HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

IN DIGITAL BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

Riitta-Liisa Larjovuori ,

Jaana-Piia Mäkiniemi and

Kirsi Heikkilä-Tammi

Well-being at work –

research group

THE CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH

USCO (Using digital co-creation for

business development) –project conducted

by Laurea - University of Applied Sciences and

University of Tampere, School on Management in

2016-2018.

• Project aims to understand what kind of: a)

leadership, b) organizational culture, c)

management practices, and d) co-creation

processes digitalisation requires.

• Co-funded by Tekes (the Finnish Funding

Agency for Technology and Innovation) and

eight Finnish organisations (including SME’s,

large companies and two public sectors

organisations)

Please visit us at: uscoproject.fi

Twitter #uscoproject @larjovuori

THE METHOD AND THE PURPOSE OF

THIS PAPER

To present preliminary findings from the sample of qualitative, semi-structured interviews

(n=11 from two organizations, of the total of 48 interviews from 8 organizations) with the

management of the organisations participating in the study.

• Interviewees were responsible for e.g. service or product development, marketing, various customer

segments or business areas and development of human resources i.e. the majority of them did not

represent HR-function.

• The interviews dealt with the phenomenon of digitalisation and what digitalisation means in practice in

each organisation as well as employee well-being at work, leadership, the culture of the organisation,

service development, open innovation, and co-creational practices in terms of how they are related to

digital business transformation. The practical purpose of the interviews was to establish an

understanding on each organisations “current state” related to digitalisation.

The main research question of this paper is:

• What are the challenges and opportunities of human resource management and

leadership in a context where the organisation is introducing and increasingly utilising

digitalised work processes (such as digital service production for customers, digital

working tools, and digital communication and information channels)?

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND

DIGITAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

In this paper, human resource management is essentially viewed as

a strategic and invasive means of utilising, developing, fostering and

mobilising human resources in order to support organisational goals.

HR professionals and HR units have a role in the planning and execution of it, yet we assume in many cases the role

of the first-tier managers and supervisors as well as the role of top

management is emphasized.

Gartner’s IT glossary (2016) defines digitalisation on a broad

level and adopts a business transformation viewpoint;

“Digitalisation is the use of digital technologies to change a

business model and provide new revenue and value-producing

opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business”.

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ISSUES

RECOGNIZED IN THE INTERVIEV DATA

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Digitalisationas an integral

part of the business strategy

Open and solution-focused

management communication

Engaging the employees

Close and persistent

supervisory support

Developing transferable

skills

Redesign of work

What and why do we digitalise? How does it affect our business as a whole?

1) Considering the digitalisation as an integral part of the business strategy

• “Our strategy is all about digitalisation.. Well maybe not all of it, but it is well integrated and we

take it account to in everything we do.”

• “It was not introduced as a technical gadget or innovation, but it was proceeded through practice

where the digitalization has been taken to the core.. It means that every line of managers here is

strongly committed to put it (the digitalization) forward.”

How do we communicate the strategy to and with the employees? How do we ensure

that everyone knows how their work is changing and how do we deal with

uncertainty?

2) Open and solution-focused management communication

• ”The lack of communication often leads to individual surffering of conflicts.. Along with the

digitalisation, the pace of the society is speeding up, yet the communications we use have been

left behind, in the analogic world..”

• ”The top management actually operates as a communicative front figure (for the digitalisation

process), to carry it through..”

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How do we assure that employees are supported and encouraged to change their

working practices?

3) Close and persistent supervisory support

• “At least for the moment, the best way appears to be that the supervisor shows in practice how

the process should go in the new situation. We have many web-based training courses, but they

are not sufficient on their own. It just goes in one ear and out the other and after training people

do as they always have done.”

• ”The area managers’s task is to be a coach to their own subordinates. To be close enough to

make sure that the subordinates succeeds.”

How do we ensure that we have the capabilities and knowledge needed to

transform the business and its value-creation logic?

4) Developing transferable skills

• “Every time I speak to our people, I mention that what is going to be your future capital is your

expertise, because it’s what a machine can’t [do]. When it is combined with empathy, it can’t be

produced by a machine.”

• “I don’t see the need for training on how to use a computer. It is more the kind of policy-training

that is constantly needed.

• (…) the (IT-)expertise to make the development work smoother, can’t be found - even with big

money.

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How do we reform work processes so that the whole potential of the digitalisation is

realized?

5) Redesign of work practices

• “The digitalisation has also enabled us to organise tasks differently, as the information is no longer

attached to the physical paper or location. So it has enabled, the organising the work and, for

example, concentration, which improves efficiency.”

• ”Do we use the right tools..? Quite often I hear comments like ”let’s have more meetings to keep

ourselves posted.. We still think in terms of the analogical world..”

• ”The problem is, that every time new modifications or applications are introduced,their effects to

individual employees’ work are not examined. We don’t have such control.”

How do we utilise the whole potential of our human capital?

6) Engaging the employees

• ”Last year we updated our strategy, and we conducted a survey about how our employees think the

world is changing. (..) The top management then circulated in the units and gave feedback. Last

spring we elaborated the strategic targets from the viewpoint of the digitalization and an inquiry was

made to out key specialist and midline managers, about 70 people altogether, about how they see our

current state, when compared to the target state..”

• “It is of great importance that the employees have been taken in the account. If the employees have

been doing it themselves, it makes the implementation smoother: the user sees that “Okay, this has

been made so that it supports the work I do”.

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IS THERE STILL A NEED FOR “HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT” AND WHAT IS ITS ROLE IN THE

DIGITAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT?

• Human resource management and development is increasingly

“mingled” with strategic leadership, business and service

development: business and customer understanding and “co-

creation” with both employees and customers are essential

capabilities.

• In the digitalizing world, the knowledge of how the human mind works

and thrives is maybe more important than ever: information

ergonomy, learning and training, efficient communication…

• Human resource professionals should be increasingly involved in

renewing and redesigning the digitalizing work practices and

organizational structures.

HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=2NG-5ZZHVRC

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We are surrounded by change from all sides. In a world that is increasingly

VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous). Human resources are

prepared for the world we know, but they struggle with change. Resourceful

Humans adapt to change, and are the only humans with the change of thriving

in a VUCA world.

THANK YOU!

You can change the world

only if you know how it works.

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http://www.uta.fi/jkk/synergos/tyohyvinvointi.html

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