Digital transformation in professional services: why it's key in 2022

With more professional services firms driving towards innovative ways of working digitally in 2022, competition in the industry has never been so high. With issues being tackled through transformation, this helps companies:

• Deliver better quality services
• Maximise their return on investment by reducing unnecessary costs
• Discover new ways of enhancing their services in the future

A drop-in demand for your services

If your competitors can deliver better results in a quicker timeframe due to their ability to handle more projects at once, your most loyal customers may look into alternatives if you fail to keep up.

Increased demands on your project management team to achieve better results

If competitors are using systems that are fully integrated, this eases their team’s ability to track and analyse vital information because data is centralised. This makes it easier for them to quickly view up-to-date information and make better informed business decisions.

If you’re using outdated, disparate systems in comparison, this can result in you losing significant amounts of time trying to gather data. And even if you manage to compile it in a way which makes sense, it’s likely going to be out-of-date, incomplete or inconsistent. Learn about more success factors to project management here.

Talent losses or significant pay rises to retain your existing employees

By updating your technology on a consistent basis, you can retain the best talent in your organisation and create a clear personal development path for them to advance their own skills within your business.

Companies focusing on talent acquisition and improving their technology have become a more dominant force in the market which will carry over into 2022, but those who fail to innovate their current talent retention last year have experienced labour shortages as a result. 

Digital transformation creates value

Value can be perceived in a variety of ways, however, delivering great value is a way of improving your relationships with multiple stakeholder groups, from your customers to employees. Digital transformation can benefit your value proposition by:

• Improving user experience
• Improving process efficiency
• Improving staff morale due to tasks being more streamlined

It’s also important to find out where your opportunities are to maximise value creation, and any challenges you’re likely to experience. For instance, even though digital transformation may involve improving your employees’ workloads, you also need to consider how they will react to any changes you make internally, leading to potential issues with your change management processes.

Our checklist below helps you plan your value and benefits management strategy as per the industries best practices, as well as our recommended roadmap on how you can successfully adopt a value first approach.

The benefits of digital transformation for the professional services industry in 2022

In a time of increased competition, how do you change the way you work and find the information needed to address the challenges? When you’re dealing with a range of clients and projects; often you’ll spend the day trying to keep the business running.

However, with digital transformation and the right business tools – such as an ERP system for the professional services industry – you can: 

• Get ahead of your competition – through assessing project risks with advanced technology, you can make better and more informed decisions to mitigate any problems down the line. This can be based on a single, real-time view of over-budget projects, unmet milestones, unpaid invoices and pending proposals
• Manage projects effectively – deliver the work on time and under budget to meet customer expectations. Whether it’s estimating, budgeting or scheduling the project in a way that meets the delivery date and profit goals, clients require flexibility in their project delivery models
• Optimise your project portfolio – gain effective forecasting and visibility into more than the details of a single project. Professional services companies must also be able to manage pipelines, resources and materials across all active and future projects
  

What you can do to ensure your  transformation is a success

Transformation may seem like a daunting prospect. However, in today’s world, it’s the only way that companies can stay competitive. An important part of transformation which can get overlooked by organisations is the change management aspect. Here are some other areas you should be focusing on:

• Align the right people and mindsets – people aren’t going to be a fan of change if they don’t understand the reasons behind it. So, by gaining stakeholder buy-ins by answering the “what’s in it for me?” question, you can get everyone on board to increase your chances of success
• Have a transformation partner – a transformation partner can help flesh out your strategies to uncover any opportunities or threats that could appear along the way. Additionally, they understand that change management is a crucial factor of success and that workers need to be trained, incentivised, and organised. Their experience can benefit you also, learning what works best based on past project
• Consistent communication before, during and after the transformation – not only do you need to align mindsets, but you need to keep your stakeholder groups well informed throughout your change initiative. This will prevent any confusion from within your teams before and after the transformation project so you can keep them onboard and engaged

Ensure your business stays agile, resilient and competitive

Going through a digital transformation process and adopting new technologies may seem like a daunting prospect. However, in today’s world, it’s the only way that companies can stay competitive. It also provides the opportunity for professional services companies to look at the way they work and challenge themselves to become more agile. 

These improvements will ultimately help them achieve project management excellence and increase client satisfaction. 

Wondering how you can improve business agility? Check out our guide below, where we cover the steps to becoming a more agile business.