The People function has had to cope with an evolving level of burden and influence throughout 2020 to bring organisations through the global challenges.
HR agility has been a topic of conversation and rolled out within organisations for a number of years but never has it been tested within a true VUCA environment. Uncertainty has undoubtedly tested the resilience of not just employees but the processes in which we operate.
The virtual roundtable, in partnership with Sage, was an opportunity for HR leaders from a variety of organisations to discuss how their role has evolved and the impact technology is having and will have on driving HR agility now and into the future.
The conversation started with the agreement that HR has shown its strength and more importantly, its value, throughout this over-precedented year by pushing through initiatives and saving money but at the heart of everything, agility and resilience speak volumes. All individuals and organisations have faced challenges but as the end looks to be in sight and the evolution of the workforce seems to be set in stone, what role does culture now play?
- Agility & Resilience speak volumes
Before looking at the future role of agility, the group looked at how agility and resilience had been used throughout the year in differing circumstances and how effective planning for resilience has been.
Differing views seemed to stem from how digitally native an organisation was. Everyone agreed that no-one was ‘ready’ for the forced change that occurred this year but those organisations that were born digital were more ‘ready to be agile’ and therefore found the adaptability and agility to the change easier.
Discussion followed around what the future role of the office would be and what the definition of flexibility meant within each organisation, which came back round to how we, as HR leaders, create a cohesive offer that is engaging for every single employee. Agility within the employee experience has been key and elevating the employee experience is what HR is ultimately here to do. Bringing the ‘future of work’ in line with our current ways of working will see organisations reap the long-term benefits.
- Reactive agility & Proactive agility has its place
There was an understanding amongst the group that employees appreciated the honesty from leadership around “we are trying to figure this out” and the ongoing and open communications during these times of change. However, this opened up the discussion around the role of reactive agility and proactive agility. There are obvious benefits to having the ability to react in an agile way when circumstances arise where your product offering or ways of operating need to be pivoted but are there downsides to being too reliant on this way of thinking? The group discussed that we shouldn’t be using agile to be solely reactive, we should focus on the development of its alignment with being proactive, therefore benefitting our strategic planning. The sudden change that has occurred has meant that people have been ready to adapt and pivot with minimal lead time but this mindset could create a ‘hyper agile’ way of thinking. We need to ensure, as leaders, a balance is put in motion to ensure we don’t become reliant on agility as a way of operating day-to-day in a reactive way.
- Finding the balance between technology availability and leaders mindsets
The role of leadership has been challenged during these times and the skillset for the leader is ever-evolving, especially within remote environments. Technology has had a massive influence on the way that organisations have been able to adapt to the challenges that 2020 has brought about. Without technology such as MS Teams, Zoom, Mural and Sage, leaders and teams would have not been able to continue collaborating and developing in the way that they have. Aspirations for technology have evolved and the expectations of an employee are beyond simply giving people the ability to give their best aptitude to work. Technology should always be the enabler for how people can work and manage/enable services that are a bit more personal.
An abundance of HR technology is at disposal for organisations and has been for many years but leaders may not have had the mindset to utilise such technology stacks that are built for remote environments until such a time is forced upon them.
Cultures have been challenged across the board but it is HR’s role, and the role of leadership, to create resilience within your culture. Resilience can be stemmed from the agility that you embed into your organisation and the resilience employees showcased in 2020 can be the perfect foundations to build upon in the evolving world of work for 2021 and beyond. Driving engagement in hybrid workforces, creating offices which are focused on collaboration, ideation & social interaction and ensuring your leaders develop their authenticity & soft skills will undoubtedly feature high on the trends of 2021…so what HR technology can complement these challenges in your organisation?
If you’re interesting in learning more about the evolving role of business resilience and HR agility and how HR leaders can empower change, Sage have an eBook which is available here.
