‘Digital thinking’ leaders failing to achieve a positive financial return from transformation projects

Almost half of business leaders are failing to achieve a positive financial return from digital transformation projects they have executed despite considering themselves to be ‘digital thinkers’, reveals a new Censuswide survey.

  • Thursday, 22nd August 2019 Posted 6 years ago in by Phil Alsop

The poll of 250 business leaders at public and private sector organisations with more than 1000 employees, commissioned by leading HR and payroll provider MHR, found that while 90 percent of business leaders have been responsible for commissioning one or more digital transformation projects only 54 percent believed they were financially benefitting the organisation.


This is despite 95 percent of business leaders perceiving themselves to be ‘digital thinkers’ and over four-fifths (84 percent) believing that they personally have the necessary digital skills required to oversee digital transformation projects in their organisation.

Michelle Shelton, Product Planning Director at MHR says; “The research highlights that while business leaders are confident in their own abilities to oversee digital change, the reality is that many projects are failing to deliver the financial benefits.

“One of the key drivers for implementing digital change is to deliver cost savings and revenue growth, but this is only achievable if people with the right skills, including a strong financial awareness, are spearheading the change.

Ahead of carrying out a digital transformation project, it’s important to collaborate with all departments to create a joint strategy and establish a change team responsible for delivering the change.

“By adopting a collaborative approach organisations can leverage the skills and expertise of its people, and gain a true understanding of its current operation to establish a clear vision for the future.

Digital transformation projects will almost certainly fail unless you take your people on the journey with you. Subsequently, any change team should naturally include HR. As stewards of company culture HR professionals can ensure any changes are successfully embedded and embraced by its people, and play an active role in helping create more a ‘digital savvy’ workforce by recruiting new talent to plug any skills gaps and arranging training for existing employees to support the adoption of new software.”

SUSE and NVIDIA have collaborated on an AI Factory designed to support enterprises in deploying and...
The new CIS Companion Guides provide security guidance for emerging AI environments, including LLMs...
ServiceNow’s planned acquisition of Armis aims to expand its market position and add capabilities...
UK firms shift from AI experimentation to operational integration, enhancing project efficiency and...
ShareGate research highlights the challenges organisations face as AI adoption outpaces existing...
Mountain Warehouse replaces its legacy ecommerce platform with a composable solution built on...
The RFU partners with Capgemini to enhance its digital services, leveraging technology and AI to...
ABB has announced the winners of its 2026 Startup Challenge, which focuses on AI-based solutions...