HRHeadStart #67: Digital Transformation; Social Capital
The Talent Agenda
Data is everywhere and digital transformation was, and will continue to be, one of the biggest imperatives for businesses. However, digital transformation is as much about people as it is about deploying new technologies. You can pretty much buy any technology, but your ability to adapt to the digital world is heavily dependent on developing the next generation of skills and closing the talent demand/supply gap.
For a primer on charting the path to digitally transform the business and making it data-driven, check out this piece.
In short, the critical part of digital transformation is not “digital” but “transformation.” Our world has changed dramatically in the past two decades, and adapting your organization to these changes cannot be achieved overnight, or simply by buying new technologies, or collecting more data. What is needed is a shift in mindset, culture, and talent, including upskilling and reskilling your workforce so that they are future-ready. That said, there is one thing that hasn’t changed — namely the fact that all of this is just the new version of an old task or challenge every leader has always faced throughout human history: to prepare their teams and organizations for the future, and create a better future.
If you want to explore how organizations can develop a digital mindset, check out this HBR piece.
Working Better
Our social capital is the networks and relationships we have professionally. It enables us to get work done and create new opportunities. And it helps us learn and grow - after all, that requires support and enablement from others. If you quiz some of the most successful people about their careers, you are likely to hear stories of how they were helped by someone or connected to an opportunity by someone or guided on how to solve a particular problem. Knowledge, skills and work ethic matter, but so does your ability to amplify them through social capital.
Dive in here to get some powerful ideas on managing your career.
Tiny Thought
Investing in relationships and networks might be the most important hack for everything you want to achieve.