The interplay of digital transformation and employee competency: A design science approach

Businesses and academia alike agree upon the significant influence of digitalization on the business world. Hence, digital transformation is a very topical issue. While researchers underline that the movement toward digitalization is a challenge influencing various dimensions, studies to date have largely focused on the technological and organizational aspects of digitalization. Consequently, there is a gap in digital transformation concerning the role of human resources and employee competency. This paper adopts a human-centered view of digitalization at the intersection of digital and human transformation. Drawing on design science research (DSR), we developed a framework as an artifact that takes into account individual employee competency related to an organization's level of digital transformation. As suggested by DSR, the framework was developed in iterations and refined after evaluation by various domain experts in academia and business. The final framework illustrates the interplay between the individual and organizational levels; in particular, employees’ transformation competency (intrapreneurial and digital competencies) driving digital transformation. Our findings suggest that the development of intrapreneurial competencies is dynamic. Based on an intrapreneurial journey, employee competencies function as triggers to reach the next level of digital transformation. As such, employee competency is crucial in enabling an organization's transformation toward digitalization.