Dive Brief:

• The vast majority of employees want to work for organizations that are “digitally enabled,” according to a study by MIT Sloan Management Review. Essentially, employers that have transformed their processes, engagement, and business models around a digital strategy tend to be more attractive to job hunters.
• Companies that aren’t “digitally mature” tend to focus on operational, individual technologies. Digital strategies are “developed with an eye on transforming the business.” Basically: strategy, not just technology, is key.
• Three groups emerged in the study: 26% of respondents characterized their company as being in the early stages of digital maturity, followed by “developing” (45%) and “maturing” (29%).

Dive Insight:

HR in companies that are digitally mature are “much more likely” to have a strategy for what they want to do with digital technologies, according to Bloomberg BNA. 

The study also shows that companies that allow digital innovation and streamlining throughout even the most central of company operations are more often seen as innovative and collaborative – two traits of an appealing workplace. Additionally, leaders of those companies are seen as more digitally competent.

“You don’t have to have the most technically skilled employee base to thrive with digital technologies; you need a culture that fosters engagement and experimentation,” David Kiron, executive editor of MIT Sloan Management Review's Big Ideas initiatives, told Bloomberg BNA. “Maturing companies have that, low-maturity companies don’t.”