The most crucial element of e-business transformation is taking
your people with you
Post-millennium, organisations are becoming increasingly reliant on
technology and the Internet to advance and enhance many of their
business processes,
writes Ross Bentley.
Despite the dotcom downturn, e-business seems here to stay.
Established, traditional organisations are beginning to realise the
potential that this form of business offers.
Research by Roffey Park, a charity which aims to find new ways to
help people get the most out of their work and life potential,
suggests that while the human implications of e-business
transformation are crucial, this is still the area that is most
often neglected.
Featuring six organisational case studies, the report illustrates
how the Employment Service, Sainsbury's on-line shopping channel,
Sainsbury's To You, and an un-named financial organisation have
created separate e-business initiatives, while BT, Cable &
Wireless and IBM e-enabled and transformed their entire
organisations.
Four key areas illustrate some innovative organisational responses
to those challenges.
Recruitment and retention is a key issue for traditional
organisations entering e-business. Although the loss of confidence
and eventual demise of the dotcoms did much to enhance the
attractiveness of returning to traditional, secure organisations,
such organisations still need to think about how to attract
employees who are able to adapt to working in a constantly-changing
environment, an uncertain market where work roles often have
blurred boundaries.
Sainsbury's To You purposely formed a team, blending people with
new Web and marketing skills with those who had worked for
Sainsbury's in retail and the supply chain who understood the
logistics of the business. The un-named financial organisation
created a defined set of behaviours for its new business
emphasising innovation and fun, in addition to hard work. It also
developed a set of attractive terms and conditions for e-business
employees, of which a £3,000 development allowance was particularly
welcomed.
Employee buy-in to the concept, values and key objectives of the
new business is crucial in order to make it a success. The
e-business organisation can only thrive with a motivated and loyal
workforce who believe in the organisation and the quality of its
products. Once on board, employees are potentially the most
effective champions of new products, services and technology across
the organisation.
At Cable & Wireless employees are motivated by being part of
something new and exciting that has great potential. Employees
benefit from working in this kind of environment by learning new
skills, gaining experience and working in a setting where change is
constant. At BT staff buy-in to new ideas is gained by involving
employees in the adoption of new packages and services: at IBM it
is sought through "champion users" or cross-representation from the
user community.
Strong communication is another vital element of creating a
successful e-business organisation. In a business environment that
is characterised by uncertainty and constant change, effective
communication has to be a constant.
The HR team within the financial e-business initiative assesses
internal communications through an annual staff survey. At BT
communication levels have also been developed - press announcements
are simultaneously published for everyone to see and the online
news channel BT Today Newsdesk is continuously updated. This
effective communication system enables the leadership team to get
clear messages across to staff.
Training and support poses another key challenge. Indeed all
organisations need to create a comprehensive programme to support
employees through the technological, and cultural changes that
accompany the shift to e-business.
Several of the case study organisations have provided employees
with crucially important technological support. BT has created a
development and training portal (the BT Academy) to improve
employee skills.
At IBM the collaborative computing team runs a series of events to
illustrate how people can make the best use of technology in the
business environment.
Culture change training is also vital to e-business transformation.
Cable & Wireless is engaged in development and training around
cultural difference, culture change, managing change and managing
cross-global boundaries and has developed a comprehensive series of
internal and external programmes to tackle such issues.
Sainsbury's To You has run courses for its staff about working in
teams and across functions to bring its people up to speed on what
is required to make a modern e-business successful.
Clearly, there are challenges in working in e-business. However, a
recurring theme through all of the case studies is the challenge of
getting the people bit right.
Human issues permeate all of the key issues and must be made a
priority throughout and after the e-business implementation
process.