The Challenges Faced by Digital Transformation Executives: How to Hire the Right Person and Support Them in Their Mission

Now that we have discussed the basis for a digital transformation and the keys to success in this endeavour , let’s look at the steps to hiring your next digital transformation leader.

1. Use the Job Description to Clearly State Your Expectations Based on Your Business Challenges 

When writing the job description to recruit your next vice president of digital transformation, chief transformation officer (CTO) or chief digital officer (CDO), ensure that you accurately represent the company’s vision in detailing the incumbent’s role. What are you looking to accomplish with this hiring? What business challenges are being targeted through this recruitment? Be clear and precise but avoid sharing strategic information that your competitors could exploit. We strongly recommend that you enlist an executive search firm for advice on recruiting your targeted candidate profile based on your business challenges.

Every company is different and will have a unique approach to digital transformation. To attract an appropriate client profile based on the scope of your digital transformation, your job description needs to be unambiguous, in addition to being enticing to candidates.

2. Select the Right Digital Transformation Executive

Candidates for digital transformation roles are typically evaluated based on their IT skills and their work experience. While a long list of successful projects is often a good indicator of a candidate’s ability to lead your digital transformation, it is worth digging deeper.

The candidate’s level of emotional intelligence should always be taken into consideration in the hiring process. This is especially critical when recruiting digital transformation executives, as this role requires strong skills in terms of the five pillars of emotional intelligence.

1. Self-awareness: Being honest with yourself and your employees and being confident in your abilities, while at the same time knowing when to turn to others to overcome limitations.
2. Self-regulation: Being open to change and comfortable with uncertainty.  
3. Motivation: Being optimistic, driven, a good motivator and someone who commits to an action for the right reasons—not just for social status and money. 
4. Empathy: Being sensitive to others and able to read others’ emotional states when interacting them. 
5. Social skills: Being adept at building relationships and managing a team, especially in a changing environment.

These skills are essential given that change management plays a big part in every digital transformation process. While these skills may be more difficult to spot than technical skills, a headhunter knows how to ask the right questions to identify the personality of each candidate and help you select the right person for the job.

3. Provide Your Digital Transformation Executive with the Support They Need

As soon as the CTO, CDO or vice president of digital transformation has been onboarded, the CEO and the board of directors need to break down barriers and provide this person with the latitude this role requires. The CEO and board of directors must help oversee the digital transformation and be diligent in ensuring that the digital transformation executive is not left isolated and unsupported. Whenever the executive raises an issue, the CEO needs to take action. For example, if the transformation process is being impeded by a resistant manager who refuses to align with the new vision, a difficult decision needs to be made.

The executive you hire to lead your digital transformation is not solely responsible for its success or failure. This responsibility falls to every decision-maker in the company; each of them should be held accountable. These leaders must continually take steps to create the right conditions for success, even if it means losing a certain degree of influence or political sway. To reiterate, companies begin the process of digital transformation when they realize that their business model has become—or is soon to be—obsolete. When companies become entrenched in their way of doing things, this eventually leads to a breaking point.

4. Keep Coming Back to The Objective

When issues arise that risk slowing or hindering the digital transformation process, executives need to return to the starting point, make their own decisions and stand by them.

What was the company’s vision for the digital transformation? Why did the business model need to be reviewed? Looking toward the horizon will make the path forward clearer.

Transformation Is Not a Destination

To quote an article from the Harvard Business Review, “Digital transformation is not a destination; it’s a permanent state of evolution.”  

The company, its executives and its board of directors must integrate “digital thinking” into their style of governance.

Beyond the delicate operation of implementing a digital transformation, being committed to continued innovation will help the company avoid experiencing another disruption to its business model. We will conclude this series on this key point: a digital transformation can be a lifesaver for companies provided that it is accompanied by fundamental changes; the importance of this is often underestimated or not fully grasped. 

PIXCELL’s headhunters are passionate about helping companies overcome business challenges, including those related to digital transformation. We are committed to assisting our clients in their strategic thinking and recruitment processes. Our digital transformation executive search firm can help you maximize your chances of implementing a successful digital transformation. We take the time to understand your business challenges and advise you on the profiles to consider based on this information. We then conduct a rigorous candidate search and assessment process to ensure that your recruitment is a success.