Whether it’s a new government regulation or a social media meltdown of a customer issue or an employee issue, businesses today need to be agile enough to deal with emerging issues almost real-time. The time that business leaders have to make a decision is far lesser than it used to be.
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Addressing a webinar on this topic, Shaakun Khanna, Head of Human Capital Management Applications, APAC, Oracle Corporation and Swati Anuj Rustagi, Director & Chief People Officer, Max Healthcare spoke about the current challenges that businesses face in this changing scenario, as part of #LetsTalkTalentWeek
“The more agile you want to be, the more structured you want to be,” says Swati. “Which means you need a clearly articulated vision, which is non-negotiable. Something that is completely understood by everybody in the workforce. Everyone has to understand the boundaries and values in exactly the same terms, so they can make decisions that the organization can be confident about.”
“If you aren’t up to the challenge of being agile – you’re missing out on time to take a decision,” says Swati.
So what are the enablers of agility? Shaakun highlights four enablers of agility:
- ‘A disruptive yet compliant’ mindset – As the custodian of governance, HR needs to focus on both maintaining standards, and adherence to policies, while also breaking old paradigms. The aim is to move from governance as a mission critical goal, to ‘value driven governance. And from ‘preparing to be ready’ to ‘always ready’.
- An empowering culture – Trust is a valuable commodity. There needs to be systems in place that is vigilant of values in the workplace. In the context of being agile, there is a need to recognize that there are systems of support in place to help employees navigate work.
- Fast moving processes – There is a need to audit your processes to ensure that they are actually providing freedom. What is the compliance risk mechanism like in the company? And when employees are empowered to make choices based on the values of the company, are the processes aligned to support them?
- Aligned technology – Technology is evolving at its own pace. But there are two principle premises that companies need to move away from – falling into a trap of expecting new systems to perform like the older ones, and staying focused only on the ‘look and feel’ of the software.
Agility is not just an organizational value. It is also personal. Swati highlighted how employees can reflect on behaviours that can act as enablers of agility. This means having an open mind, having an orientation to find solutions, and being comfortable with change.