Organisational digital culture
Organisational culture is an important aspect of digital transformation focusing on how digital affects different stakeholder groups and their practices.
This is the overarching element of the framework for digital transformation in higher education. The aspects we’ve covered here are critical to a strategic organisation-wide approach to digital transformation.
The values, beliefs and practices affected by the use of digital technology. Empowering digital culture and leadership (strategy, planning and investment), focusing on core strategies, administrative structures and processes, effective governance, stakeholder support, development and engagement. The organisation’s digital culture also determines its approach to issues such as digital safety and wellbeing, openness, collaboration and equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as how well it implements and adapts to organisational change.
Organisational digital culture is broken down into four areas of activity:
Digital culture and mindset
Includes the attitudes, behaviours, beliefs and practices that shape people’s relationships with digital technologies and the ways these transform organisational activities. It includes how stakeholders approach innovation, collaboration, information sharing and the creation and consumption of digital content, and how these can enhance their work and learning.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements.
Accessibility and inclusion | Business continuity planning | Digital capability | Digital confidence | Digital fluency | Digital innovation | Digital leadership | Digital poverty | Digital strategy | Futures thinking | Governance | Human resources | Organisational values | Stakeholder engagement
Examples of potential activities
- Work with stakeholders to produce a glossary that provides an agreed organisational definition of terminology that reflects the principles and values of the organisation (eg resilience, sustainability, inclusion, graduate attributes, responsible and ethical research and innovation)
- Develop codes of practice for different areas of business activity that articulate clear expectations around digital practices and behaviour
- Encourage staff to identify new digital opportunities to improve their working practices and to feed in suggestions via the appropriate approval routes
- Apply ethical frameworks to ensure staff and learners approve the use of automated notifications
- Review existing job descriptions and person specifications to ensure that digital capabilities relevant to each role are up to date
- Provide opportunities for staff and students to self-assess and reflect on their own digital capabilities and develop individual development plans to enhance the areas they identify as important
- Ensure digital leaders have opportunities to self-assess and reflect on their own digital capabilities and enhance these to model digital confidence to others
- Give senior leaders the opportunity to attend a digital leadership course
- Use the Jisc role profiles to consider and baseline digital capabilities for different groups (eg digital leaders, professional services, teachers, students, library staff, learning technologists, researchers)
- Carry out an organisation-wide audit of manual and digital relationship management systems to develop a coherent and integrated single-source customer relationship management (CRM) system
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
- Digital leaders programme
- Discover diversity – interactive data dashboard to profile the diversity demographics of staff
- Artificial intelligence
- Extended reality community of practice
- Innovation projects
- Digital experience insights
Groups
- Accessibility and assistive technology communities
- Digital capability community of practice
- Digital experience insights community of practice
- Digital culture and leadership communities
Guides
Includes the attitudes, behaviours, beliefs and practices that shape people’s relationships with digital technologies and the ways these transform organisational activities. It includes how stakeholders approach innovation, collaboration, information sharing and the creation and consumption of digital content, and how these can enhance their work and learning.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements.
