What is the Modern HR mandate?

[Previous article in this series #1: The command-and-control structure is no longer effective.]

#2: MODERN HR MUST BE AGILE.

Today business sometimes changes at the speed of thought. Disruption is no longer a cute academic concept but a reality that is reportedly feared by every large organization. The proliferation of the Cloud has been prime support for most disruptive technologies and business models. Speed and agility are the defining factors in disruption.

In order to deal with the fast pace of change, Modern HR needs to become agile. Before the organization can be transformed, HR has to be transformed and lead the charge with agile organizational practices, such as the following.

(a) Help ensure the fastest flow of information inside the organization.

Feedback from the trenches must reach the C-suite quickly – within days and hours, and not after six months (if at all) of filtering up through various managerial layers – because it is often at the organization-world interface layer (anyone in the company that talks to an outsider) that market intelligence is germinated.

(b) Implement shorter feedback cycles.

The traditional annual, half-yearly, or quarterly feedback loop on work outcome does not support agility, which requires constant feedback for course correction. The organization as a whole must be able to pivot when external and internal changes demand radical course correction. Therefore, individuals and teams must be able to adjust their ways and goals frequently as well.

(c) Insist on transparency. Encourage brutal feedback.

Old-school managers did not (do not) believe in transparency, because it exposed one to “unnecessary” review (worts and all), and – instead – preferred to provide only filtered information (usually good news, if possible) outside their immediate circle.

Today such luxuries are not only archaic but unsupportive of current business models, because:

Without transparency, feedback is impossible.
  Without feedback, course correction is difficult.
    Without course correction, success could be more elusive.
      Without consistent success, both organizations and individuals suffer.

Therefore, not only must HR inculcate a culture of transparency, but also provide mechanisms for fearless feedback. An anonymous virtual suggestion box can be very fruitful where any team member can leave suggestions anonymously. Below is a screenshot of our implementation of this concept in our organization. (I have a link to this virtual suggestion box in my autosignature.)

(d) Inculcate the Agile Mindset in people.

• Help teams and stakeholders to self-organize. Don’t micro-manage. Instead of being “given” a process to follow, if team members must “design” the process themselves, they start thinking outside the box and tend to be more flexible in approach.
• Move from timing-driven work (i.e., 9-to-5) to outcome-driven work (i.e., get the work done on time; it does not matter when you work).
• Implement a system of recognition. Start celebrating wins. Applaud not just good results but also good effort. This helps focus on immediate goals and think of innovative ways to reach these short-term targets.
• Encourage and enable top management to communicate organizational goals more often to the company; and, functional heads to communicate similarly to their respective teams. A clear knowledge of goals creates clarity of purpose and helps goal-oriented thinking, which is a foundation of agile thought. 
• Work towards creating a Culture of Continuous Learning. Easier said than done, but ultimately (and soon enough) learning must become an integral part of one’s daily work and not the periodic training sessions and webinars that one is forced to endure.
• Work towards creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement. Nothing is perfect. Everything can be improved. In fact, not everything needs to be perfect because the cost of perfection is often cost-prohibitive. Therefore, one must keep improving based on every failure, every customer complaint, and every team member feedback, towards excellence.

(e) Get involved in cross-functional teams.

Modern HR has ceased to be an independent function. The digital age has blurred functional boundaries. HR must step out of the confines of their department and embed themselves into projects, operations and strategy in a meaningful manner. For instance, let not projects raise hiring requests to HR; instead, let HR be embedded in projects and understand the risks from inside. This will eliminate situations where a project has a hiring request open for six months and HR is still “trying (their) best” because they have no visibility into the pain and the damage the project is incurring. HR must be embedded in Sales discussions and participate in sales calls so they understand the necessary profile of the salesforce from true knowledge and not from an email; so that they see which human processes are breaking at first hand. Extend the paradigm to penetrate all areas of the organization. In yesteryears, HR solved people problems while the business team solved business problems. In this digital age, HR is business and business is HR. The line has blurred.

(f) Adopt a Loosely-coupled Operating Model.

“Loose coupling” (as opposed to “tight coupling”) signifies less dependence amongst the items being coupled together. In a loosely coupled approach, one component can undergo change without impacting the other components. Therefore, loose-coupling enables greater agility.

The schematic below explores some HR Operating Models and shows in which direction Agility flows.

Modern HR must work with business partners that have core competencies that benefit HR and implement good governance while allowing the partners to innovate in their specific areas. That is much more than anything HR can singlehandedly do and will enhance HR agility, leading to organizational agility.

Take Away

Fastest flow of information. Shorter feedback cycles. Transparency & Brutal Feedback. The Agile Mindset. Cross-functional Teams. Loosely-coupled Operating Model.

[To be Continued in: “#3: Create Fluid Organizational Structures.”]