The market is evolving, and technology continues to evolve with it. Customer behavior and expectations have shifted.
With all this transformation going on around us, it’s essential for your business to change, too. This means pro-active change. Becoming more digitally mature is about more than strategy, and it will give you a slew of advantages.
More and more businesses are attempting to move to a digital business model. Many of these businesses are doing significantly more talking than doing.
Once a business commits to becoming digitally mature, they are typically way ahead of the competition. They are more apt to respond to any change in the business environment and take advantage of it.
What is digital maturity? Digital maturity is the process of your company learning how to respond appropriately to the emerging digital competitive environment. So how do you achieve it?
Enable a Forward-Thinking Company Culture
Many businesses fail to transform because they do not have transformation as the core of their company culture. To change your organization, you need everybody on board.
What does a forward-thinking company look like? They have some traits in common.
As a leader, reassess your business processes, staff and workflows. In a digital landscape, with customers, staff and business partners around the world, the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively is paramount. And cross-functional teams work to remove the divide between traditional and digital structures.
Your company culture affects everything about your business, from decision-making to the talent you employ and your leadership style. Likewise, these elements inform your corporate culture. If you are going to be creating a feedback loop, make it one that serves your business’s efforts to be more digitally mature.
Maturity suggests perspective. Digitally mature businesses play the long game, looking out five years or more, at the same time as crafting strategies for the short term (12-18 months).
Forward-thinking company culture will allow your business to combine tech and core business capabilities. With this flexibility, your business will be able to respond swiftly to the rapid change in digital environments.
Quickly Scale Experimental Successes
Digitally mature businesses accept risk. Encourage your organization to experiment, but be prepared to fail. Fail small. Repeatedly, if necessary. When you have a success, however, scale quickly.
To be digitally mature, you should always be moving. The playing field is continually changing, so you need to change up your tactics too.
This is not as exhausting as it might sound. Change almost inevitably leads to new opportunities. And since so many businesses are doing nothing (or only talking about doing something), you will have a whole series of opportunities with which to gain a competitive advantage.
Experiment, take risks and make the most of your successes.
Attract and Retain the Best Talent
Employees want to develop digital skills. A talented high-level staff wants satisfying digital challenges. They want to use and build their relevant experience and qualifications. To attract and retain talent, make sure that you offer a working environment and mission that are satisfying these wants.
The most talented individuals have seen the future and want to be an active part of shaping it. If you’re not moving forward, they are more likely to jump ship.
Allow your employees to collaborate fully, experiment and learn the skills they need for the digital future that is coming. They will use those skills for the benefit of your firm.
Gain a Competitive Advantage
A digitally mature business adapts to compete in an increasingly digital environment. The sooner you get to this stage, therefore, the better!
If you’re in any doubt about whether digital maturity is a worthwhile goal, consider that the digital business landscape is not waiting for businesses to catch up.
When your business is digitally mature, more of your initiatives will be successful, because you will have adapted to the environment.
One final thing to say is that digital maturity is a continuous process. Envision the martial artist receiving her black belt from the master. She realizes that her training has not ended; instead, she has attained the foundation for profound, lifelong learning and continuous development.
The main thing that separates digitally mature businesses from those in the queue is commitment. Make digital maturity the core of your business’s strategy, and you will see how positive transformation occurs in every department.
By C-Leveled