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Key Strategies To Build An Agile Workplace For Business Continuity

Forbes Human Resources Council

Chief People Officer for Fuze, championing a culture of innovation and designing strategies to attract, develop, engage and retain talent.

The need for business leaders to prioritize agility in business operations is undeniable; that point was brought into stark relief by how many businesses responded to the global pandemic. Virtually overnight, entire companies transitioned into remote workplaces. In fact, Gartner predicts that more than 70% of companies will plan to permanently shift to more remote work post-pandemic. 

In order to maintain business continuity in the face of such turbulence and disruption, leaders need to not only reformulate their business models, but also learn how to identify and handle the impact of continuous change on their employees. This integrated approach will drive alignment across the entire enterprise and allow for the adoption of an agile approach to running the business.

The foundation of an agile organization begins with establishing a clear business strategy and relevant goals that are rooted in the company’s mission. Subsequently, the organization’s leaders can structure their operations to respond to market demands and identify the requisite talent — those people who have the “technical ability” to execute the strategy and the capability to thrive in a dynamic environment. If a company is strongly aligned across its strategy, organizational structure, people and results, it can maintain consistency of purpose and achieve higher levels of productivity when faced with a challenge. 

Establish an overarching strategy.

Defining the strategic imperatives that your organization needs to achieve is core to any company’s success. They act as the “true north” that provides clear guidance to the rest of the organization as to what really matters. They serve to define the priorities and inform decision-making at every level of the organization. For example, enhancing customer experience goals may require the development of technology platforms that cross multiple functions and business processes. Having a clear strategy and set of imperatives enables cross-functional collaboration and the achievement of critical customer success metrics.

Once strategic imperatives are established, the organization can coordinate talent into “SWAT teams” and deploy the best talent from throughout the organization to develop and execute against them. This builds a road map for organizational success while creating talent mobility in the workforce.

Identify the organizational structure.

Aligning on a structure is the foundation of an agile workplace because it acts as the “bones” of the organization during times of change. Whether your structure is functionally driven or matrixed, the ideal formation for an agile organization is one without boundaries. Embrace a “learning organization” mentality in which you facilitate the fluid learning of your employees and continuously transform your organization. Create collaborative pools that enable teams to grow together while creating subject matter experts to identify key platforms or operational standards. To accomplish this, companies should look to eliminate bottlenecks and unnecessary layers of complexity, empowering employees at all levels to help make decisions and drive business impact.

Supporting a strong culture that values cross-collaboration and “teaming” enables traditionally disparate groups to quickly assemble to take on a project and come together around a common purpose. Teaming can be accomplished by identifying vital collaborators across teams so that these individuals can work together in the most productive way. However, company leaders must therefore establish a culture in which teaming is natural and expected, and complement that with a reward system that recognizes and compensates team performance. 

Effectively deploy talent.

According to McKinsey & Company, “organizations with effective talent-management programs have a better chance than other companies of outperforming competitors.” Business and HR leaders need to develop a deep understanding of the kind of work that must be accomplished and then recognize and/or develop the internal talent to achieve it.

This means the company’s talent management processes must be geared toward identifying, developing, retaining and mobilizing talent that can meet the demands of the strategic imperatives, while considering both today’s goals and tomorrow’s challenges. This also demands the integration of multiple talent processes, performance management, talent reviews, engagement and learning and development to produce a superordinate process that addresses talent requirements throughout the employee life cycle.

As an example, observe current employees’ talents: how they work with others, influence the organization, use technical capabilities toward creating solutions and deliver results. Then, take the necessary steps to retain and develop that key talent, such as aligning them to lead a key project, pairing them with a mentor, ensuring regular one-to-ones and providing executive visibility during key project updates. If this fails to produce the right talent mix, you should effectively recruit for the skills that you are lacking.

Deliver results.

With these initiatives in place, it’s vital for organizations to ensure their teams are delivering results that align with the set goals. This begins with making sure that members within the organization are aware of how progress is measured and hold each other accountable. Encourage regular team check-ins, strong communication among managers and reports, methods to eliminate any potential barriers, quick iterations when required, and frequent companywide updates. If goals are met, celebrate your successes! Also, remember that goals must remain agile too, so don’t be afraid to reevaluate and adjust accordingly.

As within any organization, there are bound to be some missteps along the way. Help your teams learn from failures, reflect upon the reasons things may not have gone as planned and work to address them as you move forward. Utilize organizationwide storytelling to share success and learnings, as this will enable everyone to learn from others’ experiences.

While success is never guaranteed, especially during these turbulent times, one thing is certain: Whether you are a startup working to incorporate structure into business processes or a larger, more established organization that has an existing legacy structure, all organizations must create alignment around these key areas to become agile workplaces and maintain business continuity. In today’s rapidly changing environment, an agile business with an integrated and adaptive talent management process and a learning orientation is best equipped to not only stay afloat, but also rise above its competitors. 


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