Beyond digital: The future of business is human-centered

Samuel Higgins, Principal Analyst, Forrester, talked about Beyond Digital: The Future of Business is Human-centered, at the recently-held Forrester Technology and Innovation Summit.

A 'hyperfocus on digital no longer reaps big gains. Underappreciating the importance of human potential is also a strategic risk. We are facing both these challenges in the business of technology. Digital sameness prevents differentiated growth. That's the first challenge! We need to differentiate! Next, technology investments no longer promise productivity gains. Also, tactical automation undervalues knowledge and experience.

Now, more than ever, people are critical to value creation. There is a risk that we may undervalue human potential. Yet, firms ignore the link between employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX). The engaged workers generate 81% higher customer satisfaction. There is a disturbing lack of employee insight today. The cause, scale, and impact of the 'Great Resignation' is often misread. In 2022, we saw a rebound that balances out the Covid-19 anomaly. Whether 2022 can bring back the trend to align with long-term trend line is unknown.

Forrester defines a human-centered business as: An organization that focuses its leadership, strategy, technology, and operations to sustainably unlock the potential of all human experience: for customers, employees, and society. Put humans at the center of your business strategy to move beyond digital.

A human-centered business strategy builds on the previous cycles of transformation. But, human-centered business should not be confused with human-centered design. A human-centered strategy centers the whole organization on everyone and their needs.

Truly differentiating yourself as a human-centered business requires two strategic shifts. One, treat your people as appreciable assets who have creativity, knowledge, and potential. Two, prioritize people and process architectures to evolve your operations.

Then, you need to focus on four operating model elements to enact the change. Align work with the skills and competencies of your people. Expand your use of creation-based performance measurement. Aim for adaptive capabilities over rigid structures. Finally, learn to thrive in an ecosystem mode.

Use human-centered business to get out in front! Make human-centered business -- not digital — the target state for your business strategy. Make it the business case for greater CX, EX, and partner experience (PX) investment. Use it to unify objectives across the customer obsession, future of work, future fit technology, sustainability, and trust.