ABeam DX Insight No.19 DX Engine - Eight Practical Points of Change Management -

DX is an initiative that involves transformation from an existing business model, and sometimes a company finds itself unable to proactively proceed with new initiatives due to change-related anxiety. If this situation is left unchecked, adaptation to transformation will take time and the risk of reform failure will increase. It is therefore important to actively support transformation through change management.

There are eight practical points to change management. By practicing these points, it is possible to raise the bottom of the change curve, which leads to the realization of transformation in the early stages.

① Develop a core team for promoting transformation
First, it is necessary to have a core team that promotes transformation at the management level. As a leadership team, it is important to become monolithic and demonstrate a strong commitment to transformation.

② Clarify your goals
While the core team carries out discussions with core members through vision formulation and the like, it is necessary to clarify initiative goals. To spark discussions, it is necessary to present the shape of things to come.

③ Attract the interest of the general employee base
Based on the goals, it is important that members, including general employees, listen to current issues and put into practice what is requested. The aim is to have everyone show commitment through actual action, thereby bringing out a constructive attitude.

④ Introduce external perspectives
Since motivation for change is often lacking among existing members alone, adoption of external perspectives, such as those of mid-career hires, is important. However, to ensure such information is not buried due to a lack in numbers, it is necessary to bring in external talent to the extent that creates a presence.

⑤ Strengthen link with KPIs
In addition to setting goals as KPIs, it is also necessary to clarify the link with remuneration and evaluation. For example, the company could shift to a performance-linked remuneration system at the management level and above, starting the initiative from the upper management level and then gradually expanding to the whole.

⑥ Revamp to a system that supports autonomous growth
In order for employees to take ownership of transformation, it is necessary for employees to build their own careers autonomously to adapt to the new business environment based on DX and the like. Providing a mechanism that supports voluntary initiatives rather than passivity is important.

⑦ Measure the degree of transformation
As a result of initiatives such as described above, it is essential to measure the employees' sense of belonging and unity with the company and grasp their current positions. Setting a quantitative score as a goal helps to keep track of progress and maintain motivation.

⑧ Transform HR and accounting functions having high expertise and independence
HR and accounting functions play particularly significant roles in management, but in many cases are highly independent as specialized functions. Therefore, it is necessary for these functions to be more aware of their contributions to business and carry out transformation on their own. Initiatives that incorporate the redefining of missions and the restructuring of the organization are expected.

Change management initiatives need to consider approaches over a medium- to long-term timeline of several years. Therefore, individual points will be combined over time according to the company's situation. By checking your transformation approach from the viewpoint of such practical points as described above, you may find that you can use the information collected as a reference for your next action.