Karine Boullier is Engagement Communication Director at Sanofi. Supporting the idea that managers must drive the digital transformation of companies, she agreed to take part in Beeshake's 5 questions exercise. The theme of the day: how to generate a real employee commitment in the transformation?

Employee engagement in digital transformation: business, HR or communication?

First and foremost a business issue, obviously. Digital transformation is no longer a strategic issue, it's obvious, it's vital, and its return on investment is widely demonstrated. Afterwards, it's more fun to ask whether it's an HR or communication issue. It's both, obviously, because it's first and foremost a question of supporting change, of change management. So it's a lot of HR in terms of organisation, support and development of employees, building career paths. But it is also a lot of communication, because it is collaboration and agility, it is giving meaning.

Transforming leaders or leading the transformation?

Both, probably in order. To transform a company and make it digital, you need very strong, exemplary leadership that gives its vision and sets an example. So you need leadership and leaders who are digitalized. It's not that simple, because the community of leaders is not always the one we think of first in companies. However, going digital is first and foremost a personal journey. It's an experience that we're going to have. Digital is about personal practice, about discovering unfiltered information and direct collaboration. It is also the discovery of community life, of collaborative, cooperative and agile work. In short, it's something you have to experience yourself. So to lead the transformation of your companies, leaders: go digital!

Animating the community or letting it live?

Again, both. Actually, it depends on the community. Some communities, like wild mushrooms that grow out of the blue, at the foot of trees, in moss and in the north, as everybody knows, like chanterelles. So some communities will appear on their own in your environments. They will live extremely well. They are based on a need, around a community that generally pre-exists. On the other hand, other communities sometimes ignore each other. They need a little more help and will benefit from animation, a bit like mushrooms in mushroom beds. Both types of mushrooms are quite successful, effective, relevant. Both types of communities are quite beneficial, they just need different tailor-made support.

Employee engagement in digital transformation: virtual or real life?

It's phygital! It's physical and digital at the same time. It's a mixture of routines, occasions to meet up, moments when we are physically together, we are " away from the keyboard". And then there are moments when we are online, in virtual environments that are made for this purpose. We call it " online " and yet we are in real life. More and more moments mix the two, with a certain number of people meeting physically, and with other people at a distance, in real time or off-line. This is certainly the secret of strong and successful engagement, of the meaning given to community work and of the agility of teams.

Twitter or Instagram?

Both! Twitter for my professional, urban life, for my online friends, to reflect, think, debate, build ideas, support projects, every day and in large doses. Insta, just as important for the other part of my life, which takes place underwater, in the deep sea, with extraordinary fish and equally colourful corals. So every day, a very large dose of Twitter and Insta, it's the secret of my balance!

How to boost employee commitment in the transformation?