The company believes even though the introduction of new digital tools might seem like a no-brainer for an organization’s initiatives, people are actually hard-wired to resist sudden change and may even have some biases about what this change means for them, their role, and the business as a whole. Especially when it comes to digital transformations, there are three different biases that tend to crop up.

First comes ‘Status Quo Bias,’ or a preference to stick with what one knows—even when presented with something better—for reasons of convenience, tradition, or simplicity. To combat this backlash, Daggerwing Group assists leaders in outlining a simple framework to explain how the pain points of the current system will be released and find ways to establish the transformation’s meaning and impact on its employees.

Then there is the ‘Loss Aversion Bias,’ or the perception that losses are twice as powerful as gains. This bias prevents employees from pursuing the benefits of a digital transformation since they are primarily focused on not losing legacy ways of working, no matter if they are less efficient. This is where Daggerwing Group comes in. “We help leaders ease employees’ concerns by addressing what they are fearful of losing and clarifying how this change can yield better results. A key way to reinforce this is for leaders to take the first step in adopting the new ways of working to share the benefits to their people,” says Ning.

Lastly, there is ‘Availability Bias,’ also known as the ‘fear of missing out’ bias, which Singaporeans refer to as ‘Kiasu-ism.’ This bias occurs when business leaders seek the latest digital platform or tool to not lose out to competitors who are leveraging the same technology to gain market advantage with better insights, better customer engagement, speed to market, and so on. However, they might not optimize the benefits of their choices when these decisions are not strongly tied to their organizational objectives. To avoid this dilemma, Daggerwing Group explains to employees all the far-reaching implications of the transformation process and its functions, rather than focusing on their competitors. “When you are implementing change from a place of belief, rather than a place of fear, change is much more likely to stick,” states Ning.

Taking this people-centered approach to digital transformation, and in fact every kind of organizational change, Daggerwing Group is helping clients narrow in on what exactly needs to change across structure, processes, capabilities, talent, and culture to enable meaningful and measurable transformation outcomes. “As one of the biggest obstacles to digital transformation is the way in which it is communicated, Daggerwing Group is continues to bring business expertise and psychology together to help employees connect personally and understand how these changes are being implemented to improve work-streams and enable them to work more efficiently for the future,” concludes Ning.