The recent cyber-attack on the email system provided by booking.com for hotels to interact with guests is a stark example of how companies need not only to stay ahead of their competition but to be constantly aware of new opportunities and vigilant to threats presented by continuous advances in technology. Cyber security is just one area where organisations need to be up to date all the time; one which may be viewed as an irritant because of the cost and resources involved but one which can result in huge loss of confidence by customers when data breaches occur.

If continuous investment is necessary for an area which may not be viewed as core to the business then give some thought to those core areas where continuous transformation is essential to stay ahead. Areas such as data and digital transformation, generative AI, customer experience, governmental regulations such as rules of origin tariffs in the EU, supply chain security, and net zero strategy are just some examples. A survey conducted early this year by KPMG LLP found that 60% of transformation leaders say transformations have become continuous or nearly continuous. 

In their paper, KPMG US describe four capabilities that companies should master to succeed in continuous transformation but warn that

‘The stresses of continuous and multi-threaded transformation elevate people and culture issues. Transformation burnout is a real risk: our research shows turnover is higher in organizations with multiple transformations that add hours to the work week.’ They advocate aggregation of data points from the various transformation initiatives to ‘better assess the risk of change fatigue’. Companies need technology to monitor transformation effects at a pace which at least matches that of the transformation activity but not so its deployment creates a burden for hard-pressed staff.

With its rapid audit underpinned by the science of sensemaking (Organisational Sensemaking™), Tensense can assess quickly how people are feeling and give leaders early warning of potential problems in transformation programmes. You can find out more in this short video here.

Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash