Globalization 4.0 has brought to the fore the old adage of human vs. machines. At a time when digital transformation of industries is rampant, enterprises cannot afford to delay the leap of faith. In fact, Globalization 4.0 is encouraging adoption of technologies with an emotional quotient, a path that industries should tread in the foreseeable future. This means that incorporation of human-centric digital strategies in their business goals is essential to thrive and flourish.
Industry 4.0 is witnessing companies generating an overwhelming amount of customer data. But is it used in ways that are emotionally intelligent as well? While tools like AI, ML, RPA, IoT, and Big Data and Analytics firmly establish a digital ecosystem, only an inclusive approach can plug the holes that still exist. A human-centric focus will ensure a seamless process and greater productivity across the spectrum. Listening to customers makes a whole lot of business sense. That way you have more relevant products. By engaging design thinking to explore customer and employee interaction, more well-rounded products and services are created. The pain points, motivations, and desires in a culture that promotes innovative thinking, is precisely what is known as Culture 2.0.
A human-centric focus will ensure a seamless process and greater productivity across the spectrum
Design Thinking
With Industry 4.0 expanding the digital horizon, there have been business models and strategies that companies have experimented with. In the age of hyper-consumerism, everything boils down to optimal experience. In this context, Human-centered Design (HCD) or design thinking has emerged as a smart choice among industry leaders. This approach, as the name suggests, puts humans in the center of digital decisions, ensuring positive business performances as well as elevated customer and employee experiences. Design thinking being a process and an outcome, businesses can see drastic improvement by adopting this methodology and framework. Human-centered design is unique, innovative, and agile. It is also aligned with the salient goals of business expansion and diversification. The outcome of design thinking is increased productivity, collaboration, and quality seamlessly translating into improved user experience. Human-centered design is actually changing the way industries function. Even traditional companies are focusing on user experience as a key component when it comes to solutions for employees as well as customers. The goal is to create services that take customization to a whole new level. The trick lies in communicating the value of HCD, which is much more than creating pretty designs. HCD transforms and reimagines businesses by making them more design- and user-centric.
Culture 2.0
HCD allows companies to move beyond experiments and implement changes that are result-orientated and sustainable. However, the need to change is often met with resistance arising from apprehensions. Digital transformation often raises suspicions among that section of the workforces that is primarily employed to deliver manual, repetitive tasks. With robots getting smarter in Industry 4.0, industries are faced with the genuine prospect of massive replacements. How to strike a balance? The organizational culture must shift from being an inhibitor to a facilitator.
It is true that culture is one of the least appreciated assets in many companies. Technology or not, there should be incorporation of purpose into the company culture and that has to be well-defined. This will help build a digital ecosystem that is highly tangible and valuable to customers as well as employees. It’s basically a host of shared beliefs and values that brings about a change in behavior. It’s imperative for the C-Suite to stand by the cultural fabric, which the employees will emulate in terms of behavioral changes, to serve customers better. It is important for the leaders to realize that culture can be the biggest competitive edge for their organizations. Your employees need to stay inspired if you want to delight your consumers. This culture needs to be designed with all sincerity. But this is an incremental process. You need to be patient and persistent to ring in the changes that are crucial for successful digital transformation.
Human Intervention is Irreplaceable
Globalization 4.0 sheds light on the need to establish a synergy between humans and machines. Human intervention remains critical to how machines perform. The human perspective to problem-solving is multidimensional and is more apt for decision-making. While machines get smarter on the back of more exhaustive algorithms, human intervention in Industry 4.0 will not turn redundant. At HCLTech, our digital transformation capabilities are in line with this principle.
To meet Anand Birje at World Economic Forum 2019, visit here.
