The world of work continues its metamorphosis as companies use technology to modernize their business strategies. The current crisis has accelerated many of the changes expected over the next 5-10 years. So, as these changes intensify, many companies simply cannot compete and disappear. For example, 50% of the companies that were on the Fortune 500 list in 2006 no longer exist. We can only wait to see how we all get out of the current crisis.
Competition is raining from all directions. The COVID crisis has shaken up all companies and industries. So we can expect that over the next decade, innovations such as robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) will affect approximately two billion jobs.
These developments pose both a challenge and an opportunity.
The pioneers – organizations with technologically trained leaders – will outperform those organizations with less technologically competent leaders, the laggards. As our world of work becomes increasingly interactive, the performance gap will only grow.
These types of organizations, those with digitally advanced leaders, are more prepared to face the new challenges of the marketplace. They are better at anticipating and responding to the competitive environment, navigate through complexity, and use data and analysis to guide their decision making.
Looking to the near future, every organization will need to adopt new technologies to thrive – this will be virtually the same everywhere – so the real edge will come from talent, from truly digital leaders.
As Efiempresa mentions, “for companies to have digital leadership, they must redefine their business models, to adapt them to new opportunities. Because with the evolution of business 4.0, customers have new demands and competition is more difficult to overcome.“
Where to find the digital talent you need
Digital leadership is not necessarily “out there” – it is true that new generations have been more exposed to technology, however, they sometimes lack interpersonal skills.
An experienced leader, on the other hand, may not have the long-term vision or understand the core functionality of new technologies.
So we have identified that in order to have a solid and pioneering team, capable of positioning your organization as a market leader, you have to 1) look inside, to evaluate what you already have, 2) map the market, to understand who the references are, and 3) attract the best globally to increase your know-how…
Internally, carrying out a series of assessments based on digital competency models can be the first step in determining the capabilities available to the organization, preparing a short and medium-term development plan, and defining recruitment needs.
As far as external recruitment is concerned, it is difficult to have everything very clear in these moments of so much uncertainty. What will be the roles and responsibilities of this person? How will his or her performance be measured? What kind of profile are we looking for? Sometimes it is difficult for our clients to answer all these questions at present, so before “jumping” into the pool without knowing what we are looking for, we always suggest mapping the market.
Understand who is in positions of digital transformation out there. What the structure of their teams is. Their tasks and challenges. Their salaries and benefits. In short, there is much to learn about these roles, which are not only digital, they are truly transformational.
These roles are not just digital, they are truly transformational
And now, once you’re clear enough to complete a briefing, go out and get the best. Those people who will take on roles that will transform the business in the short, medium and long term. People who will inspire an entire organization. And who will achieve what seems impossible at the time?
Where to start?
- At first, you must define what the key roles are within the organization and carry out an assessment of the people who occupy those positions to determine the readiness gap to adopt and accelerate the digital transformation.
- Current competence models must be redefined to be innovative and to integrate new knowledge and skills of digital leadership.
- Establish acceleration programs (similar to those done by startups) in leadership. This is an excellent exercise to develop technological knowledge and leadership skills.
- Go beyond simply “doing it digital” by applying technology separately to “going digital”, a mindset that combines leadership and a long-term way of working. This is the point that has accelerated the COVID-19 crisis.
Rethinking the competency model
According to the author, Jesús Gómez, HR director and professor, in his article “Digital Competencies: Digital Leadership”, there are 8 key competencies that today’s professionals should have in order to accelerate the digital transformation of business:
- Knowledge
- Ability to manage information
- Communication
- Working on the Internet
- Learning and improvement
- Vision
- Leadership
- Public
At Catenon, for example, we use a competency model that we update on a recurring basis, in which we include transformational competencies that we have seen are key in today’s recruitment market.
We believe there should be a competency model that includes those with core business and a competency set that fits the current needs of the business – such as the digital and diversity challenges we face today.
Photo by @visuals.
“Being digital” means doing things differently
In this new normality that we will experience, it is highly probable that remote working will remain a reality for many, as The Guardian newspaper recently mentioned in this article. Companies globally have invested a high amount of resources in equipment and servers to support the virtuality of their computers in order to make it a long term possibility.
This involves much more than just technology, on the one hand, people will need to become more digital – hence the importance of identifying and measuring digital competencies in everyone, but even more so in people in key roles.
And on the other hand, processes as such will have to change, from the experience at the point of sale to corporate processes such as recruitment.
If a company wants to be truly digital and a pioneer in the market, it must start by being so from the beginning of an employee’s life. From the way they position themselves in networks (employer branding), the way they search for and attract talent, the way they evaluate that talent and in general, the entire process must be virtual, but human, personalized, objective, data-driven, accompanied…
Sounds easier said than done. And we’re well aware of that, it’s taken us 20 years to get where we are – we’re the only 100% digital recruitment firm. And unlike others, Catenon was born digital, it’s based on technology, but it’s not cold and impersonal software, we have a global team of recruiters who are trained in the latest digital recruiting techniques, cutting edge technology and customer/candidate service.
In this way, Catenon stands out from the rest, being the perfect combination of digitalization, technology, team and global reach.
The acceleration of Digitization
Digitization has accelerated in recent weeks and now represents a critical mission in all sectors. Digital innovation will affect and transform every company and virtually every job.
A hybrid approach allows companies to capitalize on the strengths of their digitally prepared internal talent while experiencing a digital transformation, particularly in leaders who can build relationships and influence others. Meanwhile, they can also incorporate in-depth technical skills with external and native talent. Organizations that combine the best of both worlds chart a path to successful transformation, with an emphasis on recruiting, developing and retaining the right talent through:
- Using assessments and success profiles to define talent strategies and guide individual decisions
- Expanding the critical mass of digital talent by developing leaders who are closer to the “digital transformation success profile
- Increasing and exposing core leaders to digital experiences to develop knowledge and expertise across the business
- Digital assessment from the management level to support succession, people development and internal promotion
- Driving internal mobility to develop and compensate for the digital skills required in each business unit/function to accelerate the implementation of the strategy where it is most critical
There is no room for inertia at the digital frontier. Staying ahead requires commitment, agility and relentless focus, but organizations and individuals that can establish themselves as digital leaders will find enormous opportunities.
