Digital Transformation Faces an Under-Reported Issue ― Change Fatigue

By Nader Tirandazi

invenioLSI’s Nader Tirandazi

Digital transformation isn’t just a lengthy process, it’s a difficult one as it upends legacy operations and processes that have been in place for decades.

The public sector, particularly government agencies, struggles the most with digital transformation as they’re historically slowest to adopt and adapt to new technology. However, those agencies are facing increased pressure to adopt technology that caters to the growing needs of their constituents, pressure that has only been compounded by the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the process of transformation and adoption is hampered by an often-undiscussed barrier to successful transformation — the change fatigue that employees, staff, and contractors experience when undergoing multiple new trainings, solutions and processes in a short period of time.

Combatting Change Fatigue

In both the private and public sector, combatting change fatigue is paramount to a successful digital transformation.

Here are some steps that must be taken during the transformation process to alleviate the pains associated with change fatigue: the need for talented and experienced solution-delivery members, effective leadership management, and concise and clear project strategies.

Create a smart strategy. First, there must be a focused and concise strategy for any digital transformation to be successful. This strategy lays out the IT implementations needed and is agile to account for any setbacks or revisions. Leadership and employees alike should have realistic expectations for the timetable of implementation and be ready to follow through on the strategy to ensure a digital transformation is completed on time.

Bringing in experts. During a digital transformation, resources shouldn’t be limited to budget and investment, they must extend to the team of people that will implement the project. In a recent survey (PDF) we conducted, over 25% of government employees felt that training employees on new technology is one of the most difficult aspects of technology change management.

Transformation projects are only as successful as the experienced team behind them that can properly train, prepare, and transition employees onto a new system.

This is where bringing a trusted consultant on board is critical, as they bring a breadth of experience and have the skills needed for a smooth and effective digital transformation. They will also work in tandem with an internal team of experts to help develop and implement advanced systems that can be tailored to each agency’s need. As the end-user, employees must have support and clearly understand how the transformation will benefit them before, during and after implementation.

Getting leadership onboard. Finally, executive leadership sponsorship is crucial for a successful transformation. Replacing decades-old systems means changing the daily tasks and processes employees are accustomed to. This can create fear and hesitation to adopt a new system.

Effective leadership management begins with relaying to all employees how the new system will help them and make their daily tasks more streamlined and efficient. Leadership must relay the benefits and be open to addressing any questions or concerns so that a foundation of trust is laid at the onset of the digital transformation. This allows both leadership and employees to be proactive, responsive and willing to successfully see a transformation project through.

Undergoing a digital transformation isn’t easy. It requires all leadership to be behind a cohesive strategy that can then be executed by a team of subject-matter experts, along with a trusted IT consultant. The benefits of digital transformation for public sector can be achieved with the proper tools in place.

Nader Tirandazi is CEO of invenioLSI. He previously was executive vice president of LSI prior to their merger, was a SAP public sector executive and served as a chief financial officer and CIO for other public sector agencies. You may follow him on LinkedIn or @invenioLSI on Twitter.