This case suggests three key tactics to enable successful digital transformation: use technology to form technology disappear, actively shape day-to-day behavior, and systematically reinforce desired behavior changes.
But with the increased need for remote work, DBS now uses new techniques — a number of which were originally created to combat MasterCard fraud — to reinforce the safety of remote work, without compromising the user experience.
DBS has quite 200 applications that employees can use to try to do common tasks starting from processing Mastercard applications to completing online performance reviews.
Even as consumers rate games and productivity tools in Apple’s popular App Store, DBS employees rate their internal applications.
The Future of labor team has also focused on addressing new problems that arose with the increase in remote work, like the “cultural decay” that comes when connectivity and community fray thanks to factors starting from obvious ones (the lack of the power to carry informal gatherings) to more subtle ones (the lack of buffers between meetings inhibiting informal human connection).
The thought is to be very intentional about how DBS teaches key elements of its cultural transformation to new employees.
The ritual builds off of a physical “wall of transformation” that DBS had in its headquarters providing a visible overview with year-by-year highlights of its transformation.
Not only does that provide a more complete picture of DBS’s transformation, but it also lets new employees quickly “meet” a variety of leaders within the bank.
For the longer term of labor effort, that starts with connecting to an overall effort at DBS to possess a balanced scorecard that measures and manages its transformation efforts.
For instance, the usage and rating of a specific digital app directly impacts the performance rating and bonus of the DBS leader liable for that app.
The “Employee Journey Council,” chaired by key senior executives, discusses issues identified by employees like the responsiveness of the interior IT team and therefore the burden of remote working.
And, specific to hybrid work, a September 2021 dipstick survey found that 92% of employees said they were satisfied with the technology that helps them work remotely.
While the journey hasn’t been easy for DBS, rapid advances in AI and therefore the availability of open-source solutions have significantly simplified the power to make models and back-end tools to scale back the barriers to digital transformation.
Following the tactics during this article have smoothed DBS’s transition to hybrid work and helped DBS still win regular accolades.
Leaders at other organizations can similarly accelerate their own digital transformation efforts by using technology to form technology disappear, actively shaping day-to-day behavior, and systematically reinforcing behavior change.