Professional services companies need to practise what they preach: the need to fast-track digital transformation in the industry

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to clarify the relationship between professional services companies and changing customer expectations. It proposes following the digital transformation process and outlines how companies can adopt agile, digital-first ways of doing business to tackle major long-term pain points.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper’s author draws on the author’s deep domain expertise on delivering digital transformation projects to businesses and organisations in a variety of industries, including professional services. The author explains the crucial applications for technology to help industry leaders address key business pain points.

Findings

This paper provides insights into how companies have an opportune moment to build long-term digital foundations for greater management, process efficiency and collaboration – with data-driven reporting, end-to-end business management solutions, dedicated HR modules and greater connectivity capabilities. This paper demonstrates that a digital-first approach can help companies achieve higher levels of customer engagement and secure their place in a highly competitive market.

Originality/value

This paper fulfils an identified need to explain how professional services companies can embark on digital transformation journeys to tackle outdated and manual ways of doing business.

Citation

Nichols, C. (2022), "Professional services companies need to practise what they preach: the need to fast-track digital transformation in the industry", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 2-5. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-09-2021-0046