Top lawyer offers insight into digital transformation

WITH almost 15 years with the White family, currently general counsel of the White Family Office, Alexandra Coleman has been at the crux of many digital transformations in her career but one thing remains the same.

No matter how many digital efficiencies technological advances enable, we still work in a people business.

Ms Coleman recently spoke on “Keeping Up. Digital transformation in the franchise sector” at the Franchise Council of Australia’s National Franchise Conference on the Gold Coast.

The White Family Office’s top lawyer brings with her both a commercial and common sense approach and happily maintains that she has “never been mistaken for a lawyer”.

“I have always been focused on the people involved and business outcomes required, with firm standards of what is unacceptable meaning decisions can be made quickly and in relevant contexts,” Ms Coleman said.

“People often ask if there is anything that cannot be digitally transformed? I think that’s people,” she said.

“Relationships are important and digital interactions will never replace them. So if any area in your business is people-driven you must be careful that you are not inadvertently destroying relationships due to transformation.

“Almost every industry is a people business, sometimes we forget that.

“It’s interesting how sometimes people get fixated on the process and they forget that change management is hard and it’s people who have to make the changes. So when change is constant, it can be frustrating and cause fatigue, you need to allow people to breathe.”

The Inquiry into Franchising in Australia earlier this year handed down its report which identified some relatively isolated but opportunistic behaviour by certain franchisors. The existing regulatory framework and code of conduct were developed on the assumption that disclosure would be sufficient to allow franchisees to protect themselves from opportunistic behaviour and power imbalances. The committee is now proposing substantial changes to the Franchising Code of Conduct and to the responsibilities and powers of the ACCC.

“It’s a very busy time in franchising on the whole but our session focused on the impact digital transformation can make - for example - integration of our IT systems into One System," Ms Coleman said.

Built exclusively for Ray White members, One System offers real-time data on the performance of our businesses and people within them. Without this, the leading group would not be able to provide vital insights to it's business leaders.

The in-house developers have devised comprehensive data profiles through which it can capture a vast number of insights to feedback to it's business leaders to further enhance their ability to perform and grow.

Ms Coleman said the digital transformations the group offered were a “huge time saving for our franchisees, as well as beneficial cost wise”.