Retaining and Engaging Digital Talent
By Ken Kuk with Willis Towers Watson, a partner of M&A Leadership Council
An increasing number of companies use corporate transactions as a means to acquire the talent they need for digital transformation, in hopes of leveraging assets (e.g., data) to create new sources of value for customers and shareholders. They’re seeking new ways of engaging with customers, more customized products and solutions, and the use of automation and machine learning to increase operating efficiency.
It is important to note that digital talent is not simply a synonym for technology talent. The definition of digital talent is broader, encompassing all talent segments that collectively enable a business to transform digitally. It is true that some segments of digital talent would have a technology, engineering, and creative background. But companies that have been successful in their digitalization efforts would tell us that success also requires a greater emphasis of transferrable skills across all functions, and the ability for all functions to “be more digital.” This may mean a more agile way of decision making and managing talent, a more customer-centric operating model, and investments in process innovation.
