In a time of change, not everyone in your team will be on board with the scope, complexity, duration and variety of changes you introduce to how they work. Among business and talent leaders, finding new tools to adopt is often the least of their worries. A bigger challenge for many is when there is a pervasive culture of resistance among employees.

People Matters spoke to Jaclyn Lee, CHRO of integrated security services firm Certis, about the nuances of embracing cultural transformation vis à vis digital transformation.

Common barriers to organisational change

“If you look at culture change, many organisational leaders I’ve met share that technological barriers were far easier to overcome than barriers relating to organisational culture,” Jaclyn said in the exclusive interview.

“The reason why culture change projects have a very high failure rate is due to many reasons. And the reasons can include resistance to change, ineffective leadership, a high turnover of employees, and a lack of psychological safety, which is a hot topic right now.”

Sometimes, the size and maturity of a company – especially those that have built their legacy for decades – result in a slower pace of change.

“When an organisation is very mature, it is also harder to change because structures and processes have to be rethought and rebuilt all over again,” Jaclyn said. This gives HR tech leaders all the more reason to look at their structures and processes with a critical eye.

Purpose-driven change management projects

Jaclyn, who will be speaking at TechHR Singapore 2024, is a veteran of digital and cultural transformation projects in her years of experience as CHRO. What hasn’t changed over the years is her laser-sharp focus on the 'why' behind her transformation projects.

“In every change project, it is always important to go back to the starting point. Why are we changing? What is the purpose of changing? In all the change projects I have been involved with, the purpose has always been very important,” she said.

Recounting her first change management project in the early 2000s, Jaclyn said the legacy firm she was working with had many established processes and systems.

“However, when I joined, I discovered that many were very archaic and not relevant to what was needed for the organisation to succeed. In this circumstance, you need to have boldness and great people skills to convince stakeholders to change,” she said.

How transformation can improve the employee experience

Digital and cultural transformation projects led by HR often boil down to one primary goal: new processes, structures and policies should make work more streamlined, agile, effective and ultimately meaningful for leaders and employees. In short, any change introduced should enhance the entire employee experience, not set employees back by complex rules and clunky tech.

How then does change management facilitate better EX? Regarding digital transformation, Jaclyn believes today’s employees are no different from consumers of platforms like Netflix, Spotify, Instagram or TikTok. And that can work to the company's advantage.

“If you think about our Millennials or any of the younger generations, maybe those in their 20s, they are using a lot of media. Their experience with commercial-grade platforms out there is already ingrained in their mind. So any platform you create must have that design in mind. You have to design a commercial and consumer-grade digital platform for every employee,” she said.

This includes mapping out employee needs throughout their life cycle at work, from candidate sourcing and screening to onboarding, training and offboarding.

“It could be your HR system. It could be an app they use at work. You need to make sure that the experience is very good,” Jaclyn said. “That means every HR employee, which I advocate, needs to have design thinking capability. When you design something, design it with the consumer in mind. That’s the digital aspect.”

Culture building, however, is just as crucial.

“When you come into the office, do you work with a supervisor who is caring and looks after you? Do you come to a workplace where the environment is comfortable? Do you have a place that’s conducive to work?” Jaclyn said. “A combination of these touchpoints makes the whole employee experience.”

On the cusp of a digital and cultural transformation project at your company? #TechHRSG continues the conversation this July. Register now to be part of Asia’s Largest HR & WorkTech Conference!