The word digital dexterity is not new, but the usage of this term has increased in the past couple of years. Dexterity means ‘ease in using hands’. Here, the workforce is in the hands of enterprises to leverage digital technologies.
To achieve success, companies need to first invest in developing the digital aptitude of their workforce and should integrate it with their digital transformation initiative.
70% of digital transformation initiatives fail because of employee resistance. It could happen when the employees are not empowered enough to handle the digital technologies. This is where the digital dexterity gap occurs and as result could affect transformation initiatives negatively.
Organizations can bridge the digital dexterity gap and overcome the digital transformation challenges. Read ahead to learn how.
Challenges to achieving digital dexterity
A. Digital disconnects across all demographics
According to Gartner, only 9% of employees across an enterprise have high digital dexterity. Sound knowledge of technology and application is a must to drive the business in the right direction but that is not possible if the digital aptitude of the workforce is low.
Many organizations think that a young workforce is a solution to the problem but in a recent study, it was identified that fewer than 1 in 10 employees have a high level of digital dexterity. The study included employees from different demographics, it clearly shows that there is no significant correlation between the age and digital knowledge of the employees.
This could be attributed to the fact that the number of applications used by the employees are increasing drastically. This adds to the complexity of the business processes. So, irrespective of the age of the workforce, complex processes defeat the workforce at the digital front.
Leaders should create targeted digital programs that can help the workforce use digital tools or applications in the desired manner.
B. Stuck with dated training and onboarding programs
Organizations are heavily investing in training and onboarding to make their digital transformation successful, yet the digital disparity prevails. Although training is important, it does not always enable the employees with all the attributes required to manage the digital environment in a workplace.
The time consumption and lack of clarity in employee training are either not mentioned or pretty vague that the workforce is often not motivated enough to effectively learn from the program. The time required for the training program is from a few months to a year which not only drains the energy of the employees but also creates digital debt for the organization.
The solution to this problem is to have an experience-based learning program in place that clearly defines what will be the net outcome. It will help the employees immediately realize the value out of the digital assets that they use.
Tools like Digital Adoption Platforms can be used that remove skepticism and encourage the workforce to accomplish their goals promptly. Employees need not be worried about remembering every small detail to execute their tasks since a DAP is there to guide them at each step.
Relevant Read: 5 key ways to prepare for digital disruption in the new normal
C. Inability to develop new models
According to Gartner, senior leaders and CIOs should work together to ensure that the workforce is supported at all times by IT, and this action when executed correctly could improve the digital dexterity by 24%.
Another model is self-service where employees can use the digital applications on their own without being dependent on anyone else. Continuous IT support at all times around the globe is ambitious and difficult to achieve. The better alternative would be to invest in technology such as DAPs that can empower the workforce to become self-sufficient.
Learning models that can enable cross-application learning and guide the workforce throughout the process can expedite digital dexterity. This type of learning model is essential as on any given day employees are juggling 1100 times between several job-critical applications.
Losing the way during tasks could take up employees’ valuable time, and could strain the IT and support team. In places like these, traditional training won’t work and modern tools like DAPs function seamlessly by guiding the workforce at any point of need. It also goes beyond that and ensures that they complete the process while following the organizational norms which ensures data integrity and compliance as well.
How to bridge the digital dexterity gap
According to Gergo Vari, CEO, and Founder at Lensa:
‘The best way to increase digital literacy among your workforce is to let people know it’s ok to ask questions and request help. A lot of people will try to fumble their way through learning or improving because they are scared of looking incapable.
Encourage people to be comfortable with learning and improvement by providing a safe environment for questions and answers while also empowering them to solve problems on their own. Giving people access to learning opportunities they can explore on their own time is also vital as it expedites the process of digital literacy.’
The employees must be empowered with tools and knowledge that can enable them to overcome the digital hurdles.
Adding to this, digital dexterity is the top to bottom approach. Where the leaders must buy the idea of digital and focus on leveraging it across the board.
Once that part is taken care of, it is time for departmental heads to analyze the current state of digital preparedness among their employees.
But the major question is how do you find the digital dexterity gap?
It is important to ask these 3 questions:
- Question 1: What is the current state of digital aptitude within the organization?
- Question 2: How efficiently do employees adopt new applications and put them into use?
- Question 3: How long does it usually take for the workforce to get familiar with new technologies and processes?
Answers to these questions can be difficult to find and this is where a tool like a Digital Adoption Platform comes into the picture. The AI-powered analytics engine of a DAP gives detailed insights on user behavior, application usage, and process adoption.
These insights are filled with in-depth analysis, also the AI engine recommends which process is working within the application and hindering in the digital dexterity journey of your employees.
Post this, the organization can create personalized content for each user group based on the difficulty that they are facing. DAP helps you launch walkthroughs which helps the employees at any point of need and helps them accomplish their tasks without being reliant on anyone else. It reinforces training and enhances the digital aptitude of the workforce.
The main objective of any organization behind making their workforce digitally able is to ensure business process compliance. As clean data is the major component in making crucial business decisions. Tools like Digital Adoption Platforms help organizations ensure business process compliance and add value to the digital knowledge of their employees, which in turn will contribute to the bottom line.
Irrespective of where you are in the digital transformation journey, focusing on digital dexterity is important to ensure success and with a DAP like Apty, you can cover all the bases and focus on driving business outcomes.
