Getting started with cultural transformation

For many communications service providers (CSPs), culture is the biggest barrier to transformation. Indeed, lack of vision and lack of support from top management consistently rank at the very top of the list of challenges in our Digital Transformation Tracker surveys. TM Forum’s Digital Organizational Transformation (DOT) project aims to establish a common methodology and framework within the communications industry to transform talent and culture using industry-agreed best practices. During a recent Action Week session, Mike Smith, Client Director at OrgVue and an active participant in the DOT project, explained how organizations can map skills and manage talent effectively.

Mindset matters

Firms need to start out with a success-focused mindset, concentrating on what specifically will enable a successful digital organizational transformation, according to Smith.

“We need to think about the framework, the approach – how we’re going to do it, and the transformation roles and who needs to be involved,” he said. “Too often it’s easy just to progress on the digital side of things and less on the organization side.”

Smith added that organizations need to make sure they have the right leadership. “This starts at the board level, or the people who are really driving the transformation from an executive perspective,” he explained. “We need to bring together the right energies – the game changers and strategists, the implementers, and the polishers with the playmakers – so that we really get the right perspectives to drive this forward.”

Find the gaps

Once leadership is in place and the company has identified the basic approach, specifics of the transformation program can be addressed. Smith advocates conducting a digital maturity assessment based on the TM Forum Digital Maturity Model (DMM). The DMM helps firms identify where they are today and where they would like to be, and in the process identifies any gaps that could prevent them from reaching these goals. Then they can identify opportunities for change.

At the strategy layer the company is trying to achieve crucial business perspective, while at the cultural layer it’s important to think about objectives such as diversity, changing the approach to agility or transformation mindset. All must inform what the company wants to achieve and how. This can be put into action by changing operating models, specifically looking at the organizational structure and the roles within it.

“In digitalization, a lot of it is about changing the nature of work, whether it’s a new business model or introducing new work,” Smith explained. “If it’s phasing out an old business model, it’s getting rid of work. [If] it’s bringing in technology, it’s often changing what people do, and actually introducing new things that people do because they’ve got to manage the technology. So, work that gets done is fundamental to digitalization.”

Data is an enabler

Data enables this organizational change, primarily HR data such as role descriptions, cultural and diversity metrics (such as gender and ethnicity), performance data, pay data, geographical information and skills data. Other data also can help. For example, if a company is restructuring a call center, metrics showing number of calls handled could be useful. Once the necessary data has been harnessed and analyzed, the company can map and model the necessary roles and restructuring to demonstrate what their ideal organization looks like. If you would like to get involved in TM Forum’s work around cultural and organizational transformation, please contact Vicky Sleight.