Living through a pandemic in the XXI century leaves us with a question: How can we face the challenges of the new normal? Covid-19 has demonstrated that we were not so prepared for the changes we are facing and even more, that our economic system is not designed to face new realities in which the entire population is vulnerable."We must reinvent ourselves" is the mantra we have been hearing. “Reinvent”-- nice word ... According to the dictionary it means to invent again, something that sounds almost ridiculous in the middle of 2020 in a society that shows signs of having invented everything already. But popular wisdom is wise. The psychiatrist Luis Rojas Marcos says, “Reinventing yourself is always a provocation, generally we do not change if we are not forced to do so.” This definition leads us to understand that in reinvention there is an unexpected external element that forces us to make internal changes, not necessarily to invent ourselves but to change. As it pertains to business, there are clear examples. Through this pandemic, we are observing how fast-fashion production companies have pivoted to producing face masks.

Or swimwear manufacturers launching to create clothing with all the biosecurity standards and their own designs. Companies that have reacted not only quickly but also successfully to this new reality make us wonder What is the secret to achieve success? There are many answers, but all with a common element: "The Human Factor" which is capable of proposing ideas aligned with the market, the available resources and the possibilities of each company.This is not the only question. How can I count on talent that is at the right level and can suggest ideas that save the business? This is the great riddle that we would like to solve with a magic formula, and although we do not have the best answer, we can suggest an alternative that has been used by several of these multifaceted companies: Betting on their People. Not only from the point of view of communication, but from the strategy of an organization, empowering them in the processes, training them to make decisions and creating spaces in which their ideas are heard and shared.We all come to organizations wanting to do things as well as possible; to add, to learn, but over the years, that enthusiasm is diminished and we end up doing things a little mechanically and meaningless.

Something that affects our personal life, generating a sense of feeling nonsensical, and the company in turn risking talent turnover.For this reason it is important to bet on talent and transform” the organizations in which we spend more than half the time of our lives. Understanding transformation as: making something different without totally altering its essential characteristics, something that is very nice because we recognize companies as living beings, with undeniable characteristics.Now, the common narrative of many organizations, which are oriented to digitally transform, is that they carry out initiatives to change business processes, optimizing and eliminating those that are of no value to the company. Initiatives that, although they are not wrong, they do not correspond to a digital transformation process but more to a process reengineering.The purpose of digital transformation is to apply technology to improve and automate work, freeing up time that can be better used: analyzing information that the client generates for us or that we produce ourselves internally.  So then where is the difference between these two concepts?

The answer is simple and repetitive: in people, because in reengineering we put process at the center and in digital transformation the employee, trying to eliminate routine actions that prevent them from contributing their maximum capabilities to the business.This approach is key to achieving the definition of the business strategy or vision of the business future with our most important asset: People, who can save us from the uncertain situations that the future holds, and that we are currently living.In this episode of our lives, that feels at times like a science fiction script, it is most likely that companies will be leaning towards starting a digital transformation process that allows them to face this new normal in a different way. However, and thinking of giving advice that may be useful for your company, we suggest some tips that can help in this reinvention process:

1. Digital transformation must be comprehensive, and must allow adaptation to a new reality, in which we go beyond the adoption of certain cutting-edge technologies that will always be in constant change.
2. Digital transformation places us in an advantageous position, we can see where the market is going and it allows us to recognize our main strengths as an organization, while challenging ourselves to improve our work without losing the magic that our clients value so much.
3. Digital transformation allows managing innovation, transforming the organizational DNA, and allowing the identification of strategic opportunities for sustainability and growth over time.
4. The most important asset is people, so before a transformation process, you must work with them to raise awareness that allows them to open their minds to change and position them as managers of the greatest transformations within the company.
5. If you are going to start a process of digital transformation you should ideally make a diagnosis of the “digital state” of each employee, in which you identify: digital skills and competences, level in the use of digital tools / concepts and their openness to work in different ways.Once you have the diagnosis, you should ideally segment your employees by digital levels, and think of personalized growth plans in skills by levels.
6. As awareness actions you can choose to train your employees in digital topics that are in line with the market and the moment of the business.
7. Do not underestimate the training you give your employees, this can motivate them to learn more every day, applying what they have learned to the challenges of their role.
8. Digital transformation is a process, but you cannot stop developing tactical interventions in short-term projects that revert business profit.
9. The budget you invest in digital transformation processes allows you to calmly face the changes proposed by the future, since the staff is trained to empathize with the needs of the client and to propose constant transformations of their processes that allow us to improve the service.
10. Remember that we are an ally for your business and you can contact us to start this transformation process together.

There is always more to learn, for example, we encourage you to see how relevant people from organizations with very different characteristics are facing today's challenges, in our anti-study and also, we invite you to see the Zendal case, a biotech company that is transforming to evolve through constant innovation and digitization as the basis to support its Vision.