Digital transformation has had an unquestionable impact on the everyday work of companies. In this quickly evolving globe of fresh possibilities, the HR department is responsible for ensuring that talent with the correct abilities function in the best possible condition, to profit from all the advantages of the digital age. The most important issues at present are cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), exabytes of data, and artificial intellect. Digital transformation may require many distinct techniques.

However, the technology is not the only question. Changing business processes and corporate culture are equally vital to the achievement of these initiatives. Digital transformation initiatives are often an opportunity for big and well-established organizations to compete in the face of agile and digital rivals. Although digital transformation is one of the most common-and over-exploited expressions in the IT sector, definitions might differ. Everyone can agree that under the hype and confusion, digital transformation involves a number of important changes to the corporate culture.

Impact of Digital Business Transformation

There are several reasons to embrace the digital future sooner than later. New innovations will continue to shake client requirements and procedures. By replacing rigid structures and flexible procedures with work-place culture and infrastructure, a digital enterprise develops resilience and can adapt to fresh demands.

Committed Talent: Current practices in the US are leading to disengaged talent costing the economy $605 Bn a year. Through transparency, learning possibilities and open communication digital companies can empower their staff by offering them information (nearly 90 percent of staff wants to monitor their performance according to the latest study in the MIT Sloan Management Review).

Enhanced Revenue: Corporations can expect a 23 percent increase in revenue from digital strategies such as data utilization for intelligent decisions and training in emerging technologies. AT&T has 32 percent more time to earn through professional development initiatives that increase the digital skills of its employees.

Digital Business Transformation (DBT) occurs at an enormous velocity that is both menacing and promising for executives. Cisco Systems estimated 10 Bn units in 2013 to be linked to the Internet, in a study entitled "Internet for Everything", and expected that it would reach 50 Bn by 2020. It also forecasted that between 2013 and 2020, business and economic value worth $14 Tn could come in for company innovations, increased productivity, greater effectiveness and improved customer experience across countries, sectors, and businesses

According to a survey, as many as 84 percent of Indian businesses were seeing moderate to significant improvements in their ability to differentiate from their competition through digital transformation. Almost all India-based businesses (97 percent) showed moderate to significant improvements in customer experience post-digital transformation. They showed the greatest gain (56 percent) in terms of impact on employee productivity as a result of digital transformation.

DBT HR Trends 2019

Virtual Reality: For several years now, virtual reality has been trying to make its way into HR. The technique so far has been used for interviews, actual work previews, and conferences or for onboarding. Similar to other fields, the technology is quickly developing and VR is also entering the e-learning field.

Culture of HR Analytics: People analytics has become increasingly important. A data-driven approach, however, extends beyond using analytics to address company problems. Using analytics, retention can be predicted, changes in the workforce that could lead to high performance are identified and the training required for workers to close skill gaps is recommended.

AI & RPA Platform: One of the revolutions in the digitization of HR duties is the robotic process automation platform. These robots conduct various administrative procedures like recruitment, information uploading, communications, notifications and more. Research shows that nearly 40 percent of companies are using some form of AI in HR. Organizations like IBM, SAP, Facebook, GE, and Hilton worldwide are already using this game-changer technology to screen, interview and recruit new talent.

Remote Fluid-Workforce Platform: This has significantly decreased the infrastructure expenses and has helped to gain access to otherwise unattainable talent across organizations with a broad spectrum of distant workers. Technology has made this possible. This trend will continue to increase. Due to their extra capacities, remote platforms are now preferable than face-to-face communication. We all are aware that the gig-economy is already booming in the US, UK, European, and parts of Asian markets. The fluidity of the workforce a year back was limited to the IT industry, but with digital transformation industries like Automobile, Pharmaceuticals, Defense, Fashion, etc. all are embracing the change. The scope to tap talent beyond boundaries of countries is unlimited, all that is needed is a mobile device (laptop or mobile) with access to the internet.

Challenges and Conclusion 

Digital shift challenges and possibilities are influenced by size and structure. Established enterprises can tend to implement rigorous and formal hierarchies, which adds to a slower rate of cooperation and change. In a recent survey, two-thirds of business leaders stated that if their business doesn't digitize more by 2020, they won't do it again. Digitization is the main challenge. In HR, however, digitization reaches everywhere, from core functions like hiring and developing talent to improving performance.

A recent survey of directors, CEOs, and senior executives found that digital transformation (DT) risk is their No. 1 concern in 2019. Yet 70 percent of all DT initiatives do not reach their goals. Of the $1.3 Tn that was spent on DT last year, it was estimated that $900 Bn went to waste. 

There are no shortcuts to a digital transformation, it will ultimately make your business more efficient, effective, and resilient. It is a large undertaking, hence, it’s no surprise that many managers feel totally lost. 88 percent of the Senior HR officers reported that they need to invest in three or more techniques over the next two years to be able to be successful in transforming themselves. If HR teams are reluctant to take the "Digital Bull" by their horns, they will fail to get onboard the digital transformation wagon and risk becoming victims of this change.