What will successful organizations look like in the cognitive era?

Transcription

1 IBM Cognitive Process Reengineering White Paper Talent & Engagement What will successful organizations look like in the cognitive era?

2 2 Talent & Engagement The disruption of the cognitive era Industrial revolutions have at least one thing in common: they all started with a disruptive innovation changing the relationship between people and technology. The rise of cognitive computing at the beginning of the 21st century shares the same common thread. Everywhere, the growing interaction between man and machine can be seen. At an enormous scale, machines are becoming cognitive: they understand and interact via natural language, reason by generating hypotheses and evaluate based on relevant evidence, learn and get smarter with each iteration, and can interact with humans and other machines. There is evidence that the cognitive partnership between people and technology will be more effective than either one alone. Cognitive computing is there to augment the work by providing support in decision-making and does not have the intent to take over and replace jobs unlike, for example, Robotics Process Automation. However, we cannot discount the fact that cognitive computing can greatly influence the way we work and it is triggering controversial reactions in society. UNDERSTAND REASON LEARN INTERACT Cognitive systems understand imagery, language and other unstructured data like humans do. They can reason, grasp underlying concepts, form hypotheses, and infer and extract ideas. With each data point, interaction and outcome, they develop and sharpen expertise, so they never stop learning. With abilities to see, talk and hear, cognitive systems interact with humans in a natural way. Figure 1. Cognitive systems learn systematically, are not dependent on rules and handle disparate and varied data to interact with customers in a natural way Companies are investing in cognitive computing, with proof of concepts and pilots running at larger scales. It is expected that by 2018, companies will spend USD33 billion on cognitive solutions. Thirty seven percent of CEOs expect to adopt cognitive technology in the next three years. 1 The 2016 Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, recognizes that cognitive solutions are at their peak and most disruptive. 2 IBM Chairman, President and CEO Ginni Rometty, in her keynote speech at IBM World of Watson 2016, said, You don t just do cognitive, you can become a cognitive business. 3 What makes an organization successful in cognitive? IBM knows that becoming a cognitive business does not happen overnight; it is an ongoing transformation of people and the organization. A recent IBM paper titled Change Management for Watson explains what it takes to successfully implement a cognitive solution like Watson. 4 As a starting point for preparing the organization on the journey towards cognitive, this paper focuses on the five people and organizational elements which, according to IBM, are key components to help establish a successful cognitive business. 1. Visionary leadership Leaders find themselves in a continuous balancing act of innovation: to exploit and explore. They constantly review and exploit their organization s existing capabilities as well as invest in the exploration of new opportunities. The success of cognitive business depends on visionary leaders to pursue innovation that will define the future after leaving room to experiment first. 5 Successful cognitive leaders of the future will bring together and empower relevant collaborators for cognitive, for example, through studio-based envisioning. IBM has developed the Envision Studio that provides a creative space for organizations to align and envisage the future, allowing collaboration of ideas, concepts, trends and solutions with experts. You don t just do cognitive, you can become a cognitive business. Ginni Rometty IBM Chairman, President and CEO

