Digital disruption is impacting workforces and how organizations operate. While business leaders recognize the benefits of digital transformation, many organizations lack the necessary digital skills. Research found that while executives and employees agree on digital's benefits, 82% of leaders see skills as a barrier. Employees are open to learning new digital skills and see it improving their careers. For organizations to succeed with digital, they must align HR strategies, experiment with flexible work, identify skills gaps, develop digital competencies, and foster leadership that encourages innovation.

1. Digital disruption:
Embrace the future of work
and your people will embrace
it with you

2. Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved. 2
While the effects of digital disruption
on business and operating models are
familiar territory, the impact on the
workforce could be the Achilles’ heel
of organizations seeking to be digital.
Our research shows executives and
employees are well aligned on the benefits
of being digital.
Workforce of the future
A window of opportunity to take advantage of digital disruption
of business leaders
expect their
organizations to be a
digital business in the
next three years.*
82%
of business leaders say a
lack of digital skills and
capabilities is a key barrier
to transformation.*
43%
*Source: Accenture Strategy executive research on being digital 2015

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Time to capitalize on the positivity of the employees
Preparing the digital workforce
Time to capitalize on the positivity of the employees
Business leaders need to act on their strategies,
adjust their workforce skill sets and prioritize the
workforce changes that will fast-forward their digital
journey.
• Right mind-set, wrong focus?
• Right strategy, wrong skills?
• Right priorities, wrong journey?
Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved. 3

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Right mind-set, wrong focus?
Recognizing the benefits of digital is not the same as being digital
How to: Experiment, integrate new digital
technologies into processes to simplify,
automate and augment brain and brawn.
While the effects of digital disruption
on business and operating models are
familiar territory, the impact on the
workforce could be the Achilles’ heel
of organizations seeking to be digital.
Our research shows executives and
employees are well aligned on the
benefits of being digital.
*
*
*
Business leaders expect to see
improvements across a wide range of
factors from adopting digital technologies,
driven by:
• A variety of technologies and tools
(e.g. 3D interfaces and virtual reality)
• Cognitive assistants and artificial
intelligence (e.g. robots)
• The Internet of Things (IoT)
*Source: Accenture Strategy executive research on being digital 2015

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Right strategy, wrong skills?
It is not a matter of when organizations will be digital, but how
How to: Embrace the broader ecosystem,
partner with educational institutions and
explore new talent pools.
of business leaders say
they already have a strategy
for the management and
development of skills and
talent in a digital world.*
51%
Being digital changes roles and skills:
• Automation means workers take on
higher value roles (needs data
analysis/problem-solving skills)
• Foundational skills will be in high
demand (needs communication/business
acumen skills)
• Jobs are being created with specialized
skill sets (new roles needed such as
digital copywriters, scrum masters in IT
or digital product managers)
*Source: Accenture Strategy executive research on being digital 2015

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Right priorities, wrong journey?
Moving to a digital ecosystem affects the workforce in a variety of ways
Business leaders say they are well
prepared to transition to a digital business
with respect to:*
How to: Business leaders need to breed
a culture of feedback and innovation,
pushing out decision-making to the edges
of the organization.
Nearly all business leaders recognize the
importance of taking action now to
transition their workforce to succeed in the
digital economy, yet:
• Lack of leadership and vision is cited as
one of the main challenges to being
digital
• Less than one-third feel ready to make
the changes in leadership and
management practices to adapt to digital
*Source: Accenture Strategy executive research on being digital 2015
Organization of work
Recruitment of digital skills
and capabilities
Changing the skill and job
mix of the workforce

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Capitalizing on employee positivity
Our research shows employees are far from being a barrier to digital progress
of employees say their organization has
the workforce skills and capabilities to
adapt to digital.*
62%
of employees say they are proactively
learning new digital and technical skills.*
71%
of employees say digital will improve their
job prospects.*
57%
Employees are not only aware that digital
will improve their work experiences and job
prospects, but are proactively seeking the
skills they need to suit the demands of a
digital business.
• Employees believe digital brings
improvements
• Employees are actively seeking digital
skills
• Employees are aware of the speed of
change
*Source: Accenture Strategy employee research on being digital 2015

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Where next?
Practical ways to achieve the workforce of the future
Keep the following factors in mind:
• Align your workforce and HR strategy with the business
• Start experimenting with more flexible and agile ways
of working using proven digital technologies and tools
• Define the digital skills gap within the workforce
• Develop required digital competencies within the workforce
• Foster leadership behaviours that fuel a digital culture
8

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About the research
From February-August 2015, Accenture Strategy interviewed 925
business leaders in the Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, the United
States and the European Union. We wanted to understand how
business leaders and policy makers can take advantage of digital
technologies to accelerate growth and competitiveness. In addition, we
sought the views of more than 9,000 employees in Australia, Brazil,
China, India, Japan, the United States and the European Union—on the
impact of digital technologies on the future of work.
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Learn more at:
www.accenture.com/DigitalDisruptionWorkforce
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining
unmatched experience and specialized skills across more
than 40 industries and all business functions—underpinned
by the world’s largest delivery network—Accenture works at
the intersection of business and technology to help clients
improve their performance and create sustainable value for
their stakeholders. With approximately 373,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation
to improve the way the world works and lives.
Visit us at www.accenture.com.
About Accenture Strategy
Accenture Strategy operates at the intersection of business
and technology. We bring together our capabilities in business,
technology, operations and function strategy to help our clients
envision and execute industry-specific strategies that support
enterprise wide transformation. Our focus on issues related to
digital disruption, competitiveness, global operating models,
talent and leadership help drive both efficiencies and growth.
For more information, follow @AccentureStrat or visit
www.accenture.com/strategy.