Cultural Issues Are No. 1 Obstacle to Digital Transformation

New report from Capgemini’s Digital Transformation Institute and Brian Solis finds a major cultural disconnect between leadership and employees.

Capgemini and Brian Solis, a prominent digital analyst and world renowned author, have today announced the findings of The Digital Culture Challenge; Bridging the Employee-Leadership Disconnect report.

The comprehensive research says that 62 percent of respondents see corporate culture as one of the biggest hurdles in the journey to becoming a digital organization. As a result, companies risk falling behind competition in today’s digital environment.

Furthermore, the data shows that this challenge for organizations has worsened since 2011 by 7 percentage points, when Capgemini first began its research in this area.

The report, which includes more than 1,700 respondents in 340 organizations across eight countries, uncovers a significant perception gap between the senior leadership and employees on the existence of a digital culture within organizations.

While 40 percent of senior-level executives believe their firms have a digital culture, only 27 percent of the employees surveyed agreed with this statement. The survey asked respondents to assess their companies’ digital culture based on seven attributes: their collaboration practices, innovation, open culture, digital-first mindset, agility and flexibility, customer centricity and a data-driven culture.

Insights gathered from the report, and through a series of focus interviews, helped to identify some of the reasons behind this digital culture gap including senior leaders failing to communicate a clear digital vision to the company, the absence of digital role models and a lack of KPIs aligned to digital transformation goals.

Cyril Garcia, head of Digital Services and member, Group Executive Committee at Capgemini, said: “Digital technologies can bring significant new value, but organizations will only unlock that potential if they have the right sustainable digital culture ingrained and in place. Companies need to engage, empower and inspire all employees to enable the culture change together; working on this disconnect between leadership and employees is a key factor for growth. Those businesses that make digital culture a core strategic pillar will improve their relationships with customers, attract the best talent and set themselves up for success in today’s digital world.”