THE AGILITY MINDSET- · THE AILIT MINDSET fl TRANSFORMIN OUR ORANISATION AND OUR WORKFORCE FOR A...

01THE AGILITY MINDSET – TRANSFORMING YOUR ORGANISATION AND YOUR WORKFORCE FOR A DIGITAL WORLD

THE AGILITY MINDSET-

TRANSFORMING YOUR ORGANISATION AND YOUR

WORKFORCE FOR A DIGITAL WORLD

SEPTEMBER 2018


CONTENTS

Introduction

The importance of agility

We need to be smarter about talent

Implications for leadership

Own the automation debate

Digitalisation of assessment

Summary

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On the 13th September, we hosted a half day seminar - The Agility Mindset –

Transforming your Organisation & your Workforce for a Digital World - focused

on the pressing need for organisations to develop an agile mindset. The event

brought together more than 30 senior HR leaders to discuss how to be agile in the

face of considerable uncertainty, new technologies, changing customer demands

and globalisation.

The event operated under Chatham House rules, giving attendees opportunities

to reflect with an open mind on their industries and businesses, and to generate

honest discussions about how agile leadership and organisational agility are key to

overcoming the challenges surrounding business growth. We’ve outlined the key

themes from the event and what organisations need to be focusing on to build a

workforce for the future.

INTRODUCTION


The event was opened by Sir David Walker, Chairman of Sova Assessment, who

began by reflecting on the fact that the workplace has always been subject to

significant change. From the industrial revolution to the advent of the internet,

change is not a new concept for organisations.

Drawing on his experience as Air Marshall in the RAF, he highlighted that

technological innovation has been at the forefront of the organisation

throughout its lifetime. Back in 1903, no-one had yet achieved flight, yet by 1st

April 1918, the RAF was established, with 20,000 aircraft and 300,000 staff. Since

its inception, the organisation has evolved at a pace only made possible by the

constant agility rooted in the DNA of the RAF.

However, the pace and ubiquity of change as part of the Fourth Industrial

Revolution feels different. According to the World Economic Forum, 30% of jobs

will disappear by 2025, and the US Department of Labor predicts that 65% of

today’s school children will eventually be employed in jobs that have yet to be

invented (US Department of Labor).

The success of the RAF and the transformation of the workplace highlight the

importance of organisational agility. Businesses and their people must foster

a culture that is based on the ability to embrace and adapt to change while

retaining organisational stability. The criticality of agility has implications for

all aspects of an organisation, from existing staff to new hires, from business

proposition to people strategy. Whatever happens to an organisation cannot

happen without affecting its people and if our people and our processes are not

agile, businesses will not survive as the landscape shifts around them.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AGILITY

30% of jobs will disappear by 2025


This was one of the questions we put to three HR leaders in a lively panel

discussion, featuring American Express, Citigroup and LexisNexis. Our panellists

all recognised that if they wanted to do things differently, then they would need

to think about bringing in new skills, for example hiring coding expertise into their

organisations. Such a need for new skills doesn’t always marry with established

thought processes of organisations which have been in existence for over 150

years but it’s clear from our panellists’ experience and discussions that we need to

be far smarter about how we manage our talent.

Hiring new and cognitively diverse talent doesn’t only impact recruitment but

also the systems and processes put in place to help them thrive – that could be

where employees work, how performance is managed or making flexible working

arrangements.

In the scramble to find and retain good talent, it’s clear that our processes

must treat people well. It’s crucial that we digitise the talent acquisition process

– ensuring the process passes the 3E’s test – being engaging, efficient and

effective. Employees and managers must give real-time feedback, checking in

with applicants as they move through the hiring process. Once talent is in your

organisation, the way performance management is viewed needs to change –

shifting away from annual appraisals to more frequent conversations.

But it’s not just about hiring in new skills, we also have a responsibility to invest in

the development and upskilling of existing talent.

WE NEED TO BE SMARTER ABOUT TALENT

But what does building an agile workforce mean in practice?


