The Value of Workplace Culture in the Digital Leadership Era

Introduction

The digital era has accelerated the rate of change across industries. In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing corporate climate, digital leadership has become a must for survival. As a result, cultivating habits that assist in comfort at work and accuracy at work has become increasingly important. Digital technology has had a profound effect on the world of business, and so this new period entails a revolutionary transition in terms of chosen business methods from the traditional to the digital era. There are several strategies for capitalising on the new market through digital techniques. Digital transformation has triumphed as a company ideology and strategic imperative. Globally, serious company executives recognise that their markets, customers and employees have migrated to the digital age. According to the most recent global management study, 93% of employees across industries and regions agree that being digitally savvy is critical to performing well in their jobs (Cognizant, 2021). The idea that successful digital transformation leads to agility, flexibility and a focus on the customer has become a management policy and a way for executives to stay motivated.

Effective digital transformation, on the other hand, can come with additional risks and expenses that were not expected. Digitally savvy workers have taken issue with the emphasis on efficiency and productivity put on by leaders. Leadership in the digital age is expected to provide employees with more than just increased freedom, recognition and productivity-enhancing working conditions. According to studies by the MIT Sloan Management Review and Cognizant, digitally adept employees do not only anticipate enhanced company capabilities or prospects from digital transformation; they also want it to better represent and respect their concerns and beliefs (Schrage et al., 2021). Leaders’ authority, influence and control are disrupted by these new standards of conduct. The new bottom line: leaders must tangibly alter themselves in order for digital transformation to be successful. Workplace success depends as much on data-driven agility and productivity as it does on leaders’ own emotional digital transformation in order to be effective at leading the digital transformation of their organizations (Jim, 2021). Leaders must first undergo their own affective digital transformation.

Managing many identities with coworkers, family and friends is nearly impossible in the age of social media, making leadership in this environment even more difficult (Schrage et al., 2021). It is possible that this flattening of numerous identities could have unintended consequences for business executives in the digital age. As a result, leaders are unable to effectively tailor their messaging to diverse groups of stakeholders. In today’s digital world, leadership activities are immediately visible and accessible to everyone. Individuals’ desire to be perceived as authentic is hampered by the ability of digital platforms to allow for the interpretation of the same message by several audiences. Research shows how the expectations of digitally informed employees are changing the way leadership problems are framed as old boundaries disappear. Leaders can no longer dismiss the impact of digital transformation on power and accountability relations because the data is so obvious and overwhelming. The findings of this study give specific advice on how to lead people, markets and industries that have been changed by technology.

Despite the widespread adoption of digital business strategies, many organizations still fail to recognize the importance of digital leadership in these transformations (de Villiers et al., 2020; Abbu and Gopalakrishna, 2021). Digital leaders are supposed to have the essential tools to manage digital transformation, yet there are severe weaknesses in both technological dominance and process management. As part of this study, the researchers will look at how the digital leadership age has affected business practices by conducting an in-depth literature review. Global industrial strategies, on the other hand, are rethinking how digital leaders work so that they can better understand how this process changes based on their skills, expertise, experience and other factors, even though many sectors are moving more quickly through globalization. Hybrid workforce models can help promote organizational culture. Moving into a building does not instantly create culture. Remote and hybrid employees are happier with their company culture than on-site employees.