John Chambers of Cisco said, “40% of businesses will fail in the next 10 years, if they don’t figure out how to accommodate new technologies”. On the converse this is true for animal health professionals especially in this era of ecommerce, new social media platforms and a WFH world.
The landscape of animal health is changing and digital skills are becoming a must have rather than a nice to have. Thus, important to understand the value of digital processes and the benefits of incorporating digital skills into your everyday life.
Despite a rising digital transformation in the workplace, the speed at which businesses are incorporating new technologies is not always being matched by the rate at which employees are learning the skills needed to work alongside them. The result is a digital skills shortage, which looks set to worsen if action is not taken by businesses such as veterinary practices.
What then is the essence of digital skills in the animal health work force?
Digital skills drive business productivity
The future of the veterinary industry is very technological and it would be a great step to embracing these technologies and achieving efficiencies.
The real productivity and efficiency gains will not be known until the veterinarians learn how to use them properly. Furthermore, embracing new technology equals creating a culture of curiosity and collaboration, and you are likely to find efficiency gains and boost productivity beyond your expectations. This can also lead to a more satisfied workforce, a better company culture and subsequently better staff acquisition and retention, as technology also allows them more space to perform higher value tasks.
Digital skills provide a competitive edge
By not enhancing the digital skills of your veterinary clinic or any other area of your work, you could be jeopardizing your future business opportunities, as you will not be able to keep up with the changes digitalization brings. If you keep your qualifications up-to-date through CPD learning programmes, you stay digitally updated at the sharp end. A skilled and engaged veterinarian will sit at the heart of any successful digitalization project and will be the key to driving change in an organization.
You are also more likely to outperform your peers at rival organizations – giving your business an all-important competition lead. Failing to embrace technological innovation can place your company at a competitive disadvantage to its peers, while a workforce that is not fully prepared for digital challenges may result in costly project delays.
Digital skills can increase revenue and build relationships
A business needs a strong online presence to help increase revenue. This ranges from being able to purchase your services through your website to consuming your marketing in the form of content, which can lead to purchases or new client relationships. Increasing revenue in this environment requires knowing your customers and being where they are, which requires a range of digital skills to engage, persuade and drive demand or loyalty.
Increasingly, business is about building relationships with customers and clients by responding to their changing expectations and engaging with them through a diverse range of channels, such as email, social media, mobile apps and so on. It’s vital that veterinarians have the digital intelligence and ‘netiquette’ to ensure the modern increasingly digitized customer experience is positive.
Want more? Be on lookout for the upcoming Digital Communication CPD course coming up from July 01 2021. Contact Leah Gitau on +254 720160590