Accessibility and inclusion | Business continuity planning | Digital capability | Digital confidence | Digital fluency | Digital innovation | Digital leadership | Digital poverty | Digital strategy | Futures thinking | Governance | Human resources | Organisational values | Stakeholder engagement
Examples of potential activities
- Work with stakeholders to produce a glossary that provides an agreed organisational definition of terminology that reflects the principles and values of the organisation (eg resilience, sustainability, inclusion, graduate attributes, responsible and ethical research and innovation)
- Develop codes of practice for different areas of business activity that articulate clear expectations around digital practices and behaviour
- Encourage staff to identify new digital opportunities to improve their working practices and to feed in suggestions via the appropriate approval routes
- Apply ethical frameworks to ensure staff and learners approve the use of automated notifications
- Review existing job descriptions and person specifications to ensure that digital capabilities relevant to each role are up to date
- Provide opportunities for staff and students to self-assess and reflect on their own digital capabilities and develop individual development plans to enhance the areas they identify as important
- Ensure digital leaders have opportunities to self-assess and reflect on their own digital capabilities and enhance these to model digital confidence to others
- Give senior leaders the opportunity to attend a digital leadership course
- Use the Jisc role profiles to consider and baseline digital capabilities for different groups (eg digital leaders, professional services, teachers, students, library staff, learning technologists, researchers)
- Carry out an organisation-wide audit of manual and digital relationship management systems to develop a coherent and integrated single-source customer relationship management (CRM) system
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
- Digital leaders programme
- Discover diversity – interactive data dashboard to profile the diversity demographics of staff
- Artificial intelligence
- Extended reality community of practice
- Innovation projects
- Digital experience insights
Groups
- Accessibility and assistive technology communities
- Digital capability community of practice
- Digital experience insights community of practice
- Digital culture and leadership communities
Guides
Organisational identity
The unique characteristics and qualities that define an organisation and distinguish it from others. Includes digital activities that support the promotion of strategic principles and values, and how these inform business practices and impact on stakeholders.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Building digital communities | Business and industry | International activities | Marketing and communications | Sense of belonging
Examples of potential activities
- Promote and encourage a sense of belonging for all stakeholders and provide a mix of on-site and digital opportunities for them to demonstrate presence and engagement
- Encourage students to establish and build professional/career-related digital identities throughout their course
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
The unique characteristics and qualities that define an organisation and distinguish it from others. Includes digital activities that support the promotion of strategic principles and values, and how these inform business practices and impact on stakeholders.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Building digital communities | Business and industry | International activities | Marketing and communications | Sense of belonging
Examples of potential activities
- Promote and encourage a sense of belonging for all stakeholders and provide a mix of on-site and digital opportunities for them to demonstrate presence and engagement
- Encourage students to establish and build professional/career-related digital identities throughout their course
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
Organisational wellbeing
Building, supporting and maintaining the physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of all stakeholders. Includes the impact of living, working and learning with digital technologies, as well as adopting digital approaches to improve and manage the wellbeing of individuals.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Accessibility and inclusion | Cyber security | Digital fluency | Digital wellbeing | Economic/financial literacy | Employer relations | Environmental sustainability | Flexible workplace | Human resources | Staff recruitment and retention | Staff support
Examples of potential activities
- Engage and involve stakeholders to develop shared guidelines and approaches for the use of digital communications to negotiate, argue respectfully, and deal with and respect difference
- Develop accessibility and inclusion policies, practices, support and guidelines to ensure that all stakeholders have equitable experiences of work and learning
- Make sure accessibility, inclusion and wellbeing challenges and problems are addressed as a high priority
- Provide staff with digital tools, apps or services to manage their wellbeing (eg time management, workload prioritisation, screen time) and encourage their use
- Investigate the ethical use of digital nudges (automated notifications) to monitor wellbeing of staff and/or students
- Offer remote/hybrid working for appropriate roles to improve recruitment and retention of skilled staff
- Encourage engagement, reconfigure tasks and events to fit a digital format, and address mental health and equity issues
- Upgrade or reconfigure workspaces to support a flexible, hybrid work culture (eg upgraded classrooms, conference rooms, shared workspaces)
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
Reports
- Digital wellbeing for you, your colleagues and students': briefing paper for practitioners (pdf)
- Good practice principles to support the digital wellbeing of your students and staff: briefing paper for senior leaders (pdf)
- Student and staff wellbeing in higher education
Guides
