Full digital transformations needed, but report shows business leaders aren’t sure
Further digital education may be required to instil Gen Z’s level of technology confidence throughout the business, as latest findings reveal that business leaders’ confidence in technology is declining with age.
The new report, published by business software firm, Advanced, surveyed more than 6,600 senior executives, identifying a disparity between the youngest and eldest groups of business leaders:
- Just 17% of business leaders over age 55 say they are very confident about their IT solutions supporting their business model, compared to half (50%) of those aged 18-24.
- Only 1 in 5 business leaders (20%) feel that their current technology infrastructure allows them to work with confidence in a cyber-secure environment.
- 43% of young business leaders believe that their leadership has a strong strategy for digital enablement, compared to less than one-quarter (22%) of those aged 55+.
“It may be that older employees have a broader understanding of the challenges inherent in their role and function and can more easily see where technology falls short, particularly within the context of the entire organisation”, Simon Walsh, CEO of Advanced suggests. “Although, it may also be the case that young people are right to be confident as they potentially understand the technology better and may be able to get more out of it for their organisation.”
The report also found that over three-quarters (77%) of young business leaders are planning to upgrade their digital systems, which is a significant difference from the 45% of leaders over 55 who have these plans in place.
The current barriers here do appear to be based mostly on people’s beliefs and attitudes, rather than the suitability of the technology itself. Four in ten (41%) of those surveyed say this resistance to new technology is down to an attachment to traditional methods, while over one-third (34%) state it is because of a lack of buy-in from employees and 30% claim it is down to lack of buy-in from leaders.
“This does raise some concern, as employees and leaders must want to adopt new technology and be prepared to go through the ‘pain’ of investing time for training, learning and migrating data, for example, in order to experience all of the benefits”, Simon adds.
There is some understanding of this, as on average only 29% of all respondents say that there are no areas of the business that lack the digital solutions to operate efficiently. Fewer (20%) of the youngest employees say this, while significantly more (49%) of the eldest group feel the lack of effective solutions across different departments.
As for how steps toward digital transformation can be achieved, the eldest age group surveyed did state that better systems integration (51%), improved functionality (42%) and improved security (36%) would help them feel more confident in how their technology infrastructure supports their business model, implying that technology solutions which address these concerns are key to complete transformation across the board.
This also signifies that workplace technology is not currently being optimised and used to its full potential by more experienced leaders, as there are already solutions available that should meet these needs. Therefore, instilling Gen Z’s level of confidence and understanding of such technology is going to be crucial not only for a wider digital uptake but also as a step toward closing the digital skills gap.
Now in its eighth year, Advanced’s 2023/24 report canvassed insights from its largest-ever sample size. Readers can download the full report from the company’s website.
