It Takes Two to Transform: Embracing Tech. Upgrading Talent.

Get these two more or less right and you and your firm should thriveTech Alignment Understand how technology is a changing people and their behavior and b reconfiguring your products services and experiences by either enabling new competitors redefining value eroding or creating competitive advantage or radically transforming economicsUpgrade Talent Given the right resources tech alignment the firm with a disproportionate share of talent passionately aligned towards a common outcome is likely to win It is true in sports and it is true in businessThese are the two key drivers and both are required at the same time Fantastic silicon tech with mediocre carbon human talent or vice versa are unlikely to succeedEvery Board of Directors or leadership confab should not begin meetings with financial updates product updates or MampampA updates but rather a a Tech Terrain detailing a threat and opportunity matrix and how the company is preparing and making progress in ensuring competitiveness and b a Talent Capital XRay which should include not just attrition and retention measures but also employee joy educational investments culture health checks and much moreTalented people in a good culture with enabling technology are what creates happy customers innovation differentiation revenue growth and profitsEmbrace tech by recognizing your company is a tech companyToday every company is a tech company If a decade ago one had invested in Domino39s Apple Facebook or Google one would have got the best return on investment with Domino39sYes Domino39s makes pizza and delivers it to a personamp8217s home but they leveraged technology to reimagine and then transform every single aspect of their business from how customers could order the pizza monitor its journey decide where to receive it at the football field as you tailgated and how it was delivered to them drone anyoneThey reimagined stores understood how delivery services could become parasites eating into their margin while trying to control customer relationships Domino39s controls every aspect of the customer relationship and deliveryThey understood technology could redefine their future and was their business They understood that the challenges and changes it brings about cannot be stopped and needs to be embraced To read more about Domino39s or see a video of its transformation check thisCreativity is where art and technology intersect so if you are in a creative business you are in a technology business Communication changes as technology changes and if you do not adapt your media business may not thrive in the future Most newspapers for instance were done in by the failure of their management to recognize the impact of technology and not technology itselfMarketing is about understanding and meeting customers39amp160requirements As customers39amp160requirements expectations and behaviors as well as the communication channels change every aspect of marketing becomes a technology infused businessSmart companies and leaders recognize the critical nature of technology and realize an understanding of its potential should be throbbing in the beating blood of every key employee Technology implementation may be led by the CTO and CIO but an understanding of its impact and a vision about how to leverage it must reside in every leader and should be central to every aspect of product service and experience designPrepare for the Third Connected Age of TechWhile technology and online have been around for a long while there was a step change in how businesses were impacted beginning in 1993 with the launch of the First Connected Age marked by the creation of the World Wide Web by Tim BernersLeeDuring this first connected age people connected to discover and people connected to shop The companies that created the best products and services in these areas like Google and Amazon became the most valuable companies in the worldSearch and ecommerce transformed many aspects of businessIn 2007 we entered the Second Connected Age which built on the first age as technology now allowed people to connect with each other social networks and connect all the time smart phones Not surprisingly Facebook and Apple were also big winners and are among the most valuable companiesMobile and social continued this transformation of business but also transformed many aspects of society The challenge society faces is that many of the modern communication channels were built to optimize for consumers and an advertising operating system but now they are a society operating system and we need to optimize for citizensWe have now entered the Third Connected Age of Technology the dawn of which was first heralded five and a half year ago and it will make all the seismic changes of the last three decades pale in significance This is because not only does this age build on the foundations of what has come before due to advances in technology but also three decades of peopleamp8217s changing behavior and expectations Almost every Millennial was born after the dawn of the first connected age and the modern graphical internetThe Third Connected Age will see four new connectionsAI Data connecting to data which is a simplistic way of describing machine learning5G Much faster and more resilient connectionsVoiceARVR New ways of connecting In many countries voice search is greater than text searchQuantum Computing Connections to the New God in the Sky as cloudbased computing takes a quantum jumpToday a toddler version of these capabilities bundled together is available via Amazon Echo and Google Home Anticipate in less than 1000 days the transformative potential of these technologies will create a plethora of new winners and losers across every industryDo you have the best talent in your company working to ensure Third Connected Era readinessUpgrade talent Talent is all People are key Aamp160company only transforms if the people in the company transform A company gets better when the people in the company get betterTechnology smarts and modern technology are necessary but not sufficient to succeed Peopletalent are the key to win If one reads Will and Ariel Durant39s The Lessons of History it becomes clear that every advance in technology places a premium on superior talentBasically technology is like a lever It allows talent leverage and scale It is never technology or talent It is technology and talentGreat people with great tools will dominate allToday we are living in a truly transformed terrain for talent One where every aspect of what talent wants from companies and their bosses the nature of work and much more are being twisted into new shapesSmart companies are realizing that the next few years will be driven by how they can upgrade their talent through a combination of the acquisition of new talent as well as training and inspiring existing talentToday smart leaders everywhere recognize we are at a unique moment in time due to the combined impact of three big shifts a Importance of Diversity Equality and Inclusion b Role of ESG Purpose and Values in a company culture and c the unbundled workplace and new life mindsets postCOVIDThis is the ideal time for leaders to truly rethink their talent strategy company culture and training plans to attract and upgrade their peopleTalent GrowthCompanies want to grow But so does talent And if talent grows the company growsThere are six types of growth people want and every company must offer some combination of all six although they will be mixed in different ways for every individual role and where the person is in their career journey A key is to think with tomorrow in mindCompensation Talent wishes to be paid fairly and to see their total compensation increase as their impact and skill sets and contributions grow Companies must compensate for where they want future behaviors and growth to be rather than reward people for today while talking about tomorrow People will follow the moneyRecognition Every individual wants to be recognized for their work They want to work for bosses who allow them to shineAutonomy One cannot learn and grow if every step is micromanaged If one is rooted in process and routine how can one spread one39s wings and navigate the winds of changeSkills Today the halflife of many technical skills and some soft skills erode and need to be continuously rebuilt Companies must invest deeply in continuous education Talent will thrive if they are being taught skills that increase their market value in tomorrowamp8217s marketplace Yes increase the number of people who want to recruit away your talent This retains talent and attracts new talentPurpose A critical factor in joining and staying in a company is a growing belief in the purpose and value of a companyRelationshipsconnections Growing a network of mentors colleagues and others over time is a key to career success and happinessFew jobs and companies allow for every one of these six growth factors at the same time but few companies can attract and retain talent if they do not offer many of these growth enablersToday we are at a particular junction where a fusion between a new era of technology The Third Connected Age and a new talent mindset is underway To grow and thrive we will need to grow our understanding of the implications of technology on our business while enabling our people to thrive by unleashing their growthClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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It Takes Two to Transform: Embracing Tech. Upgrading Talent.

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Rishad Tobaccowala

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It Takes Two to Transform: Embracing Tech. Upgrading Talent.

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