4 brakes that prevent the digital transformation of your business
You know that you have to start the digital transformation of your business because you neither want to see a new digital entrant carve out croupiers for you, nor to see your business collapse. Rest assured, you are not alone in experience this problem. According to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) report, French VSEs / SMEs are lagging behind in terms of digitization.
A real development lever for your business, digital
technology allows you to maintain activities in the event of a crisis , such as
the one we recently experienced.
An inventory of the flaws probably encountered by your
company in terms of digital seems necessary. Where to start ? Here are the 4
brakes that cause your business to fall behind in its digital transformation .
The weight of the organization
The question of digital transformation is not a digital
question or a question of technological tool but first of all a question
related to the company (values, vision, ambition) and its business model.
Indeed, the development of your online identity requires upstream a perfect
knowledge of the purpose of your business.
An established business is like an ocean liner. Getting him
to maneuver is more complex than being at the helm of a frigate which will
always be more agile. The organization in silos, rigid, is often cited as the
first obstacle to the great digital upheaval ( study cap gémini ). A successful
digital transformation therefore implies an internal reorganization and
therefore an effort on the part of each of the teams. According to the Socialy
article , 39% of companies encounter resistance to digital transformation
internally. This organizational rigidity is also the main
obstacle to the digitization of companies according to the Mc Kinsey report
(full PDF).
Poor anticipation of the organization's needs as well as the
difficulty in motivating and involving its employees are two frequently
encountered problems. However, digital transformation is a process requiring
time and investment. The involvement of all of the company's employees
therefore seems essential.
At the level of living forces, namely human resources, wills
and fine words are common but translate into "measures", that is to
say changes that are not or that avoid fundamental reforms. Or even tactical
moves without strategic vision.
An entity that wants to be a digital company must transform:
• to stick
to its market and satisfy its current, virtual and future customers
• to better
achieve your goals
• to adapt
or modify your business model
• so as not
to die (see here the article of key digital figures in Reunion Island or the infographic )
Defining a vision and
sharing it, developing employee skills and leading the inter-department
revolution, or even defining governance are the main problems encountered by
organizations.
The digital skills gap
Before embarking on the transformation of your business, you
should know that digitization is a movement, a state of mind, a culture and not
an end in itself. Everyone is involved in the company and all sectors are
impacted.
It is imperative and cannot be improvised. It was long
believed that since the Internet and social media are "almost free",
the only costs were time invested and a small advertising budget. Digitization
comes down, for many companies, to an online presence.
A lot of entrepreneurs from elsewhere continue to think that
all you need to do to get started is to open a Facebook page , and that
Internet users naturally come to you and buy. And that your society is
transformed ....
Of course, you can learn a lot on the job, especially if you
are interested in digital. There are many resources on the web (white papers,
ebooks, online courses, articles, etc.). But training and / or finding good
professionals takes time and investment . Inspire the movement too, believe me:
from 2011 to 2014 I was in charge of the digital transformation of a group of
400 people in a sixty - year - old company with deep-rooted habits.
Some, like 48% of companies ( source ) choose, in the
start-up phase, to trust an external expert as one seeks the services of a
lawyer or an accountant. Others ( 19.1% of companies with less than 100
employees according to the Cap Gemini study ) have chosen internally or
recruited an employee in charge of their digital transformation. There is no miracle
recipe. What matters is the strategic vision and the real desire to transform
to meet customer demand and new purchasing habits.
The delay in digital transformation is explained by a lack
of knowledge of the various digital tools , recognized by employers and
employees as too complex to implement.
Finally, the lack of training of employees is also cited by
managers.
Lack of financial margin
Some companies, through ignorance of these new tools and
poor identification of needs, rush to digital solutions that are often
expensive and unsuitable. Others are reluctant about the costs generated by
such a transformation, which they consider colossal: purchase of new equipment,
staff training, recruitment ...
How to invest in tools, an essential CRM (Customer Relationship
Management), a website with a real digital strategy that generates business, a
reliable information system when you are an SME that is struggling to complete
its end of the month?
How to surround yourself with the talents necessary for the
transformation of the company? How to attract them? How to pay the costs
inherent in a team dedicated to the project?
It is a fact and it would be a mistake not to mention it:
companies with overdue cash flow , which complain about changing tax rules and
have little visibility, also face a major obstacle. : obtain funding, although
many aids exist (Feder, Region, BPI, etc.).
Lack of involvement of leaders
The digital transformation finally shows an additional
obstacle: the limited level of acculturation of managers to the digital issue .
Most of the time alone, they view this great upheaval with fear and mistrust,
and slow down any initiative. Yet there are many opportunities for growth for
their business. The lack of benchmarks as to how to lead this change is
mentioned in the Cap Gemini study by more than one in three managers.
The digital transformation is disrupting the old methods on
which the company is based. These good old methods remain popular with leaders
because they continue to be seen as the most effective. For the most skeptical
leaders, it is especially difficult to accept
the irremediable rupture of the old model ("we always did it like
that"). However, and it is paradoxical, most of them use a smartphone and
the services of Booking, Airbnb, leboncoin, Tripadvisor, Netflix and all the
global cracks of commercial innovation .
