Post on 03-Aug-2020
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
Kevin Empey
Managing Director, WorkMatters
Kevin.empey@workmatters.ie
A WorkMatters Summary Guide to Organizational Agility
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
WorkMatters Summary Guide to Organizational Agility – Outline Contents
Section Page Number
1. Introduction to WorkMatters 3
2. Executive Summary 4
3. Forces impacting on organizations and work today 5
4. The Agility Proposition & Challenge
• Strategic Agility
• Organizational Agility
• Team Agility
• Leadership Agility
• Individual Agility
• Agile HR
11
2
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
“People & Leadership Solutions for the Changing World of Work”
Future of Work
consulting and
training
Organizational
Agility
Consulting
Culture ChangeLeadership
Consulting &
Coaching
People Strategy
& Solutions
3
www.workmatters.ie
Introduction to WorkMatters
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
Executive Summary
• Performance at pace. Business models, customer expectations, technology and the world of work
are changing at an ever increasing pace. Organizational Agility is commonly quoted as critical to
successfully adapting to this rapidly changing business and work environment – and to future-
proofing the organization for future challenges and opportunities.
• If business leaders can improve an organization’s agility and build it into the organizational culture,
structure and processes, they will have gone a long way in preparing that organization for the
business challenges and opportunities of the future.
• Agile principles and practices have developed in areas like software design and product
development in recent years. However, as a deliberate organization wide strategy and competency,
agility is often inconsistently defined and unevenly executed.
• As specialists in organizational, leadership and individual agility, we work with clients to address the
people and leadership challenges of being ‘an agile organization’. We help clients advance the
debate regarding organizational agility from an aspired value and concept to being an operational,
cultural and consistently applied reality.
• The following slide presentation provides a graphical summary of our perspective on the business
case for and key elements of Organizational Agility
For further information on Organizational, Leadership, Individual or HR Agility,
contact us at info@workmatters.ie
“the concept of the
agile organization
is the most
predominant
solution to the
problem of dealing
with unpredictable,
dynamic and
constantly
changing
environments”
(A. Muduli)
4
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
A number of Forces transforming the world of work
Globalization and
customer expectations
Resources
Society and workforce
Technology &
ConnectivityChanging
Demographics
Pace of Change
Talent Scarcity
and changing
skills 5
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
Issue: pace of business model change is too fast for traditional approaches…
▪ New, technology enabled
business models
▪ Rapid customer solutions
and product Innovation
▪ Partnerships & alliances
▪ Leadership &
engagement
approach
▪ Culture and ways of
working
▪ New people
practices, careers &
work arrangements
▪ Adaptable work processes &
technology
▪ Workforce strategy
▪ Alternative models for getting
work done
Strategy
&
Structure
Processes &
TechnologyPeople
organization
of the Future
Future of
People @
work
Business
of the
Future
FROM TO
6
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
There is now a more dynamic approach to strategy, organizational design
and mobilization of talent…..
1. Continuous re-configuration
2. Healthy disengagement
3. Optimizing resource allocation to promote deftness
4. Building innovation proficiency
5. Leadership & mind-set
The End of Competitive Advantage (Rita McGrath)
7
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Underlying Fact: Moving into more complex and fast moving times…..
8
Zimmerman & Stacey
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
A clear shift in how organizations are being perceived and organized
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This context presents a number of organizational and business challenges…
Business strategy and delivery model options
including partnerships, alliances, outsourcing, rapid mobilisation etc.
Changing workforces and expectations
(demographics, diversity, older workers, generational differences)
Increasing pace of change requiring multiple
responses to how to manage change
Increasing recognition of
culture as a competitive
advantage and imperative in an open and social media savvy world
Increasing influence of digital strategy requiring new capabilities and mindsets
The HR Challenge including declining engagement,
people strategy, HR delivery
model and capabilities
Organization and Work
Design to maximise
operational effectiveness as
well as resourcing flexibility at
the optimum cost
New Leadership
capabilities and
styles required ?
10
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
What is the implication of this increased complexity for organizations,
leaders and individuals ?
Our Proposition…..
The concept and associated principles of Agility provide a useful basis for
developing practical strategies in preparing organizations, leaders and individuals for the future of work….
11
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
“The concept of the
agile organization is the
most predominant and
popular of the
proposals regarding the
problem of dealing with
unpredictable, dynamic
and constantly
changing
environments”
(A. Muduli)
“Agility, along with
resilience, at
organization, team
and individual level is
a key adaptive quality
required to deal with
increasing and
turbulent change”
(McCann and Selsky)
“Business leaders and
individuals will need to
adopt agile practices
and mindsets in order
to thrive in this new
landscape”
(Linda Holbeche)
What does the research say about the role of agility and the future of
work ? - An observable quality at the organization, leadership, team and
individual level….
12
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
Business leaders seem to agree on the importance of agility for future
business success and survival …
• Organizational Agility is a top priority or within top-
three priorities for three-quarter of the respondents
• 81% of respondents in agile units reported a significant
or moderate increase in performance since their
transformation began
• Agile units are 1.5 times more likely to outperform their
peers in financial performance
2017 McKinsey Global Survey, Organizational Agilityhttps://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-
insights/how-to-create-an-agile-organization
• 94% of the surveyed companies believe agility and
collaboration are critical to organization’s success
Deloitte 2017 The organization of the future reporthttps://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/focus/human-capital-
trends/2017/organization-of-the-future.html
• 90% of CEOs and CIOs surveyed said agility was
critical for their business success
Economist Intelligent UnitGlenn, M. Organizational agility: How business can survive and thrive in turbulent
times. Economist Intelligent Unit (2009).
• Agile firms grow revenue 37 percent faster and
generate 30 percent higher profits than non-agile
companies
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyWeill, P. MIT CIO Summit. MIT Sloan School of Management’s Center for
Information Systems Research (2006).
• 89% of CEOs believe agility is critical to their company’s
future success
• 96% said they will need to be more agile in the future to
be successful
IESE / Oliver WymanReport on organizational Agility, 2018
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2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
“Organizational Agility is the strategic and
operational ability to sense environmental
change and to quickly respond by flexibly
assembling resources, processes, knowledge
and capabilities” (Yang and Liu)
“flexibility with purpose”
Better clarity and agreement required for Agility to be successful- Many definitions of Organizational Agility highlighting the importance of having a
clear vision for what Agility means for you and your organization….
14
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What is clear from both practice and research is the need to look at Agility
holistically from a number of perspectives……
1. Strategic Agility
6. HR Agility
5. Personal/ Individual Agility
2. Organizational Agility
3. Agile Teams
4. Leadership Agility
15
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1. Strategic Agility- Maintaining and exploiting current business, while exploring and sensing new
growth and value in a rapidly changing environment
McKinsey’s Three Horizons of Growth
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2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
2. Components of Organizational Agility – all levels needed for success
Organizational Agility
Team Agility
Leadership & Personal Agility
Organizational Agility• Strategy & Culture
• Structure & Processes
• Technology
• Workforces & HR Practices
• Learning & Customer Mindset
Team Agility• Shared Goals & Alignment
• Agile Processes, Problem Solving &
Decision Making
• Supportive Relationships
• Accountability
Leadership/ Personal Agility• Leadership Agility
• Personal/ Individual Agility Factors
17
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
2. Testing for Organizational Agility
– The WorkMatters SCOPE ‘Heath Check’ tool
Health Check
Category
Description
Strategy ▪ Agility contextualized and evaluated for own sector and business model
▪ Strategy explicitly calls out organization appropriate agile principles & approach
Culture ▪ Culture of setting up, executing and learning from experimentation
▪ Agile values with safe environment for innovation, learning and disruption
▪ Agile leadership practices and behaviours
Organization ▪ Structures, systems and technology enabling agility
▪ Operational and decision making processes have capacity to implement changes (both
incremental and discontinuous) and to convert these changes and resources to
performance
▪ Agile team structures and processes
People ▪ Agile talent strategy and practices
▪ Agile HR capability and business support model
External Focus ▪ External partnerships, linkages and relationships
▪ Capacity for scanning environment to identify opportunities and risks
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2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
3. Agile Team Working: The way work gets done is also changing
- Emphasizes collaboration, focus on outcomes, team self management, customer
interaction, experimentation, continuous improvement and the flexibility to adapt
to emerging realities
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2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
A common theme – “Business leaders and individuals will need to adopt agile
practices and mindsets in order to thrive in this new landscape” Linda Holbeche, 2015
Implications for Leaders:
▪ Open, change-able, agile
▪ Continuous learning
▪ Delegated / distributed authority
▪ Leadership style for an
increasing complex, non-linear,
transparent and fast moving
environment
▪ Digital leadership
▪ Leadership of culture and
diversity agendas
▪ Resilience and focus
Implications for Individuals:
▪ Continuous skills upgrade and
development
▪ Greater accountability for work and
own career management
▪ “Never been a better time, never
been a more concerning time for
employees” (Andrew McAfee)
▪ Open, change-able and agile
▪ Technological and digital literacy
▪ Resilience
Leadership and individual implications of an agile work environment…
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2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
4. Agile Leadership progression – from ‘expert’ to ‘agile’ leader
Agile
Leadership
Level
Key features
Expert ▪ Subject matter / domain expertise, positional authority
▪ Success through incremental improvements to existing strategy
▪ Largely tactical, supervisory
Achiever ▪ Motivated to achieve outcomes of value to the organization
▪ Motivating others recognized as important, strategic
▪ Successful where episodic shifts in strategy and change exist
▪ Strategic, managerial
Catalyst ▪ Facilitative, visionary, sees beyond current strategy and sets out to
create a participative culture. Longer term, open, change oriented,
able to think beyond basic assumptions
▪ Successful in a high change, volatile environment
Leadership agility is
probably the most
important
competency for
leaders to have in
today’s rapidly
changing world”
- Marshall Goldsmith, author
of What Got You Here Won’t
Get You There
Joiner & Joseph
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2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
5. Personal Agility
- What are the qualities most associated with personal agility ?
