Companies must use digital tools to drive people-focused transformation and align to ESG objectives
By Narsimha Rao Mannepalli
The Covid-19 pandemic may have accelerated the adoption of digital technologies across industries, but this alone is no longer enough to meet business objectives. Companies must use digital tools to differentiate themselves not just on IT metrics, but on how they leverage technology to drive people-focused transformation and align to Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) objectives. This is a great way to drive human-centric transformation.
Technology is no longer an aspiration, but a given
Infosys’ latest research, Digital Radar 2022, found that companies from all industries have increased the depth and the breadth of technology adoption in the past two years. The “digital ceiling” that companies earlier aspired to has now become the digital floor—a foundation of baseline technologies that all large enterprises must adopt to remain relevant. The cluster of “visionary” (or most digitally advanced) companies in the aforesaid survey grew from 22% in 2020 to 30% in 2021.
While a lot of progress has been made in driving efficiencies, enterprises have large untapped potential in driving ‘experience’ and ‘innovation’ leveraging the full power of digital. Bringing in a human-element through ESG commitments can be of help in this respect, serving as guidelines for developing a people-focused framework to steer technology in the right direction.
People’s relationship with work and technology has changed
Having largely figured out the when, where, what, and how of the technology they adopt, companies need to give serious consideration to who it is that will use and benefit from it, make it truly effective. They need to understand how digital tools impact not their business but also their people.
Does more sophisticated technology indeed deliver better results? And does technology make people’s lives better? The answers are mixed. Today, new technology must overcome previously unseen barriers, including people’s unease with the growing infiltration of technology into their lives. The 2021 Edelman Trust barometer found that trust in the technology sector had hit an all-time low in 17 countries. The disruptions caused by the pandemic led people to reflect on their relationship with work. Employees and corporations are reflecting on the larger ‘Purpose’ they are trying to accomplish.
A human-centric approach to technology adoption
Companies will need to look beyond salaries and develop robust training programmes and clear flexible-work plans to attract and retain high-skill workers. Even so, companies may still face staffing problems. Technology can help in addressing this issue by enabling employees to build their own simple workflows and applications using low-code or no-code platforms.
Companies must bring clear, human-centric approaches to their operations, regardless of the physical location and the technologies adopted. There are four ways in which one can unify digital adoption and purpose: integrate experience into the operating model; strengthen the human element across the life cycle; build diverse, dedicated teams so that the tech solutions meet the needs of all; and measure initiatives using ESG targets.
The writer is executive vice-president, Head – Cloud Infrastructure and Security Solutions, Infosys