Being digital: Embrace the future of work and your people will embrace it with you

New Accenture Strategy research1 shows 78 percent of business leaders expect their organizations to be a digital business in the next three years. And if they are to realize the benefits, they anticipate from being digital, the readiness of their workforce must become a priority. From concerns around artificial intelligence, to those about employee resistance, the perceived landmines can mean organizations hesitate to make the workforce changes needed to advance their digital journeys. Indeed, business leaders feel one of the greatest challenges to being digital is not having the required skills and capabilities. Yet they should feel confident about moving forward with their workforce plans. Our research shows executives and employees are well aligned on the benefits of being digital. If anything, employees are even more positive than their leaders about the impact of digital on their work and jobs, and more proactive in addressing gaps in digital competencies. Business leaders should develop their teams with the know-how to support their digital strategies and experiment with different ways of organizing work. They need to form new types of partnerships to make the most of non-traditional talent pools. They must build a diverse, digitally savvy team that can inspire flexible, agile ways of working. And they must lead by example. This report is one of a series offering pragmatic advice on how to embrace digital technologies to not only compete, but also drive new value to help businesses grow. As business leaders seek to increase productivity and agility, how can their organizations be digital by default and secure the skills and talent needed to innovate and build the workforce of the future?