Building, supporting and maintaining the physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of all stakeholders. Includes the impact of living, working and learning with digital technologies, as well as adopting digital approaches to improve and manage the wellbeing of individuals.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Accessibility and inclusion | Cyber security | Digital fluency | Digital wellbeing | Economic/financial literacy | Employer relations | Environmental sustainability | Flexible workplace | Human resources | Staff recruitment and retention | Staff support
Examples of potential activities
- Engage and involve stakeholders to develop shared guidelines and approaches for the use of digital communications to negotiate, argue respectfully, and deal with and respect difference
- Develop accessibility and inclusion policies, practices, support and guidelines to ensure that all stakeholders have equitable experiences of work and learning
- Make sure accessibility, inclusion and wellbeing challenges and problems are addressed as a high priority
- Provide staff with digital tools, apps or services to manage their wellbeing (eg time management, workload prioritisation, screen time) and encourage their use
- Investigate the ethical use of digital nudges (automated notifications) to monitor wellbeing of staff and/or students
- Offer remote/hybrid working for appropriate roles to improve recruitment and retention of skilled staff
- Encourage engagement, reconfigure tasks and events to fit a digital format, and address mental health and equity issues
- Upgrade or reconfigure workspaces to support a flexible, hybrid work culture (eg upgraded classrooms, conference rooms, shared workspaces)
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
Reports
- Digital wellbeing for you, your colleagues and students': briefing paper for practitioners (pdf)
- Good practice principles to support the digital wellbeing of your students and staff: briefing paper for senior leaders (pdf)
- Student and staff wellbeing in higher education
Guides
Organisational change
Anticipating, managing and responding to the impact of digital transformation activities. Supporting stakeholders to adapt practices, expectations and attitudes through planned initiatives and activities.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Baselining | Corporate strategy | Digital innovation | Digital leadership | Digital strategy | Foresight | Governance | Investment | Operational change
Examples of potential activities
- Ensure senior leaders are clear about their roles as digital leaders and confident to model good digital practice and innovative approaches to others
- Carry out a review of roles and remits of existing senior management groups/committees in light of development plans, to clarify group responsibilities and identify any gaps in coverage
- Provide time and space for staff to benefit from digital transformations and ensure recognition and sharing of good practice
How Jisc can support your organisation
Reports
Anticipating, managing and responding to the impact of digital transformation activities. Supporting stakeholders to adapt practices, expectations and attitudes through planned initiatives and activities.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Baselining | Corporate strategy | Digital innovation | Digital leadership | Digital strategy | Foresight | Governance | Investment | Operational change
Examples of potential activities
- Ensure senior leaders are clear about their roles as digital leaders and confident to model good digital practice and innovative approaches to others
- Carry out a review of roles and remits of existing senior management groups/committees in light of development plans, to clarify group responsibilities and identify any gaps in coverage
- Provide time and space for staff to benefit from digital transformations and ensure recognition and sharing of good practice
How Jisc can support your organisation
Reports
Taking this area forward in your own organisation
Try our short taster survey focused on organisational digital culture, which aims to encourage engagement with this element of the framework and maturity model. For each of the four sections of this element, we offer a checklist of activities as examples of good practice and highlight the middle stage of digital maturity for one aspect. Save and share your answers with colleagues or get a group of staff to complete it and discuss your findings in a workshop or meeting.
Assess your digital maturity for organisational digital culture
Download the maturity model for organisational digital culture (pdf)
Download the maturity model for organisational digital culture (docx)
Develop a roadmap and action plans
Download the maturity model action plan for organisational digital culture (docx)
Contact your relationship manager
All Jisc member organisations have a dedicated relationship manager. Yours can help you access our full range of products, services and support.
Inspiration – member stories and case studies
- Bath Spa University: organisation-wide digital maturity assessment (pdf) - reviewing digital strategy, identifying gaps and highlighting the importance of digital fluency
- City St Georges: Jisc digital transformation toolkit supports a focus on organisational digital culture (pdf)
- Sheffield Hallam University: boosting ongoing digital initiatives (pdf) – developing a shared language to help engagement
- University of Westminster: using the maturity model to prioritise investment opportunities (pdf) – focus on organisational digital culture
- University of Worcester: supporting a strategic refresh (pdf)
- Bangor University: A data-driven and collaborative digital transformation journey
- CPD isn’t just good business sense, it’s crucial to staff wellbeing
- Digital by design: how Belfast Met are driving digital transformation
- Greenwich’s five steps to digital strategy success
- Sparking a passion for digital skills: a tried and tested approach to developing staff confidence
- What makes a ‘digital leader’?
Next section: Knowledge creation and innovation
View the knowledge creation and innovation element of the framework focusing on how digital affects horizon scanning, research and innovation.
This toolkit is made available under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA).