Digital transformation is an essential growth strategy for private business leaders. But private enterprises are taking a very different approach than listed companies.
They are engaging digitally with customers in new ways and driving growth through a diversity of channels and relationships.
Our report is based on a global survey by Deloitte Private of 2,750 private businesses and a series of in-depth interviews with leaders of private digital transformation success stories. Through insights and client case studies, we reveal the advantages and key enablers private companies have at their disposal to accelerate the most important transformation in their organisation’s history.
Drive your digital transformation success
Your private advantage
Agility, clear purpose, strong culture and the ability to maintain a long-term view are helping private businesses to accelerate their digital transformation.
The onset of COVID-19 rapidly brought forward a critical need to adopt, adapt to and embrace digital and cloud technologies. Nearly 7 out of 10 companies in our Deloitte Private global survey of large private businesses say their digital transformation significantly accelerated during the crisis.
What separates digital leaders from the rest is a clear digital strategy combined with a leadership predisposed to drive transformation.
Successful private businesses recognise they need a coherent approach to leading the transformation, informed by a clear digital strategy with executive and Board buy-in.
Where the CEO or founder has a good level of digital acumen and understanding, they are on board from the start, and more likely to approve the necessary investment and drive progression.
Digital transformation provides the opportunity to define a bold ambition that goes beyond incremental change—to rethink business and operating models to deliver breakthrough value.
Digital can transform where a private business will grow in the future, how it operates and what kinds of performance improvements are possible.
In other words, a private business that succeeds at digital transformation will change its whole organisation and all of its underlying systems.
Are all areas within your business playing a key role?
A dedicated change management capability is key to digital transformation success, particularly in a private sector context, where staff loyalty is a critical differentiator.
Any sort of transformation will have a significant impact on a business and the day-to-day operations of staff—with the potential for sacrifice, hardship and disruption along the way. Transformation therefore needs to be managed carefully.
Do you have communication plans in place to drive transformation?
Successful digital transformation sees private businesses undergoing a cultural change where a workforce is encouraged to continually challenge the status quo, experiment and get comfortable with failure.
Our interviewees are clear that digital transformation is much more about attitude and user experience than the tools involved. Their advice is to focus strongly on the culture of the organisation, talking more about people and less about digital or technology.
Are your people encouraged to try, fail fast and move on?
Private business leaders recognise the imperative of having the right skills and capability to drive their digital transformation.
All of our interviewees highlighted the importance of having the right internal capability to lead and guide the implementation process.
They emphasised that whoever occupies the digital transformation lead role needs both technical skills and a strong understanding of the internal business landscape.
Do you have the right resources to drive your digital transformation?
