TECHNOLOGY
Leading digital transformation and change REINZ, like many organisations in New Zealand and across the world, has been on a journey of transforming its business, to utilise digital technology and to enable better customer experiences. REINZ was clear on its key drivers for change, and this is one of the many key factors that need to be considered before embarking on a transformation of any business.
A true digital transformation aligns both the company and customer requirements to the right technology, at the right time. It encourages organisations to challenge what isn’t working – and develop a plan to remediate. It’s about understanding current operations and enabling product owners to articulate what technological adoption and advancement is required. The six key factors that REINZ is using to be successful in its transformation are: 1. Keeping employees engaged and part of the journey – Internal buy-in for the change is key and ensuring there is clear communication about the reason for the digital transformation, benefits and how they can support it. Taking feedback on what’s going well and not so well, and then being agile to make changes to processes, practices, etc. Focusing on the culture of the organisation to ensure everyone feels their voice is valued and that they can participate 2. Building Senior level support from the outset – Having the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and the Senior leadership clear about the drivers for transformation, benefits and challenges. This is key to ensuring that the leaders drive the digital transformation programme and changes through the whole organisation 3. Communicating frequently in both digital and traditional ways – Open communication to both internal/external stakeholders and customers throughout the transformation programme is crucial 4. Failing to plan – For any transformation, having a strategy in place is vital, however, it must be agile to meet ever-evolving demands – whether that concerns customers, employees or external stakeholders. It is always risky to have a
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The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand
Kirti Desai, Chief Digital & Innovation Officer, REINZ
plan ‘set in stone’ because embarking on this kind of programme demands flexibility. Having the confidence to tweak the framework accordingly enables the program to adapt to changes in external or internal environments, and also prevent it from becoming completely redundant 5. Building capabilities for the workforce of the future – First is redefining individuals’ roles and responsibilities so they align with the transformation’s goals, which can help clarify the roles and capabilities the organisation needs. Looking at roles that can translate the technical changes into everyday business outcomes and processes to lead the change through the organisation and explain it to all employees is key. Empowering employees to work in new ways and try different approaches as the company transforms is crucial. Being flexible in working styles and locations can encourage diversity of thought and ideation on solving challenges throughout the transformation programme 6. Customers are the real driver for the change – Ensuring that the digital transformation programme has clear outcomes that relate back to the customer. For REINZ this is based on improving the experience we want for our members, enabling more self-service functionality and improving response times to queries. Digital transformation, like all change, is hard, but it is critical for growth. It requires buy-in from your leaders and commitment from all involved. There are bound to be disrupters since one of the most challenging parts of digital transformation is your going against the status quo. As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, businesses need to manage processes, pivot, and be resilient.
