Going Agile in HR: Sustaining an Agile DNA
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Agile is a powerful working framework which can really push your organisation forward.
But in order to keep it going, it’s more than just following a framework or a set of prescribed processes and practices. It is also a way of thinking that everyone in the organisation - from leaders to every worker - have to internalise. That way of thinking, or the Agile DNA and culture, are all about [1]:
Trust and transparency
Adaptable to change
Collaborative and distributed authority
“Two companies can do exactly the same Agile practices, but the one that gets the mindset and the values will be more successful”
Our ‘Get Digital with Agile HR’ joint webinar with Organize Agile, an agile HR firm, presented the following five key aspects to cultivate and sustain an agile DNA.
Embrace an agile mindset and embed agile thinking across HR disciplines
Susan Mcintosh, an agile coach and scrum master, defines an agile mindset as "The set of attitudes supporting an agile working environment. These include respect, collaboration, improvement and learning cycles, pride in ownership, focus on delivering value, and the ability to adapt to change"[2]. Everyone on the team should have a clear and shared idea of agile mindset and thinking.
Harness HR tech to keep your people processes agile
Agile is all about helping people to be more effective, and eliminating 'extra steps' that slow things down. For this, HR tech is critical to take over repetitive functions, enable the collection and analysis of data to scale and sharpen HR functions, and it also makes it much easier and more precise to manage data. HR tech also enables working in the cloud, allowing people to work from anywhere.
Understand the power of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed technologies significantly over the years. Self-learning systems, for instance, can perform human-like tasks with incredible accuracy [3]. It can also analyse a tremendous amount of data in seconds and adapt through this learning process. Such AI-powered tools can help us make better decisions and manage people data. An example of HR tech using AI is X0PA AI, a talent acquisition software. X0PA uses AI to source, score and rank talent to identify the best-fitting candidate for each organisation’s need.
Develop an agile and realistic HR digital transformation roadmap.
To put all the tech pieces in place, develop a strategic digital transformation roadmap.
Going digital - by using digital technologies, digitising paper files to creating new businesses by utilising or developing new technology - is an important component of the Agile DNA.
Netflix, for example, started out selling and renting DVDs by mail. Then technology made video streaming possible. Netflix utilised this by introducing a subscription-based video streaming service at affordable prices. Today, Netflix is worth $221 billion [4] and expanding its brand by producing original films and shows.
Discuss with your team which technologies can transform your business for the better. Then start developing a realistic HR digital transformation plan.
Implement your plan incrementally
Implementing your plan incrementally means doing it step by step, embracing modern agile principles in execution and daily use. This also enables your business to respond to change. Learn from each action you take and reflect on its business value. Change if necessary. Use the modern agile principles as a guide for your agile HR transformation [5]:
Make People awesome
Make safety a prerequisite
Experiment & learn rapidly
Deliver value continuously
Read more about these principles here
You can also watch a video which dives into how product teams can be structured, to sustain an Agile DNA.
Excerpt: Sustaining an Agile DNA
Agile HR Playbook
We have created a free to use Agile HR playbook to get you started with Agile and to aid you in your Agile journey.
This article is a part of our ‘Going Agile in HR’ series. See below for other articles in this series.
