Employers' digital transformation aims at enhancing employee experience
Digital transformation plans aimed at improving employee experience are underway in many Australian organisations, but employers are concerned about whether their workforce has enough skills to execute the changes, according to a new report.
Findings from Robert Half's latest poll revealed that 84% of employers have at least one department in their organisation that will participate in a major digital transformation in the next two years.
Among them, 45% said the digital transformation plan already has a well-defined roadmap, while 39% said it is still in the early planning stages.
Digital transformation initiatives
Enhancing employee experience is one of the top goals of organisations' digital transformation plans, according to the report.
More than half (51%) of employers said their digital transformation initiative is focused on employee self-service portals and mobile HR apps.
Another 36% also named employee experience platforms as their next transformation initiative. This includes engagement apps, digital feedback tools, and internal communications upgrades.
Meanwhile, other digital transformation plans include:
- Investment in data analytics, AI, and machine learning capabilities (43%)
- Digital learning and development ecosystem (43%)
- An AI-powered HR analytics and insights platform (42%)
- Automation of accounts payable or receivable processes (42%)
- Digital customer experience improvement, such as apps, chatbots, and self-service portals (39%)
- Cloud migration of core HR systems (38%)
- Accelerating cloud adoption and migration of infrastructure or applications (38%)
Nicole Gorton, director at Robert Half, said the findings indicate that digital transformation has become a "business imperative."
"The fact that most organisations now have a roadmap in place shows that we've moved beyond experimentation and into a new stage where digital capabilities form the backbone of core business operations," Gorton said in a statement.
Workforce capability concerns
Despite widespread plans to transform, the report found that only 47% of employers believe their workforce is prepared for the changes.
Some 52% of employers, however, noted that there are some gaps to fill when it comes to the right talent and skills.
"The biggest hurdle to digital transformation isn't always the technology itself, but the availability of skills to implement and sustain it," Gorton said.
To address these gaps, employers said they are upskilling (57%) and reskilling existing employees for new roles (41%).
Around a third also said they are planning to hire new permanent (39%) and contract (35%) employees, while others are planning to partner with external providers (32%).
"Organisations are recognising that success will come from a mix of hiring, upskilling, and leveraging external partners to ensure they have both the technical expertise and change management capabilities to deliver impact," Gorton said.
