Digital Workforce Board: Leaders, researchers and HR specialists find answers on how HR departments can best support digitalisation

Danish IT has launched the Board with the aim of strengthening Human Resources (HR)’s role as a driving force in digital transformation and making visible how the interaction between people, strategy, technology and management can create sustainable organisations with high adaptability. Digitalisation is skills, skills are people.

Digital Workforce Board in Denmark: joining forces to boost digitalisation in the HR sector 

The digitalisation of both business and our public sector is booming. This places great demands on the development of our organisations, where HR departments can play a key role – but how? Danish IT seeks answers to this in a new strategic development forum called "Digital Workforce Board", where a selected group of managers, researchers and HR specialists meet to find answers to which roles and best practices HR departments should use to support the digitalisation of their organisations in the best possible way.

“[I] have for many years wondered why competence development in digitisation is often placed with IT or digitisation departments, while HR takes up less space. It's a paradox because learning, skills and organizational development are classic HR disciplines. Based on my research into digital transformation, I have developed five HR roles, which in the Digital Workforce Board form the basis for a joint discussion of how HR can contribute to translating digital ambitions into practice.” - Pernille Kræmmergaard, CEO of DI2X, explains.

Brick by brick: adaptability in the face of changing realities 

How can we best navigate a digital reality that is constantly shifting? We do this by calibrating our organisations correctly, and therefore it is obvious to see HR as a kind of "missing link" in the process. This is the case in Denmark as well as in the rest of the EU. The Board must therefore strengthen HR’s role as a driving force in digital transformation and make visible how the interaction between people, strategy, technology and management can create sustainable organisations with high adaptability.

“The digital transformation is overtaking the skills development methods and models we have used so far. We no longer have time to sit separately and devise strategies from scratch – now we need to speed up knowledge sharing. In the new forum, we will learn from each other by exchanging thoughts, experiences, methods and cases across professional boundaries and sectors," says Jeanette Hartz, CEO of Danish IT and initiator of the new leadership forum.

Mission

The Board brings together experienced HR managers, directors and managers who want to set the direction for how Denmark develops digital competences in the world of work. Through knowledge, dialogue and common practice, the board shall:

• Develop new perspectives on HR’s role in digitalisation and organisational development
• Build strong relationships between key people across sectors
• Share experiences, cases and methods that support data-driven and human-centric HR
• Promote a culture where HR actively connects technology, learning and business

For those members who wish to do so, the collaboration will also include participation in research and documentation of best practice in collaboration with former professor and digital sage Pernille Kræmmergaard and Danish IT. The Board’s work and insights will be made visible in Danish IT’s forums, media and professional activities.

Themes and Focus Areas

The Board deals with themes in the intersection between HR, technology and organisational development, including:

• Strategic competence development and digital learning cultures
• Data-driven HR and ethics in the use of employee data
• Organizational development, culture and change management in a digital era
• HR’s role in creating digital readiness and securing the workforce of the future
• Digitalisation of HR processes and the use of AI in HR contexts

Methods and dissemination

The Board works on the basis of a ‘knowledge-to-effect’ approach, where experience from its members is translated into insights that can be used – both internally in Danish IT and externally in the public sphere. The methods we use include:

• Case-based discussions and reflection sessions where members share and analyse their own experiences
• Thematic round tables with common conclusions, which are documented and can be disseminated
• Mini-analysis and learning notes summarizing the board's key points after each meeting
• Collaboration on the development of research results; models and methods in collaboration with Pernille Kræmmergaard,
• Dissemination through Danish IT channels, including articles, webinars, podcasts, conferences and social media
• Media collaborations where selected members participate in interviews, chronicles and debates on HR’s role in digital transformation

The aim is that the board both generates knowledge and disseminates it – so that HR’s perspective has a significant voice in the public and in the organisations’ practices: “The ambition is to share the Forum’s findings and conclusions with as many stakeholders as possible. The more organizations that "break the digital HR gap", the better Denmark can cement its position as one of the world's strongest nations in digitalization," says Jeanette Hartz.

Members of the Digital Workforce Board

• Hanne Jansfort, Head of Personnel and Organisation, Viborg Municipality
• Pernille Kræmmergaard, PhD, CEO, DI2X
• Claes Nielsen, HR Manager, Energinet
• Lotte Bøjer, former HR Manager at Danmarks Nationalbank and HOFOR
• Keld Thornæs, HR and Communications Director, Lån & Spar Bank
• Jesper Stockmarr, Head of Department, Group HR, Region of Southern Denmark
• Anton Gramstrup Larsen, HR and DPO Manager, HK
• Nina Allin, Head of HR and Organisation, Municipality of Copenhagen
• Peder Mandrup Tang Knudsen, HR Development Manager, Danish Nursing Council (DSR)
• Ulrik S. Brix, CEO & Ph.d, NOCA
• Claus Sneppen, futurist, partner, Department of Foresight
• Kirstine Bergenholtz, former CPO/CHRO at Andel and Copenhagen Airport
• Camilla Hillerup, HR Director, Microsoft DK/Iceland
• Maria Kofod Larsen, EVP, Semler Gruppen A/S
• Louise Vestergaard, Director, Talent and Leadership Development, Topsoe A/S
• Mette Panter-Jensen, Senior HR Business Partner, Tryg
• Sofie Mørch Ravn, SVP, Kamstrup A/S
• Camilla Bille, SVP, Better Collective
• Susanne Lisa Madsen, HR Manager, Andel Energi
• Mette Willemoe Wang, Director, People & Communications, BEC

From Danish IT:

• Jeanette Hartz, CEO, Danish IT
• Hans Ravnkjær Larsen, Head of Association, Politics and Networks, Danish IT
• Kim Stensdal, Head of Communication and Knowledge, Danish IT
• Emil Flindt, Project Assistant, Danish IT
• Jesper Andersen, Senior Press and Communication Consultant, Danish IT

Links

• Hear from Members about the importance of this board.
• If you wish to follow the work of the forum (relevant outputs and conclusions), you can register on thewebsite of the Digital Workforce Board .
• Contact the Digital Worforce Board

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