Purposefulness
Learning mindset
Change orientation
Autonomous/ empowered
Relationship management
Collaborative
Empey, 2017
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2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
Empey, 2017
Collaborative▪ Team oriented▪ Collaborative▪ Committed to
knowledge sharing
Relationship Management▪ Builds trust▪ External and internal network▪ Demonstrates impact and
influence▪ Comfortable with handling conflict
Autonomy & Empowerment▪ Psychologically
empowered ▪ Enabled /Supported
Purposefulness▪ Purposeful, self-knowing▪ Self-starting, action oriented▪ Committed, positive▪ Personal / organizational Alignment
Learning Mindset▪ Systems thinking, integrative▪ Openness▪ Personal Mastery / commitment
to learning ▪ Creative and resourceful▪ Quick acquisition of new skills
Change Oriented▪ Adaptiveness, responsive and
proactive towards change▪ Resilient
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5. Personal Agility
- What are the qualities most associated with personal agility ?
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
Work Architect & Strategist
Culture and Employee Experience Shaper
Talent Planner and HR Builder
Facilitator, Leader & Coach
24
6. HR’s Role in shaping this new ‘future of work’ ?
- Future of work environment both an opportunity and a challenge for HR
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.25
6. Emerging HR- Next practices being underpinned by agile practices and principles
Traditional (from) The AgileHR Way (to)
Hierarchical structures and centralized Collaborative networks and distributed responsibility
Secrecy Transparency
Prescriptiveness and control Adaptability (e.g. menu approach v fixed) and facilitative
Jobs and roles Work and skills (machine, human, external / internal)
Policies, rules and standards Supporting flexibility, speed and collaboration, trust
Deliver programs and processes to customers Co-create with customers in design and delivery
Specialist HR roles T-shaped people professionals, value stream based HR
One size fits all No size fits all
Project management, implementation Continuous change management capability
Technical precision Experimentation and iteration
Adapted from Agile People, Thoren
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
For example: Learning and Growth – emerging practices and principles in an AgileHR environment, signalling shift
towards continuous learning and optimisation of technology
LESS OF / TRADITIONAL MORE OF / FUTURE
Structured and planned training and development
programmes
Continuous, on-demand, on the go, lifelong learning approach, digital skills
registry
Company led More employee influence, self led, enabled
Few days per year A few hours per week/month
Static and individual learning (consumers) Online and peer / community learning (serial learners)
Class, instruction and materials led Online, micro-learning, VR, MOOCs/SPOCs, mentor / group follow up
Functions outsourcing learning to HR / externals
following training needs analysis
Co-created design and content, partnership, HR facilitated but not led,
optimum internal / external / technology mix
Learning professionals focused on content,
delivery and procurement
New learning roles, network managers, marketing and communications
techniques etc. Consumer mindset
Transactional / functional experience Transformational, technology enabled, self-led and community learning
experience. Consumer grade experience for retention as well as growth
and productivity
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2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
Aligning and adapting HR programmes and structures to the new work
models will be required
Design Thinking
principles
needed to
challenge,
transform and
‘future proof’
traditional HR
processes and
approaches
Planning
Sourcing
Selecting
DeployingDeveloping
Rewarding
Separating A new
‘consumer
grade’
experience
AgileHR
principles and
mindset
27
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
View from the top: e.g. Guardian Life Insurance
https://www.mckinsey.com/Videos/video?vid=5754385367001&plyrid=HkOJqC
PWdb&aid=87D79F7B-DFEA-4C5A-A5D2-BFD4610C4BEB
Deanna M. Mulligan,
CEO of Guardian Life
28
2018 WorkMatters Consulting Ireland. All rights reserved.
Kevin Empey
Managing Director, WorkMatters
Kevin.empey@workmatters.ie
Thank You