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Workday’s Global Study also finds that CEOs trending to champion digital initiatives

Workday this week released initial findings of its global executive survey “Organizational Agility: Roadmap to Digital Acceleration” exploring the state of digital initiatives and organizational agility. The California-based company is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources.

Workday interviewed more than 1,000 C-suite executives and business leaders for the survey. The aim was to identify key challenges and opportunities across the offices of the CEO, chief financial officer (CFO), chief human resources officer (CHRO), and chief information officer (CIO) in adopting digital best practices for greater organizational agility.

The survey results indicate that business leaders plan to accelerate digital initiatives. Moreover, one-third note that the single change that would improve organizational resilience with future crises is accelerated rates of digital growth.

Key findings and take-aways

Some of the highlights of the report include:

Over one-third of firms expect 75% or more of their revenue to come from digital (either digital products or traditional goods sold via online means) in three years’ time. This has tripled since 2019, where just one-in-10 firms had the same projection.

While more than half of organizations (56%) say their technology is compatible with digital transformation goals, just 16% say the same about their company’s culture.

More than three-quarters (77%) of firms now report that their organization is fast to act on failing investments in new technology. This is up from 70% in 2019.

With nearly half (43%) the respondents having embraced continuous planning prior to the pandemic, three core enablers signal success: access to data, deployment of smart technologies, and an agile culture.

Execs look to adopt digital technologies

The report details strategies for organizations to overcome barriers to adopting digital technologies to achieve greater organizational agility. These include creating an adaptable culture, investing in smart technologies to increase digital revenue growth, ensuring real-time data is accessible for decision making, and leveraging cross-functional teams to boost upskilling and reskilling to empower employees.

“Business leaders now face a harsher reality about the urgency of digital transformation,” said Leighanne Levensaler, executive vice president, corporate strategy, and managing director and co-head, Workday Ventures, Workday. “This study highlights that COVID-19 not only cemented the need for companies to modernize but, as important, to accelerate those efforts.”