Dr Kiran Chitta, chartered organisational psychologist, Sova strategic partner

and published author on the topic of organisational agility, argued that for

organisations to thrive in a digital world, a different approach to leadership is

required. Shifting away from a hierarchical ‘command and control’ approach to

being more collaborative and inclusive, where it is OK to question, and it is OK

to fail - as long as you learn!

Our panellists acknowledged that for many of their leaders the competencies

that underpinned their success so far were not necessarily those that would

take them forward. Being humble enough to recognise that you don’t always

have the answer is important, as well as creating the right environment for

people to thrive, experiment and learn. Leaders also need to find the balance

between having enough infrastructure and giving enough space to flex as

market conditions, customers and politics influence the organisational context.

Making this transition as a leader can be challenging. Exploring agility through

a psychological lens helps individuals and organisations manage paradoxes and

navigate digital transformation more effectively.

IMPLICATIONS FOR LEADERSHIP

...it is OK to

question, and

it is OK to fail -

as long as you learn!


Each of our panellists’ organisations had gone through (and are still

experiencing) significant changes driven by technology. Technology was

responsible for re-shaping their competitor landscape as new, agile entrants

fight for position against well-established organisations. One element of new

technologies reshaping business process is automation, of which much of

the public narrative is negative when talking about the likely implications for

the workforce. Automation is perceived to lead to job losses for much of our

working population, but it’s clear we should be looking at this more positively.

28 percent of new jobs created in the UK in 2017 were in technology fields,

with expertise in artificial intelligence and data science two of the primary

drivers. We need to ‘own’ automation and bring in skillsets that support it to

increase productivity; retraining employees whose roles may be displaced or

reshaped by new technologies. The automation of some job functions can

lead to the opportunity to focus on higher value tasks within business and

design more meaningful jobs for employees of the future. Organisations that

work with automation to improve not only process, but all aspects of their

businesses, will reap benefits as these technologies continue to improve.

OWN THE AUTOMATION DEBATE

AI


Organisations that are successful in transforming their workforces should

leave no part of the business behind and the talent assessment function is no

exception. We’ve already seen how digitalisation is impacting the assessment

industry, re-engineering the hiring funnel, by the removal of lengthy off-the-

shelf tests in favour of a single blended assessment and digital assessment

centres. These developments mark a departure from traditional approaches,

helping the assessment process to be faster, more efficient and more engaging.

Dr Alan Bourne, CEO, Sova, identified that assessment is a cornerstone of your

people strategy and can add huge amounts of value, whether by understanding

the capability of your existing talent or evaluating new hires. To be truly effective,

however, assessment needs to be future focused, digitally delivered and have

real impact. The event offered an opportunity for people to think about how their

assessment process currently operates and whether it delivers true value for the

organisation.

With regard to what is being assessed, Sova are seeing a marked shift towards

a new set of ‘must haves’ including adaptability, purpose, problem solving and

critical thinking. The speakers at our event were unanimous: organisations want

to assess for the ability to manoeuvre. Employees who are adaptable and resilient

will be crucial to our future workforce success, so assessing potential employees

against these criteria in an effective, efficient and engaging way is a key shift for

organisations globally.

DIGITALISATION OF ASSESSMENT


It’s clear from our event that traditional ways of looking at a workforce are

outdated. Organisations have access to talent in many ways but need to

be mindful of creating processes and structures that support new ways

of working as their workforce changes. In a world with much uncertainty,

organisations need to think and act differently to thrive and stay ahead of the

competition.

We must be smarter about talent – with regard to attracting and retaining

it – and we must work with automation to achieve value for shareholders

and employees alike. Most importantly, organisations must be agile. Without

agility businesses risk being left behind by competitors and losing out on

talent, and we must work to ensure that our processes, structures and

people are equipped with the ability to adapt and be resilient in the face of

uncertainty.

SUMMARY

At Sova we help organisations

build the workforce of the

future. If you’d like to find out

more about our events or any of

our services, please get in touch

at [email protected]

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