Organizational Agility – A Quick Primer
Let’s start with my own working definition of organizational agility from having focused on enablers and impediments of this critical business outcome during much of my 4-decade career in HR / HCM:
It is … “the ability to be out in front of both business risks and business opportunities by knowing when and how to strategically, operationally and/or technologically pivot, and then executing that pivot well.”
Moreover, given the unprecedented level of unpredictability and fluidity in operating environments today – both internal and external operating environments, elevating organizational agility is perhaps the most reliable path to business success from a financial perspective, if not also to ascending the ranks within an industry sector.
A few often-cited research findings to support this:
- Truly agile firms are more than twice as likely as the average organization to achieve top-quartile financial performance (55 percent versus 25 percent). Source: Accenture.
- Agile firms grow revenue 37 percent faster and generate 30 percent higher profits than non-agile companies. Source: HRCI and Forbes
Also, beyond these two previously cited findings, here is another, one that relates to how organizations and their executives assess their agility prowess, or lack thereof:
- 92% of C-level executives believe organizational agility is critical to their business success, but only 27% considered themselves highly agile. Source: Forbes Insights and PMI
And it’s really not about ‘reactive pivoting.’ It’s about anticipating trends as well as the necessary changes to business plans, priorities, methods, tools, processes, mindsets, etc. And then putting the appropriate initiatives in motion. Perhaps most importantly for longer term success though, is integrating adaptability into the very fabric of the organization.
A simple method I use to remember what organizational agility is about is the “3 A’s”. An enterprise that excels in organizational agility is usually effective at anticipating (what might be changing), adapting (to the change or changes anticipated), and assessing (whether the pivot pursued needs re-examination or modification). Finally, agility in the context of an HR function applies not just to strategic decisions and actions, or to optimizing sourcing channels or upskilling investments, but also to operational areas such as ensuing regulatory compliance in all things workforce related. Such requirements are anything but static and predictable, and the same can be said about how employees, managers, customers and business partners might be affected or the degree to which they will personally support and comply with what needs to happen. This is why ‘signals and cues’ … about what might be changing in operating requirements, and how anyone affected or involved will respond, is core to what can be viewed as ‘HR agility.’
Many HR departments today are indeed looking for the best way to achieve HR agility.
About the Author:
Steve Goldberg has operated in senior roles on all sides of HR, Payroll, Talent Management and HR Tech for over three decades and on three continents. Currently serving as an independent industry analyst and advisor, Steve has been recognized as a Top 100 HR Tech Influencer multiple times, partly due to his focus on elevating organizational agility and other strategic HCM outcomes in his talks and articles published throughout the year. He holds an MBA in HR and currently serves as a strategic advisor to Poster Elite.