Businesses around the world are undergoing digital transformation at a rapid pace—in hopes of optimising their processes and helping their employees do their job effectively and efficiently. And ever since the pandemic changed the way we work, digital transformation has become an absolute necessity to thrive, grow, and survive in the face of the future. Any business failing to do so will likely fall behind and struggle to operate with efficiency. It’s no secret that digital transformation can take a business to unimaginable heights. However, a recent survey reveals that it can increase job complexity for employees, contrary to what it is supposed to do—make employees’ work a breeze.
Rising business complexity
According to a Pegasystems global study on the state of business complexity, nearly three out of four employees at all levels feel their job has become more complex owing to the rising customer demands. At the same time, they feel overloaded with information, processes, systems, and processes, making adapting to the emerging challenges and meeting their customers’ growing needs more difficult than ever. It turns out that the transformation that was supposed to shoulder the burden of employees is adding to their struggles.
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As the pandemic crumbled the old-world work ecosystem, most businesses quickly realised the need for digital solutions to keep their boat afloat. As a result, they started deploying digital transformation projects to meet the new needs. That said, the survey that included as many as 4,000 employees in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC reveals that these digital initiatives either were implemented incorrectly without a unified vision or didn’t go far enough. The survey indicates that 42% of the participants think digital transformation may have made their jobs more complex.
Reasons behind increased job complexity
While digital transformation can indeed make business processes more efficient with fewer to no job complexities, businesses need to understand the driving factors behind the rising complexity. As per the survey participants, a mix of organisational, technological, and societal factors were the culprits behind the increasing complexity of their jobs. The most pressing factors include: managing information overload (told by 90% of the participants), navigating internal processes and bureaucracy (reported by 89%), managing projects, teams, and people (identified by 88%), and keeping up with the change (said 87% of the respondents) and insufficient resources (informed 86%).
The survey also found that 56% of the employees feel the pandemic will further add to the business complexity in the long run. 35% also believe that the hybrid work model is also a factor behind the increased complexity. When asked why, 38% of them answered that this model makes it more challenging to keep work and personal lives separate.
Now the question is, how can businesses address these complexity factors? According to the survey participants, businesses should reassess their digital transformation approach and break down technological silos. 46% of them said that the inclusion of multiple different technologies made matters worse. They also suggest deploying systems that can easily be integrated with other technologies.
With this survey, one thing is clear: businesses rushing to deploy digital technologies in their process need to slow down and reexamine their approach and have a unified vision for digital transformation.
References:
- Four in 10 employees think digital transformation may have increased their job complexity: Survey | Brinda Sarkar, ET Bureau | Jun 06, 2022
- Business Complexity Continues to Accelerate at a Rapid Pace, According to Pega Study | May 23, 2022 | Pegasystems
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