TiER1 Performance Humans have always been intrigued by the possibilities that technology can bring. Yet, for every technological success we have witnessed, there are also failures to adopt and adapt to change. Influencing employees to use new systems is less about the technology and more about how people feel about the culture shift and business expectations the technology enables. Understanding this is key to successful technology adoption.
Culture and technology have a complex, codependent relationship. An organization’s culture is comprised of the collective behaviors of its people; new technology requires people to adopt new behaviors to sustain the realized benefits of the technology change. It’s intertwined. The cultural impact of technological changes within a society and workplace can be dynamic as well as volatile and is shaped by human behavior, politics, and economic determinants.
For example, during the Industrial Revolution, technology such as the printing press and steam engine enabled the radical restructuring of Western societies and culture. Many view the societal shift in the West as a coincidence, but there is a competing thought that the culture change was the intended byproduct of the technological advancements.
Whether within society or an organization, successful adoption of new technology is challenging in the absence of a supportive culture. In a supportive culture:
Organizations that value learning, collaboration, and vulnerability experience profoundly more rewarding outcomes compared to cultures that allow blaming or evoke fear. In essence, technology enables culture and culture enables the invention and use of technology.
Knowledge merely indicates potential, not results. For example, creating a robust workout plan yields different results than executing the workout plan. In the world of technology, there is a stark difference between acquiring new knowledge or skills and performing the new skill when needed.
This has implications for measuring readiness and adoption of new technology. Readiness is about potential and adoption is about performance. At the top of most user readiness checklists are training metrics such as completion scores, or number of modules attempted. While assessing users’ knowledge and ability to use technology is important, it cannot be the primary indicator of readiness. It is part of the recipe but not the whole enchilada. User readiness stems beyond learning. It also includes attitude, satisfaction, intention, and willingness to change behavior, and perception of usefulness and ease of use.
To evaluate the likelihood of adoption, incorporate appropriate readiness indicators that reveal whether users are motivated and willing to use the technology. As humans, we tend to perform when we decide or set our intention to do so. According to human psychology, the potential for user performance is substantially favorable if there is resounding agreement to the following readiness statements:
The first step in any transformation is to identify where you want to be—your future state. From there, assess where you are currently. The level of preparedness to make the leap from current state to future state is considered the degree of readiness. Being more prepared translates to a greater degree of readiness.
To determine your organization’s preparedness for digital transformation, focus your efforts on key areas of influence. In each area, users should perceive that the benefit of the technology far outweighs perceived risk. In other words, its usefulness to enhance work functions and a correlating ease of use must be apparent.
Consider these five areas of influence:
The following Virtual Readiness Assessment is designed to help you assess your organization’s preparedness for digital transformation. Using this assessment, you will be able to:
Download the Virtual Readiness Assessment to gauge your organization’s readiness for digital transformation.