IT Can’t Transform Alone
EPAM CONTINUUM
Enabling Digital
Readiness in a Global Automotive Company
Preparing a company for the digital future requires everyone — from executives to employees on the product line — to understand and master new skills. Our client, an automotive industry leader, implemented our Digital Readiness Program to introduce its executives, directors, managers and staff to challenges facing the automotive industry (and any modern business environment) and to prepare them to drive change.
The learning program helped identify strengths and development opportunities and increase employee awareness of the company’s digital initiatives by providing upskilling in key areas. Ultimately, the program led to improved awareness of the need for transformation, more readiness to adopt an agile mindset, and buy-in across the organization.
Partnering for Transformation
The client engaged EPAM Continuum to develop and execute an organization-wide transformation program after a successful partnership involving a cutting-edge training solution for IT and engineers. We brought our deep expertise in software engineering and consulting to support an end-to-end digital technology transformation aligned with our client’s specific goals.
Designing a Digital Readiness Program
Part of the success of the Digital Readiness Program can be attributed to the program’s unique approach to design. We worked side-by-side with the client to align objectives and content while considering participants’ needs and the company’s culture. Knowing that most digital transformations fail due to employee resistance, the EPAM Continuum’s program design team integrated methods of motivating and eliciting change, focused on removing common barriers to transformation (e.g., investment in the wrong technology, underestimation of impact on culture and people, lack of necessary skills and knowledge, etc.) and leveraged best practices in engaging learners. The final design:
- Created a core set of curricula to support getting everyone to speak the same language
- Customized role-based pathways with tailored content and activities to support learners’ exact needs and responsibilities
- Leveraged change management techniques to support awareness of the need for change, knowledge retention, buy-in, motivation and desire to support change.
Providing More Than 25 Hours of Content on Transformation
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Preparing for Digital Transformation
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Leveraging Data
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Transforming Through Technology
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Designing Products for Tomorrow
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Supporting Digital People
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Using Innovation
Launching the
Learning Program
The Digital Readiness Program was delivered across three phases: pilot, leadership and staff. Each phase was delivered fully online in EPAM Continuum's proprietary, mobile-friendly learning platform. Learners progressed through the program by first taking a self-efficacy measure followed by a baseline assessment and then accessing the content within their pathway. Leaders completed the experience with a final assessment. The final assessment was optional for employees to complete since their unique pathway included both mandatory and optional content.
Participants were located across the company’s four regions — Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); North America (NA); Latin America (LATAM); and Asia-Pacific (APAC). The program was delivered in seven languages: German, English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese.
Managing Effective Change
Senior Leader Pilot
A critical aspect of change management is having senior leaders’ support in voice and action. To support the Digital Readiness Program, senior leaders were the first to go through the program, which was accompanied by robust individual and collective communication. This fostered a sense of shared purpose and experience and illustrated that the company was committed to transformation.
Integrated Social Learning
The program team created a dedicated social intranet site to link discussion prompts and research activities for each lesson so participants could share their reactions and ideas on the training content and interact with colleagues. To further encourage dialogue, the client’s team and division leaders posted articles and engaged with discussion boards, leading solid engagement across the company. The site was also used by internal subject matter experts, who posted case studies, additional resources and detailed trainings from the company’s catalog and answered participants’ questions on content and ongoing digital transformation initiatives.
Gamification
To motivate participation and reward engagement, the Digital Readiness Program incorporated gamification. Participants received points and recognition badges by opening modules, moving quickly and staying on schedule. Those who received the most points and badges were recognized on leaderboards associated with both organizational divisions and the whole company. Periodically, division leaders would send emails to their staff, publicly recognizing and thanking high-scorers.
Communication
Change management was supported by leadership’s commitment to communication. From the outset, the short- and long-term goals of the program were communicated and explicitly connected to business and strategy objectives. The client’s executive team recorded messages and sent emails to their sub-organizations to reinforce that the program was strategically important for the company. In addition, information about the program was regularly communicated via multiple channels in formal and informal settings, and through the dedicated social intranet site.
Measuring Impact
The Digital Readiness Program achieved its primary objectives and had a significant effect on participants’ understanding of the need for transformation, their readiness to adopt an agile mindset and overall buy-in and support for digital transformation.
PROGRAM IMPACT BY OBJECTIVE:
Educate the organization on major dimensions of the company’s digital transformation pillars and get everyone speaking the same language.
18%
Average growth in knowledge, from
baseline to final assessment
85%
Learned something entirely new about
digitalization
Take a pulse check of the organizational readiness to transform.
84%
Understand impact of digitalization
in the areas they lead
76%
Understand why their company needs to
digitalize
Identify factors that are facilitating and hindering digital adoption.
Identified strengths/needs related to
digitalization across the
organization
Kickstarted change through the
expansion of learning programs and
action planning with leadership
The Digital Readiness Program provided both the knowledge and tools that our client is now using to improve its approach to managing change associated with digital transformation. It was recognized with a Human Capital Management Excellent Award.
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