One-third of leaders believe that the most significant barrier to digital effectiveness is Culture, followed by a lack of understanding about digital trends, as per McKinsey Quarterly reports. While the term, ‘digital culture’, has been used widely, only a few early adopters are able to understand the complexities that come with the territory. In simple terms, culture embodies a specific set of values and behaviors that determine how an organization functions. It becomes crucial to have a healthy culture because that establishes a code of conduct based on which employees in an organization make choices that affect the organization’s growth. In such a situation, people have to be accepting of a digital culture for you to see tangible differences. 

Distinguish between a digital mindset and digital culture 

Most of the organizations confuse the term digital mindset with digital culture. They may seem to be similar on the surface, but they have differences that matter. While a digital mindset caters to individual thinking, digital culture is a collective construct. To thrive in this competitive world, organizations need to have a workforce that shares a similar mindset. You can start by establishing a digital mindset that refers to how individuals think and process data obtained from digital technologies. But to witness actual growth, you need to focus on the digital culture that fuses the collective response of the workforce towards digital information and go on to behave accordingly and influence one another.

Reasons to establish a digital culture

Breaks hierarchy to speed work 

It's a no-brainer that work happens faster when the layers of hierarchy are peeled off as it empowers people to make quick decisions. With the new age concept of agility, it is crucial to let employees make their judgments. This, of course, becomes a scary concept for organizations, but it doesn't have to be. The advantage of having a digital culture is it allows you to experiment and optimize quickly. 

Encourages innovation 

A digital culture will enable organizations to foster a workplace that motivates employees to try new things. It is essential to ensure that your workforce has the skills and the mindset to leverage the data and insights offered for this model to work. Innovation doesn't always mean coming up with new ideas but also re-inventing old models. Using digital technologies and insights considerably enhances the learning of your workforce, helping them optimize mundane tasks effectively and efficiently. Establish trust with your workforce that will make them comfortable to share new ideas and models with you. 

Attracts new-age talent & retains the current workforce 

Millennials and GenZs no longer want to work in an environment that sticks to a 9 to 5 routine. Establishing a digital culture allows them to become a part of a collaborative, creative and autonomous workplace that they crave for. With the competition to attract and retain the best talent, it becomes more and more important to portray your brand as a workplace people want to be a part of. 

Digital culture also increases employee engagement as it has a model that permits them to bring their best self to work,  voice their opinions, and create an impact. According to a study by Microsoft, five times more employees feel empowered, 4 times feel engaged, 3 times feel innovative and 2 times more employees feel productive. 

Key takeaway

Cultural change is surely the key to a successful transformation, so is investing efforts in cultivating a digital mindset. Developing a digital culture is a time-consuming process but is the need of the hour. Employees want to work in an environment where they can play around with new ideas, collaborate and grow. Any change that you want to implement in an organization should be done top-down. Start by building a digital mindset among the management so it passes on to their respective teams. To secure a competitive edge, companies need to shape and embed a digital culture and invest in long-term, sustainable performance.