‘Employees have to invest in their own digital proficiency’

NEW DELHI: As firms across the world go digital, job cuts are inevitable. How can employees ensure their job is secure? Jean-Marc Laouchez, global managing director (solutions) of US-based consulting firm Korn Ferry Hay Group Solutions, says employees will have to invest in gaining digital proficiency just as they would in learning a new language. Edited excerpts from an email interview:

Companies across sectors are trying to go digital. Do Indian firms have the knowhow?

Yes, most traditional organizations around the world are going digital. Some were born digital, others are just starting the journey. India Inc. is on the same continuum as elsewhere, with some Indian companies shaping the digital world while others “react” to digitization and focus on low-hanging fruits, such as e-commerce, automation or cost cuts.

Does digitization necessarily mean extensive job cuts?

Korn Ferry research has identified five impacts of digitization with various degrees of risk and value creation: cost reduction, customer/employees experience, product/technology innovation, employees empowerment and networks activation, and new business models. The less digitally mature organizations see digitization as an extension of their current business: how to be more efficient and enhance clients’ and employees’ experience. More digitally mature organizations leverage their assets to develop new technologies, fundamentally rethink their relationships with clients and employees (e.g., active networks), and build disruptive business models. The development of Amazon.com from a low cost online bookstore to an open digital Web, logistics and retail marketplace illustrates these different stages, and how they radically impact the value of the company.

How can companies cut costs by destroying minimum jobs?

Recruit or develop leaders with the mindset and skills to digitalize for higher value creation. Beyond the expected understanding of digital economics and business models, these digital leaders should have the influence and courage— risk-taking is a distinctive trait of successful digital leaders—to:

•Invest in re-schooling /re-skilling their employees (e.g., assessment of potential, continuous development, emotional support),

•Empower their frontline talent to identify and execute new solutions and businesses,

•Enter into innovative and fair work and pay incentive arrangements .