Imagine this: a company decides it will become paperless, capturing all information digitally and backing it up. This sounds great and most employees are excited about the move if a little apprehensive.
Soon, the company rolls out a new HR digital tool so that people can book leave online instead of filling in a form and taking it to the HR department. However, the system hasn’t been properly tested, employees haven’t been trained on using it and it isn’t integrated with the other tools the company is using. Within a few days, the HR team is flooded with emails from frustrated employees who cannot access the system or who log in only to find that it’s not working as it should.
To deal with the backlog, the HR team instructs people to return to submitting manual forms until the new system can be fixed. Because the old way of doing things seemingly takes less time and effort, nobody prioritises fixing the new one and simply goes back to how things were done before. The new tool remains unused – a waste of budget that could have been spent elsewhere.
This is an example of digital friction – the challenges employees come up against as they try to work with business technologies. While digital transformation aims to help people leverage technology to work better and more efficiently, digital friction is what happens when it goes wrong.
Reasons for digital friction
There can be many different things that can cause digital friction. A few common causes include:
- Technologies in use are not well integrated, so instead of simplifying processes, there are additional steps required.
- Workflows become more complicated when there are numerous digital solutions in use that employees must navigate.
- Employees are overwhelmed with information overload from digital tools, including notifications, project tracking, analytics, etc.
- New tools recreate or duplicate ineffective, inefficient manual processes, rather than addressing the root causes of any issues with the previous processes.
- The changes are not well communicated at the appropriate times.
- Employees are not trained on using digital tools or don’t buy into the need for them, and therefore either don’t adopt them or use them inefficiently.
- Management not leading from the front by adopting and embracing new tools.
The root of the problem
While the above factors cause digital friction, at the heart of the issues there’s normally one true problem – the technology has been implemented without clarity of strategy. This could be because there is a lack of understanding of the workflows; the workflows are inconsistent; inadequate or poor research has been done, or there is an inadequate understanding of the technology and how it operates.
Avoiding digital friction
Numata CEO Jakobus Koorts believes that it’s important to start with the business strategy before considering technology, as tech should be matched with business objectives (read more of his thoughts on this here).
The first step is therefore to understand the need for the tool you’re considering and whether it serves your goals. The next step is to get buy-in from your people – before you start implementing the tech, not after!
What do they want from a digital solution? What are their pain points and problems? What are their fears around change? Understand all of these things and then work with a trusted technology advisor to strategize around which digital offerings will be the best fit. Often these might be the types of tools your people are already using and it’s a case of just maximising their true potential.
A trusted technology partner can also assist you with one of the most important areas you’ll need to get right – integration. They can ensure your tools all work together seamlessly and that your people aren’t bogged down with clunky systems or an overload of notifications and ensure that the data collected is of good quality. They can also help you navigate important business risks, such as privacy, data protection and cybersecurity.
If you need help with dodging digital friction and ensuring your digital transformation efforts pay off, we can help you. Find out more or get in touch today.