3 IBM Cognitive Process Reengineering 3 Most effective means of changing attitudes and behaviors Involve leaders in role-modeling Establish and communicate a compelling case for change 73% 73% Identify people who are passionate about change and empower them 64% Align performance goals 45% Use reward and recognition systems 28% Create top-down pressure through hierarchy 10% Applying sanctions where necessary to achieve compliance 4% Figure 2. Leaders have a critical role in driving shifts in mindset and behaviors 7 Over time, this co-creative effort will lead to a clear vision and shared understanding of becoming a cognitive business that drives higher levels of engagement within the organization. All leaders are expected to be role models in diving deep into the world of cognitive, engaging and empowering employees to make change happen. IBM s Making Change Work 2 study shows that the establishment of a change-centric culture is vital for innovation. To realize this, it is necessary to lead the change from all levels of the organization Empowered SMEs In the cognitive era, Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs) will play a more profound role than ever before and leadership will need to think through how to reinforce the SME and build understanding and trust. Only by understanding what cognitive is about and how it works, the SME will be willing and able to accept the cognitive solution and lead in further improving the quality of decision-making through it. For this reason, SMEs should be part of the Envision Studios to continuously develop new cognitive use cases: how can cognitive be applied to day-today activities and add value? During the implementation phase of cognitive solutions, SMEs will be the main source of knowledge and expertise. Cognitive implementations are no longer about identifying and onboarding key users, like it is for large business management software implementations; they now require the most experienced SMEs to be fully in the game. High quality inputs will result in high quality outputs and decision-making while incorrect inputs can result in incorrect outputs and incorrect decision-making. In addition to this, the SMEs will need to continue to provide input into the cognitive system to enable continuous learning. A cognitive system has a learning cycle; it is not plug and play and takes time to perform optimally. The SME s input and review of outcomes allow for building a track record of correct outputs needed to build confidence in the ability of the system to truly augment expertise. For this reason, leaders need to keep SMEs engaged and enthusiastic as they can accelerate the adoption of cognitive. Generally, a diverse and best-in-class team of SMEs will be the best solution. Being an SME or a specialist in a specific area of expertise is not enough. Cognitive will require all employees and specifically the SMEs who are leading the game to have a strong ability to adapt and continuously develop new skills, especially in the areas of creativity, emotional intelligence and problem solving. As organizations are using cognitive technology to outthink the market, unlocking new digital intelligence from large volumes of data and a new breed of skills in this area will be needed as well. Extensive skill gaps exist for roles like computer scientists, data experts and cognitive solution trainers (domain experts). There is a need to upskill their abilities to work with and provide cognitive technologies. 8 With new cognitive applications coming on the market and being developed in-house, the skills and knowledge of today need to be aligned with the required skills for a cognitive business.

4 4 Talent & Engagement 3. Cognitive talent development Subject-Matter Experts will be the driving force in the cognitive journey. Identifying, retaining and building the right talented SMEs becomes increasingly important. One of IBM s International Business Value (IBV) studies shows that a shortage of digital skills is expected to be the No. 1 issue facing HR organizations in the next three years. 9 Supported by HR, SMEs and leaders should encourage a culture of continuous learning and development, making learning a part of the organization s DNA. Thomas J. Watson Sr. in 1974 said, Our investment in education is large, and the reason is plain. We cannot hope to run the IBM of tomorrow on yesterday s knowledge. It is vital for each of us to keep abreast of new knowledge, whatever our job. Our investment in education is large, and the reason is plain. We cannot hope to run the IBM of tomorrow on yesterday s knowledge. It is vital for each of us to keep abreast of new knowledge, whatever our job. Thomas J. Watson Sr. Former IBM Chief Executive Officer Leveraging cognitive HR solutions for talent development can support leaders and complement the HR team in building a cognitive business. Solutions are available for all stages of the employee life cycle, starting with hiring. While hiring of new SMEs remains relevant, hiring speed and quality can be improved through Watson Recruitment by empowering recruiters with actionable insights and recommendations. Once new SMEs join, the employee s onboarding experience can be improved with an assistive chatbot that provides answers to onboarding related questions. As skills building comes into play, as part of continuous learning of new skills, Watson Talent Development facilitates strategic skills development with Recommendations are tailored to job role, business group and skill set, as well as personal learning history. Figure 3. IBM s Learning platform engages learners in a meaningful, personalized experience with a cognitive learning environment learner-centered processes and adaptive learning that is tailored to individual needs. This is supported by Watson Career Coach, recommending a career path tailored for individual goals, desires, and skills and thus personalizing the continuous learning element. Investing in their talent and supporting the SMEs enables organizations to be fit for a future that includes cognitive. Besides building talent, it becomes important to design an employee experience that attracts talented individuals and encourages SMEs to stay. Cognitive dashboards on employee experience can support and provide ideas to progress as a business together with the HR team. 4. A supportive operating model for cognitive Looking at the operating model required for a cognitive way of working, various levers are to be considered. We will highlight processes, organization, governance, skills, capabilities, location, alliances or partnerships, and culture. Cognitive solutions will ultimately simplify processes and enrich jobs with higher quality outcomes. More efficient use of time will allow more time to be used for high valuable tasks. Also, cognitive solutions allow less experienced employees to have a steeper learning curve as they are exposed to a full range of insights and knowledge through the cognitive system. Without being a specialist, a generalist has now an additional source of specialist knowledge, on demand, by consulting a cognitive expert to increase the quality of decision-making. Also, for more

