Technology, human talent key to future-ready business operations
Elevating human talent through technology will be important, but the need for human skills such as critical thinking and creativity will not diminish.
Companies need to do more to think through their use of digital technologies, a new report suggests. Business leaders see technology as key to becoming more agile and productive, according to the report, but the right match of technology and human talent does not just happen automatically.
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“Some organizations are seemingly expecting their operations to mature on their own,” wrote Jill Goldstein, managing director of Accenture Operations, Global Talent, and HR Offering Lead. “But just as with athletic training or parenting, or anything that benefits from strategic choices, leaders must make intentional decisions about how to address the cultural and people dimensions of transformation that will help make the organization more resilient.”
Creating “future-ready” organizations
For the report, Accenture surveyed more than 1,100 C-suite and VP-level executives across 11 countries and 13 industries, seeking to understand the connection between business operations maturity and performance.
The report divided companies into four categories of intelligent operations: stable, efficient, predictive, and future-ready. Generally speaking, the more capabilities these companies had in using technology such as AI, data science, and analytics, the higher they were ranked. The companies deemed future-ready had measurable advantages: compared to the second-highest category, predictive companies, future-ready companies saw 5.8% higher rates in profitability and 18.8% higher efficiency.
The catch: only 2% of CEOs said their company fits the future-ready designation. However there have been gains: three years ago, only 4% of CEOs said their operations were at the predictive level, today 42% of CEOs say their companies have earned that designation.
Simply investing in technology is not enough. With that investment estimated at $1.2 trillion per year globally, companies need to match the dollars with effective strategies. “To really deliver on the promise of a future-ready organization, CEOs and their leaders must focus on the combination of technology AND human ingenuity as they evolve their operations,” Goldstein wrote.
A two-pronged approach
The survey found that CEOS reported both technology and human capital are areas of focus: 21% of CEOs and HR leaders reported attracting and retaining talent as a top challenge, and 29% of HR leaders list technology as a top challenge.
The report also calls for an end to silo-ing business functions. “Organizations that want to achieve future-readiness need to strategically break down barriers between IT and other departments,” the report said. “To pursue better collaboration, leaders across the C-suite should understand the talent and skill requirements across the organization by using analytics and predictive insights.”
The Accenture report concluded by calling for elevating human talent through technology such as automation, but also stressed the point that human skills such as critical thinking and creativity will remain important.
“Future-ready organizations recognize that digital maturity is about maximizing innate human potential,” said Manish Sharma, group chief executive of Accenture Operations. “These leaders understand that it’s not technology surrounded by people that drives success but rather emphasizing the human skills that distinguish us from machines. In an era where people are critical to success, organizations must advance technology, processes and skills in parallel— while ensuring gains in employee experience, training and development and opportunities for career advancement.”
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