Digital transformation is top of mind for many businesses these days. Upgrading or replacing existing business processes, such as your EHS management framework or OHS software is the first step towards introducing new efficiencies and innovations that businesses need to stay competitive. 

The concept is simple, but the execution can get messy. Not only does a digital transformation affect the manner in which we work, it touches company culture and the entire customer experience. To be successful, this requires a lot of planning and plenty of communication with everyone involved.

The difficulties of digital transformation

If not properly planned and executed, significant changes can carry significant consequences. The project may not be adopted by everyone, and in some cases will be met with a lot of resistance. Deadlines can be broken, budgets can inflate, and data could be lost. Productivity could suffer and so could morale. 

The other difficulty is that change-based projects often have to compete. One department of an organization could have a perfect plan, but if resources are already committed elsewhere, the project can suffer. Find out more about this here:

 

How To Get Started with OHS software

The most difficult aspect of digital transformation is knowing where to start. Ideally, digital technology will be inserted across all of your processes so that the customer experience is seamless, organizational efforts are streamlined, and data is collected in a way that establishes machine learning for future innovations. With so many facets of business involved, it would be virtually impossible to make this transition all at once.

Most organizations enact a hybrid model of change which keeps ‘business as usual’ flowing without interruption and allows a naturally paced adoption of software, wearables, and devices.

This makes health and safety software an attractive entry point to begin or continue your digital transformation. Sofvie, for example, is not designed to disrupt productivity or require a complete reset in health and safety education. Rather, it is designed to facilitate an existing health and safety framework. Minor adjustments will be made as you identify gaps and opportunities in the framework, but the architecture remains the same. To most workers, the change will be as simple as documenting their actions on a tablet instead of a pad of paper. The results of this simple change, however, can be profound.

 

Change Management

Although the choice to pursue digital transformation has nothing but good intentions, it can still be scary. Many workers have established a rhythm to their work day. They know what is expected of them and they know how to do a good job. Having to learn a new way to do things could be perceived as a threat to their comfort. This has a chance to interrupt the routine they’ve created, and they could be fearful that they will fail at mastering new expectations.

A thorough communication plan needs to accompany new processes in order to maximize success, and needs to be from the top down. 

When the entire organization understands what the targeted goals and benefits are, that there will be support and training, and that the change will be introduced in a systematic way, they are much more likely to enthusiastically participate. Not unlike how a catchy TV jingle embeds the local pizza place’s phone number into our brains for a lifetime, the chances increase even more when messaging is repeated.

The goal of change management is to ensure that goals are achieved within predetermined parameters. Unfortunately. Statistics show that 70%+ of change management projects either fail or exceed timelines and budget. The primary reason for this is lack of planning. 

In order to execute change, you must have a way to measure it. Start with the 7 Rs of change:

• Who raised the change? 
• What is the reason for the change? 
• What return is required from the change? 
• What are the risks involved in the change? 
• What resources are required to deliver the change? 
• Who is responsible for the “build, test, and implement” portion of the change?
• What is the relationship between one change-based project and another?

 

Making It Work

Once a change management team has been assembled, details have been determined and documented, and communication has rolled out, the next step is to manage the people who will be impacted most. This is the true lynchpin, especially in Sofvie’s case. These are the exact same people whose injuries are meant to be prevented and lives are meant to be saved. Their commitments and contributions are absolutely necessary.

Answering all of their questions in advance, educating them on all of the ways that sofvie will improve the way they work without interrupting their comfort or disrupting their routines, and involving them allies to the project not only drastically improves the likelihood of success, it expedites the long term benefits. 

Sofvie values this portion of the process so much that we have an entire department dedicated to successful change management, formal training, a completely stocked video learning portal, and even external partners who specialize in structuring change.

 

Why do we go through all of this trouble? 

Because we have the same goals as you. 

 

Coming from the mining industry, Sofvie deeply understands the need for this change. Many incidents have happened throughout the years. Many of these were preventable, and all of these have required convoluted investigations. 

Not only does implementing sofvie help you move from a reactive to a predictive safety model and makes safety at work a higher priority, it demonstrates just how easy transitioning from a physical process (like paper-based safety documentation) to a digital one. You can use the same formula for future change initiatives.

 

Sofvie helps you achieve both your safety and digital transformation goals but starting small. Although there are many facets to sofvie, we introduce you to the most impactful module until you become comfortable and familiar with everything sofvie has to offer. Once this is achieved, you can expand to include additional business units. This ‘slow and steady’ approach combined with a well thought out communication plan maximizes your chance for success, and we’re proud to be part of the process that leads to the growth of your organization.