Malaysian organisations lack of digital agility as only 25% ready to transform

Oleh ANIS FARHANAH MALEK
anisfarhanah@dagangnews.com

KUALA LUMPUR 22 July - Despite COVID-19 has tarnished most physical activities in businesses, a survey found only 25% of Malaysian organisations have accelerated their digital transformation plans.

The study by Workday, titled the ‘Workday Digital Agility Index’ found 60% of the organisations slowed down due to short fall of digital skills.

It was conducted in partnership with IDC, a global technology market intelligence company, and surveyed nearly 900 senior business leaders and C-suite executives in human resource, finance and IT across nine markets in Asia Pacific. 

The study noted, owing to a lack of digital agility, 90% have struggled to make changes to their financial plans for the year, with 83% unable to realign their organisational structures. 

“In terms of people and processes, almost four in five (79%) organisations have been unable to track their people’s skill sets to form special task forces in response to the pandemic, and more than half (56%) were not able to manage new approval and business processes. 

“When asked which areas of their business are hit the hardest, Malaysian organisations identified customer engagement (65%), the workplace (52%) and the human resources function (38%),” the study found. 

A short fall of digital skills has proven to be a significant barrier for organisations in faring better with digital agility amid COVID-19 as 69% of Malaysian organisations lack an enterprise-wide culture of agility. 

The study highlighted, 67% of organisations also say that less than half of their people are equipped with digital skills and capabilities. 

It suggests a notion that lack of digital expertise may be due to a prevailing mindset within Malaysian organisations of not viewing talent as a source of competitive advantage and therefore not investing in finding and nurturing it. 

“79% of Malaysian organisations do not see talent as an important strategic asset and lack the proper tools and processes to manage it. This mindset also has a spill-over effect for organisations’ employee experiences,” it said. 

Despite the findings, almost all organisations surveyed see digital transformation as a priority, with 96% using digital technologies to execute their business continuity plans. - DagangNews.com