People, not technology, will decide the future of transformation

Here’s why preventable productivity loss is a metric you should be measuring, writes Cia Kouparitsas.

Organisations keep pouring money into transformation as if upgrading software automatically upgrades capability. Every year, we see the same pattern repeat as boards sign off on new systems, fresh operating models, and ambitious roadmaps, then act surprised when the transformation stalls because the people expected to use it were never set up to succeed.

The uncomfortable truth is that transformation doesn’t fall over in a boardroom. It falls over on a Tuesday morning when an employee can’t do their job with the new tools they have been given. That gap between ambition and capability is where most change projects quietly die.

The real cause of resistance

In many organisations, we talk a lot about change fatigue and resistance. But the problem isn’t that people are resisting change; it’s that they are being asked to deliver a new future while still being measured and rewarded on the old one. They are resisting the silent expectation that they should already know what no one has taken the time to teach them.

Most transformations fail for reasons leaders rarely name. Roles shift faster than employees understand them, or leaders are expected to champion systems they don’t yet feel competent using, or entire teams are handed new tools without the skills to put them into practice. In this environment, people cling to what they know. It’s not reluctance to adapt, it’s self-preservation in the face of uncertainty.

The readiness gap we keep choosing to ignore

There is a simple question organisations can ask to support successful change: do our people have the capability to make this transformation work?

Too often, the honest answer is no. Not because employees lack talent, but because readiness hasn’t been measured, planned, or prioritised. We track budgets, milestones, and deployment schedules in forensic detail, yet capability is often handled in a training session two weeks before go-live.

Readiness is the rate limiter of transformation. Without it, the most sophisticated solutions become nothing more than elaborate shelfware.

The cost of unprepared people is measurable

Most organisations see capability gaps as an HR issue, but they have a real financial impact. Every employee is paid to deliver a certain level of capability; when they don’t yet have the skills their role demands, the organisation pays full price for partial output.

Preventable productivity loss occurs when an organisation isn’t getting the level of contribution it’s paying for because people haven’t been properly prepared or enabled to meet the requirements of their roles.

Executives often miss this because salary is treated as a fixed cost. But it isn’t fixed. It rises or falls with capability. If employees are paid for skills they haven’t yet been equipped to use, the gap between salary and output becomes unrealised value. In plain terms, it’s money going out and productivity not fully coming in.

Across a large workforce, this adds up to millions in preventable productivity loss. It’s the hidden cost of employees who are willing, committed, and hardworking, but not yet enabled to deliver the value the organisation is already paying for.

Why this matters for transformation

This is where skills intelligence shifts the equation. With the right tools, organisations can pinpoint exactly where productivity is being lost, identify the skills that would close those gaps and build capability with accuracy – not through blanket training programs, but through targeted development aligned to role requirements and transformation goals.

In practice, that turns workforce development from a cost centre into a value-recovery strategy. Organisations don’t need to buy new capability – they need to activate the capability they’re already paying for.

HR’s role is no longer supportive – it is decisive

Organisations that get transformation right embed HR from the outset, shaping the skills blueprint that makes change operationally possible.

HR can pinpoint whether the workforce has the foundation to absorb change, whether leaders are genuinely ready and whether capability can be built at the pace required. When HR maps emerging skill needs, designs capability pathways and secures the time employees need to learn, the technology works because the people using it are prepared.

A skills-based view of the workforce is now essential

Transformation used to be driven by job titles and assumptions. Today, it must be driven by skills. Organisations finally have the tools and data to see what capability exists. This visibility changes everything.

A skills-based approach allows organisations to identify strengths, pinpoint gaps and build capability with precision. It shifts workforce planning from reactive to strategic and gives leaders a clear view of whether a transformation can succeed before they launch it.

Technology will keep evolving. Operating models will keep shifting. But the organisations that thrive will be the ones that treat capability as the engine of transformation, not an afterthought.

Employees need clarity, support, and room to grow. When they understand the shift and believe they can succeed within it, transformation doesn’t just launch. It sticks.

The future of transformation will not be decided by the next platform or the next algorithm. It will be decided by whether leaders invest in the one thing technology cannot compensate for: people who are ready.

Cia Kouparitsas is the chief customer officer at WithYouWithMe.