Who will lead your company’s digital revolution?

Employees are more likely to advocate a digital transformation than CEOs and executives, as social media, mobile, analytics and embedded devices continue to feature prominently in today’s working world.

According to a study by Capgemini Consulting and the MIT Sloan Management Review, 93% of employees share a vision for digital transformation, a sentiment only 36% of leaders shared.

Didier Bonnet, senior VP and head of global practices for Capgemini Consulting, said: “The C-suite plays a critical role in making digital transformation happen as only it is in a position to overcome some of the major hurdles, such as developing and communicating a vision, and governing the change across functional silos.”

However, he added while opportunities to improve company performance through digital transformation are clear, execution can be challenging, with the biggest obstacle cited being a “lack of urgency”.

“But, the only wrong move when it comes to digital transformation is not to make any move at all.”

The report also found 78% of 1,159 global respondents believe digital transformation will be business critical within the next two years. However, despite 81% of respondents agreeing it will also provide their companies with an advantage, nearly two thirds (63%) said the pace of technological change within the organisations is slow.

In order to fully embrace and leverage on the opportunities a digital transformation can provide, companies have to align themselves around a shared vision, incentivise employees by tying rewards to digital transformation efforts and commit to making the change.

“If you’re an executive leading a company looking at these technologies, you need to lead the technology – don’t let it lead you,” MIT’s George Westerman said.