Successful companies must constantly change to preserve their success, but digital transformation may be the most radical overhaul most of us will ever see. For organizations to make this transformation a success, getting employees on board and fully engaged is a requirement.
As the head of Corporate Strategic Planning and Management for Wells Fargo, Amy Downey understands the optimal ways of steering a company’s strategic direction and organizational design. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Downey spoke with Emmett Higdon, Director of Digital Banking for Javelin Strategy & Research, about how to maximize employee engagement amid a digital transformation.
The Scope of Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is a multifaceted concept, but a more suitable characterization may be: effectively aligning with customers’ preferences. It necessitates alignment across all facets of a business, ensuring consumers and the companies serving them anticipate an on-demand, hyper-personalized approach to banking services. In that light, digital transformation revolves around adapting an organization’s processes to create a sense of customization for each individual.
Employee engagement is a critical part of that transformation.
“I read an article in the Harvard Business Review called ‘How Companies Can Improve Employee Engagement’* that outlined two ways that employees want to engage,” Downey said. “One is they want to know that their work is connected to a larger purpose. And secondly, they want to make sure that their work is enjoyable and not very stressful.”
Sometimes people think of digital transformation as involving just the IT department, but it affects every division in an organization. “I often tell my banking clients, let’s stop calling it digital banking,” Higdon said. “It’s just banking. Banking today is digital. And we need to transform every aspect of how we go to market with consumers today to meet the enormous expectations that they have.”
Act with Urgency
Banking will always involve human interaction. Decades ago, many assumed that we eventually would not have branches because ATMs represented the future. But branches and bankers are still very much around. People want to talk to people, and interaction with a human being is still important to some banking customers.
Given the urgency in making a digital transformation, Downey stressed the importance of acting quickly. “How do you get customers what they need in both physical and digital terms?” she said. “How do you approve requests quickly enough to satisfy your customers every time? When employees of the bank know they’re the face of positive change, it causes less stress and reduces fear.”
The Critical Skills
Downey identified four critical skills for product transformation.
- Knowing the financial products thoroughly, whether it’s a mortgage or a treasury product.
- Knowing how the data works and how customers interact with that data.
- Understanding the technology that is part of the digital transformation.
- Having leadership and followership.
When companies examine how their customers navigate digital transformation, it’s crucial to leverage capabilities across the entire bank enterprise. Customers are indifferent to how their bank is structured or which team handles their request. They simply want to get what they need, whether it’s putting a down payment on a home or paying for a snack at the local deli.
“Brains only take you so far,” Downey said. “You can become the world-class expert on whatever topic, but you also have to have the brawn. You need the courage, the leadership and the ability to influence. If you don’t have those influence skills, it doesn’t matter how great you are in terms of the technical skills.”
Using the Entire Organization
Long-tenured employees can be vital to making digital transformation a success. Often, organizations assume that they’ll need to bring in new individuals to ensure a change can happen, but it can be helpful to turn to those who have been around for a long time and have seen the ups and downs, the economic cycles, and the leadership changes. Those long-tenured employees bring a wider perspective.
“If there’s a role where someone has part of the necessary skill set, take a chance on a long-tenured person before you bring in someone new,” Downey said. “If you bring in all new people, then you’re basically saying we’re going to reset everybody, right? A necessary part of the change is showing the organization that you’re bringing them along.”
“When I was managing mobile strategy at TIAA-CREF, I met a younger gentleman in his 20s who said to me, ‘Oh, really, a guy of your age managing mobile, that’s great,’” Higdon said. “It was like he was patting me on the head. But when you’ve been around for a while, you can look at a tool and see many different opportunities and many ways to use that tool.”
One way to make use of all the talent on a team is to set up small focus groups with eight to 10 people. Tell them: “Here’s what we’re thinking. What do you think based on your experience?” That can resonate with people, whether they’re new to the workforce or have a long tenure with the company.
“More important than any of the insights, we got was responses like ‘Thank you for listening to me,’” Downey said. “’Thank you for making me part of it. I feel like I’m part of that digital transformation. That makes me committed to you as leaders but also to you as a bank, that you actually cared enough to ask me.’”
There’s also value in listening to detractors. They shouldn’t be ignored, but it’s also important to ensure the project is moving along. Listening to the detractors doesn’t mean allowing them to derail things or to become a continual distraction.
“Meet employees where they are and understand the different perspectives,” Downey said. “You’ve got to get in front of people. There’s no substitute for in-person.”
“The key to all of this is communication. Change isn’t easy, but at the end of it, you’ll see benefits. Your customers will be happier about what you offer to them, and you’ll see benefits in the day-to-day life of employees, resulting in a seamless experience. And that’s ultimately the goal of the digital transformation.”