold leaders who are socially adept in galvanising other employees to their transformation efforts.

To reverse the ride of departures, hiring practices need to focus on inclusion that is, ensuring individuals — all individuals — have a positive sense of being a part of the organisation. How to evaluate talent potential, to match with future opportunities, and improved communication on potential are a few examples that drive potential for greater inclusion. Further, mergers and acquisitions — especially in the start-up ecosystem — are a major play in harnessing external technological capabilities in creating business value for clients.

Many companies are struggling to coordinate the roles played by core digital teams, IT, and marketing. Successful digital strategies require an integrated approach with clear delineation of governance and decision rights, and operating on joint metrics across shared functional areas.

Providers of digital capabilities consulting and product firms that operate in a client-partnership model are seeing the delivery heads/client partners serving Fortune 1000 companies transitioning to an on-site consulting realm. Such talent is joining the forward-thinking companies and aligning their agile, real-time approach to decision making around the customer journey (riskier, but with greater odds of innovation).

The most valuable way to retain and engage employees who are embracing the technological         transformation is by asking:
 

• How can we structure projects more like a technology organisation — with an eye toward product development and deployment?
• How can technology companies’ meritocracy mindset and flat hierarchy be more pervasive within our (respective) functional arena?
• As cross-functional leaders, how can new, innovative ideas be captured and explored using technology as an enabler?

What is needed is an ecosystem-play: of breaking the functional silos and questioning the “technology” status quo, by assessing cross-functional leaders for greater flexibility, and creating new business models to stitch together a solution that blends in new technologies. In this way, organisations will reconfigure their talent in technology roles and reverse the talent migration to India’s tech and tech-enabled businesses.