5 IBM Cognitive Process Reengineering 5 experienced employees, cognitive technology allows companies to incorporate the latest insights elevating their impact on the business. Simplified processes can result in a simplified governance across the organization. SMEs need to be enabled to use their creativity and expertise to collaboratively come up with use cases for cognitive solutions. As a result, a cognitive business requires way of working, and culture, that allows more flexibility and interaction among SMEs across the organization instead of working in silos. It is expected that more community-based and co-creation environments are to become the new standard where teams and experts work together in a more dynamic and creative way. Similarly, the workplace of the future will be comfortable workplaces with personal space and open areas for free-flowing discussions to improve productivity. 10 Working in alliances and partnerships in a broader ecosystem is another lever put into practice. Partners can be leveraged in all areas to explore the market together. The ecosystem, joined up, can generate valuable cognitive use cases and crowdsourcing could become a common practice. Taking such amendments into account, together with the increased focus on continuous learning, diversity and creativity, the organization s employee engagement program, that includes rewards and recognition, should be aligned to reinforce this. All in all, the employees improved job performance and sense of fulfilment will drive higher levels of satisfaction. 5. Sensing and responding In a world of cognitive solutions, a true to-be state does not exist. One traditional change curve denial, resistance, exploration, change, and cultural change no longer applies. Employees are exposed to a constant state of evolution and adaptation, and are confronted with enormous amounts of ongoing change at every level of the organization, which leads to multiple change curves. Organizations need to enable a culture where each employee understands the need to mutate and transform their skills on an ongoing basis. Instead of waiting for perfect solutions, responses are now deployed in a rapid and iterative design. Employees are no longer allowed for a gradual pace of time to get used to the changes but a continuous mode of change is required. Therefore, IBM found that the biggest challenges for implementing a cognitive solution are associated with people. 11 Successful cognitive organizations have proven to be those that help their employees thrive and grow in this constantly changing environment and create a differentiated change experience as multiple change curves occur at the same time. IBM has designed a new Digital Change Management approach. 12 It addresses people and organizational elements and allows for the anticipation, management and capitalization on such a pervasive change. Digital Change Management leverages behavioral science, social, mobile, and data insights to drive engagement, productivity, and performance. IBM has adapted its change management approach to make the change journey employee-centric and have the engagement of people at its heart to drive user adoption. The consumer-style Digital Change Management approach includes user apps, analytics, dashboards and creative studios (envision and co-creation studios) to help organizations drive employee adoption, buy-in and enthusiasm for cognitive solutions. This is done by engaging everyone to transform and promote change from inside out. Taking an agile approach to execution, organizations test and modify new ways of delivering employee experiences and course correct along the way. This reduces the time to deliver fitting change management activities and incorporates early and frequent feedback from different stakeholders. In the Digital Change Management approach, backlog of change initiatives is prioritized and delivered in shorter cycles. Mechanisms need to be in place to sense and respond; organizations need to listen continuously to what employees are saying and how they perceive the change through various channels, and act accordingly. Organizations should create a continuous dialogue with employees, just as they do with customers. 13 By analyzing the data generated by employees, organizations can understand levels of enthusiasm for the cognitive solution or employee concerns. 14 Change Insight Dashboards can help make informed decisions by pulling various sources of data together, such as behavioral data (e.g., interaction data), engagement data (e.g., sentiment analysis),

