The Covid-19 pandemic has fast-tracked the need for digital adoption. It has brought underlying workforce and operational challenges to the fore. While this digital push has been driven by the need for advanced technology to support remote working models and processes, it has also enabled many businesses to speed up their efforts and initiatives on long planned digital programmes.
Many companies embark upon their digital transformation journey by empowering the workforce with a wide range of software applications. These applications, when used correctly, can boost businesses’ efforts to improve efficiencies, reduce expenses, enhance the customer experience, and scale up organisational growth.
Elmo Hildebrand TMT leader for PwC Africa, says: “We are living in a time of unprecedented change driven largely by an array of multiple technologies making significant strides – including mixed reality, IoT, artificial intelligence, blockchain, drones and robotics. At the same time, customer expectations are changing, with customers demanding seamless and outcome driven experiences from all the organisations that they engage with.
“The pandemic has forced organisations to undergo rapid change and become digital almost instantly, including the need for digital adoption solutions. We have seen organisations shift their entire workforces to remote working, requiring organisations to re-evaluate and reassess how they engage with their employees remotely. But the challenge is, organisations can only capture the value of these new technologies if employees learn how to use them properly.”
Almost half of CEOs who participated in PwC’s 24th annual Global CEO survey 2021 plan to increase their long-term investment in digital transformation by 10%. According to the recent Human Resources Technology survey, 74% of organisations intend to increase investments in technology and 79% plan to use AI for HR processes by 2022.
This projected financial investment is intended to address human capital challenges, including the recruiting and retention of staff, the development of staff and workforce expectations about technology. On the other hand, adoption challenges related to these investments remain a barrier, cited by 82% of companies.
Digital adoption is a new term used to describe the necessity and urgency of understanding the intricacies of using a software application. Digital adoption enables employees to fully understand the company’s digital tools and assets, thereby maximising the use of applications.
More and more companies are increasingly looking to digital adoption platforms (DAPs) to add value and realise their technology investments.
Hildebrand adds: “Often these applications are updated with new features and it can become messy for administrators, users and trainers to keep up. Another scenario is if an organisation’s processes change or are used infrequently. Users become unsure of what to do, and as a result processes tend to slow down and even fail.”
Usually a DAP solution overlays the live system (or systems) and serves as a ‘digital guide’ to the users, guiding them on what to select, what information is required, and what to do next. This removes the uncertainty that users typically face with a new or updated system. In addition, if new features are added to the system, these can be highlighted to the user so that they can take advantage of its benefits.
As business leaders make investment decisions, they will also need to focus on formulating a strategy and plan for what they want to achieve in terms of engagement with employees and productivity as well as the adoption of different technologies. The use of DAPs can improve the overall customer and employee experience as well as technological efficiency.