and learning new ways of working. Senior management needs to allocate time
and support to make both happen. We define upskilling as the expansion of
people’s capabilities and employability at times of change at an organizational,
sector, or community level. It applies to everyone and is an effort to convert
applicable knowledge into productive results by identifying the skills that are
needed (particularly the soft skills that are essential to leading change), the
people who could plausibly gain them, and the learning and training that
could help.
When it comes to digital transformation, we often see technical skills
emphasized to the detriment of leadership capabilities. At the middle management
level, leadership agility is the most important skill of all — so focus on leadership
fundamentals, problem-solving techniques, and operational excellence.
Developing middle managers’ own coaching skills enhances the investment still
further, because most team members prefer to be coached by effective managers.
These managers will also need a degree of digital understanding to have the
confidence to give their teams the support they need to innovate.
We used this approach while supporting a South African bank through a
large-scale digital transformation. Investing heavily in raising the performance
of team leaders produced impressive results: Revenues in one area rose by more
than 20 percent, and people engagement scores rose by 25 percent. Furthermore,
it simplified processes and ways of working, which laid the essential foundations
for further technology-based transformation.- Communicate clearly. Middle managers responsible for implementing
change need detailed engagement from senior management — a clear and
compelling explanation of why the change is necessary, the objectives and benefits
of the change, and an honest assessment of previous transformation programs
that have failed.
The tone of communication matters. PwC’s David Lancefield and Sarah Isted
have pointed out that emotional triggers work better than data when it comes to
persuading people of the need for change. The two worked with a company that
was suffering from high customer turnover and complaints, and that had formed
a plan to improve its customer service processes. Senior management presented
a 50-page “case for change” to its middle management team. It explained why
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