Using Agile in HR
Today’s business organizations are required to be agile. It’s the ability to respond rapidly to changes in the marketplace without losing their original vision or momentum is what can mean either success or failure. In a recent article that appeared on the HBL.org website, Jeff Gothelf asserts that the same holds true for the HR departments within the organization as well. That becomes even more the case in the field of software development.
By performing a simple search on Amazon for agile software development, for example, there are 2,300 results while a Google search on the same subject will return results of 1.4 million. Knowing the lingo and mastering the ways to implement agility within departments and teams in an organization is one thing, making sure that these same ideals around agility get implemented in HR as well is another.
Because agility in today’s workforce is crucial, the ability to constantly evaluate, correct course if things are not working and further those things that are happens on very short timelines, HR departments often cannot keep up if the review process, hiring, professional development and training is done on an annual, or quarterly basis. Agility grows out of collaboration, a fast, customer-centric response, and a team-based culture that is constantly striving to improve. Some organizations have not grown away from the old models of individual heroism and just simply delivering products and milestones on time – whether or not they have been proved to be successful or not. This can lead to interdepartmental conflicts and leave any notion of being agile simply an unmet goal.
In an attempt to go beyond the buzz words and put agility into practice across its organization, ING required all 3,500 employees at its company headquarters to re-interview for their jobs. An estimated 40% of these workers either were put into different positions or parted ways with the company. The HR department within ING played a major role in determining which employees would be better suited to different roles within the company and which needed to ultimately leave ING.
Gothelf recommends for companies and HR departments wanting to become truly more agile take a look at other companies that have made themselves nimble to today’s workforce. These companies which include Zappos, Spotify and Netflix have become both tech-centric and able to attract top talent to their organizations. By paying companies that have made agility work, HR professionals can see firsthand how these environments work and how workers interact within them and to their clients. By taking a look at how they write their job descriptions, personnel requisitions and how the culture knits them all together.
HR departments that buy in to the ideals of agility can continue to be responsive to the needs of their organization and be instrumental in helping their organization meet the demands of today’s workforce. At EinsteinHR, we know how important staying both agile and relevant within today’s marketplace is. Having an HR solution that ensures you have the right people to help you meet your organization’s needs and goals is essential for to survival.
Contact us today for a free quote on how Einstein HR can help you best utilize the human capital you already have as well as assisting you in finding the right candidate for the right job. Call us today at 888-981-3622 (emc2) to find out how.
