Nike recently announced the appointment of its first Chief Digital Officer to adopt a digital mind-set and put it at the heart of the brand. This move begs the question: is creating a new job role a shortcut to creating ‘digital’ change within your organisation?

The answer for me is a resounding no. Employing a senior digital specialist to digitise what was previously analogue won’t create change on its own, nor will it necessarily enable innovation - something that should be the key to any transformation programme.

Rather, it will transfer old problems into new formats and risks increasing internal complexity in terms of job roles, processes, and technology.

Instead, organisations should adopt a change programme that sees digital as the catalyst to changing an organisation. Looking at ‘going digital’ through this lens will enable businesses to find new ways of improving customer experience across all mediums, increase efficiency, and create space for innovation.

Following these steps will ensure you’re moving in the right direction:

Gaining the participation of key stakeholders

To achieve real change, it’s necessary to secure the active participation of key stakeholders across the business in an ongoing programme that regularly examines new and better ways of working through digital mediums. Areas such as strategy, marketing and IT should all come together to address wider business and change goals.

Change should be ongoing and requires buy-in from the senior team

In our recent UK State of Marketing Report, we found that 58% of IT Managers now feel that their relationship with Marketing is ‘collaborative’. This is a promising statistic, and is a clear example of how departments within business are working together to successfully embrace digital transformation.

Setting collaborative goals

When different departments align, collaborative goals can be set, allowing innovation to flourish. A by-product of the togetherness of departments is the motivation and fulfilment brought about by working to strategic goals with people that have fresh perspectives.

Talented people exist across most businesses and collaboration is a key part of almost every successful innovation, so bringing together different viewpoints and departments can help to set objectives that assess each business area. In our research, we found that 66% of Marketing Managers are now calling the shots when it comes to purchasing new marketing software, ahead of IT Managers.

This is a clear example of how departmental siloes within businesses are breaking down and how many roles within organisations are increasingly reliant upon technology. Implementing new systems and software is no longer the sole responsibility of the IT Manager and it’s important, therefore, that our organisations change to reflect that.

As with all change, collaboration is the key

Acquiring senior transformation champions

Identifying senior transformation champions is vital in order to make this approach a long-term success.

These are the people who are committed to driving change programmes and understand the impact that digital transformation will bring. Through this understanding, they’re able to evangelise the changes that are being made and ensure that everyone within the business knows what’s changing, why, and how it will impact them, so that they’re brought along on the journey.

Whilst it is clear that digital transformation is at the top of the agenda for many businesses, both small and large, it is important to consider how exactly it can be achieved.

Being digital cannot be thought of as an end goal, and cannot be seen as a box ticking exercise - creating a job role does not mean that the job is done.

Instead, to truly affect change, businesses must build digital processes from the inside-out, utilising the talent that already exists to break down siloes, form collaborative goals, and gain the support of senior stakeholders. When this is addressed, businesses can look to become truly ‘become digital’.