6 6 Talent & Engagement and internal process data (e.g., performance metrics). Having multiple feedback channels in place, including mobile and social, encourages enterprise-wide dialogue. 15 Together with the power of mobile and role-based profiles, cognitive insights allow organizations to deliver individual and personalized messages to staff throughout the change journey that reflect how it will impact employees in an innovative way. Conclusion To prepare and make an organization successful in the cognitive era, visionary leaders in the organization both by hierarchy and expertise and empowered SMEs are crucial. Talent development is also an essential element that allows employees to continuously learn and acquire new skills to quickly adapt to new ways of working. Cognitive HR solutions can support the ongoing skills development and talent management. Besides a revised operating model to encompass simplified processes and structures, frequent sensing and responding cycles will be required. Change management, of course, can help here, but in the current rapidly changing environment with multiple change curves for the organization, a step up in how to conduct change management is essential. Today s technology enables us to leverage cognitive insights throughout the change journey. IBM s Digital Change Management approach does exactly this. Employee Focused Personalized Change IBM s Digital Change Approach An approach to change driven by analytics and focused on accelerating your employees experience of change Predictive Analytics Exploit the Make power of organizational the social decisions based community, on scientific gamification and data by mobile apps to industry, create a geography and personalized transformational change complexity experience Agile and Iterative Sense and Respond Track levels of momentum, employee sentiment, and business outcomes in real-time Figure 4. IBM Digital Change Management Driven by Analytics Behavioral Insights Energize, guide and reinforce desired behaviors via impactful, simple, and viral change intiatives Living Roadmap Iterate the Change Roadmap based upon real-time analytics. Prioritize change initiatives via data-driven insights Accelerated Studio-based Innovation A change agency approach to accelerated solutioning using immersive, blue sky thinking studios Our Change approach equips you with an enduring solution with new behaviors and contemporary ways of working For more information To learn more, please contact Marloes Roelands marloes.roelands@nl.ibm.com Authors Lisianne Heil lisianneheil@nl.ibm.com Marloes Roelands marloes.roelands@nl.ibm.com Sophie de Vries sdevries@nl.ibm.com

7 1 Source: World of Watson wow/ 2 Source: Gartner Hype Cycle id/ Source: World of Watson wow/ 4 Source: Change Management for Watson common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=wh&infotype=sa&htmlfid=gbw033 46USEN&attachment=GBW03346USEN.PDF 5 Source: O Reilley, T. and Tushman, M. The Ambidextrous Organization, Harvard Business Review Source: IBV Making Change Work 2 study services/us/gbs/bus/html/gbs-making-change-work.html 7 Source: IBV Making Change Work 2 study services/us/gbs/bus/html/gbs-making-change-work.html 8 Source: Cognitive Advantage Report: Insights from early adopters on driving business value services/c-suite/study/studies/chro-study/ 9 Source: IBM IBV study: How cognitive computing is transforming HR and the employee experience 2017 ibm.biz/cognitivehrstudy 10 Source: IBV CHRO Study study/studies/chro-study/ 11 Source: Change Management for Watson common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=wh&infotype=sa&htmlfid=gbw033 46USEN&attachment=GBW03346USEN.PDF 12 Source: Workday case study: IBM uses new digital change management approach for 150,000-user Workday deployment com/services/us/business-consulting/talent-change-management/digitalchange-management/ 13 Feinzig, Sheri, Eric Lesser and Rena Rasch. Amplifying employee voice: How organizations can better connect to the pulse of the workforce. IBM Institute for Business Value. October services/us/ gbs/thoughtleadership/employeevoice/ 14 Source: IBV CHRO Study study/studies/chro-study/ 15 Source: IBV Making Change Work 2 study services/us/gbs/bus/html/gbs-making-change-work.html IBMR Copyright IBM Corporation 2017 Cognitive Process Reengineering Route 100 Somers, NY Produced in the United States of America February 2017 IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at Copyright and trademark information at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every country in which IBM operates. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON- INFRINGEMENT. IBM products are warranted according to the terms and conditions of the agreements under which they are provided. Please Recycle GBW03366USEN-00