What is Agile HR
What it is:
Agile HR is a term used to describe a modern HR and People approach for organizations and institutions who strive to become more responsive and innovative in the face of constant change.
It is high time for HR to live up to its role and potential. Thankfully, Lean-Agile gives us an effective blueprint to turn HR into a key driver and accelerator of Business Agility and organizational success.
Fabiola Eyholzer, Co-Founder JLS
What it means:
We are on the cusp of the Augmented era, that will see people work in conjunction with artificial intelligence technologies to maximize the quality of their work and personal lives. It will undoubtedly change our world dramatically. Markets are already moving faster and more dynamically than ever before, and workplaces are becoming more personalized and autonomous.
It falls on the whole organization to create a strong business that can deal with the new normal. But it is HR, in particular, that has a key role to play in ensuring our companies and institutions will thrive.
Even more so since the Augmented era is also leading us into a new age in human history: The Human Economy. The focus is shifting to people and what we are capable of if given the right work environment and leadership.
It is a time when people will truly be the determining factor for success and Agile captures it thoroughly. Agile provides us with a set of values, principles, and practices (ways of working), which guide us in our endeavors to create highly engaging, collaborative, and innovative places of work.
Other words commonly used to capture the essence of Agile HR are Future of Work, Disruptive HR, or HR 4.0. We use the term Agile, because we embrace Agile values and principles, and because Agile is an umbrella for some highly significant concepts such as System Thinking, Design Thinking, Gamification, Lean, and Lean Startup.
It is a way for us to move away from outdated best practices and instead apply a blueprint of how to co-create and co-deliver HR programs and practices that best capture and support the values and beliefs of our own organization, and that fully align with our corporate DNA and what we stand for – regardless of what our players do.
Because of that, Agile HR plays a key role in helping companies to become more adaptive and responsive and be able to deal with constant change while staying innovative and successful. It is the way forward to not only survive, but also thrive, in the Human Economy.
Why it matters:
The way of work will change more in the next 20 years, than it has in the last 2,000.
Responsiveness, adaptability, speed, and innovation on all fronts – including HR – are no longer a ‘nice to have’, but a ‘must’. If we want HR to survive and be relevant in the future, we will have to adapt now – whether we are ready or not.
It is not an easy journey. It will take all the courage and determination you can muster. On the upside, it is a unique chance for us to humanize work and reinvent ourselves. We can finally turn HR into the kind of powerhouse we know it can and should be.
For all the progressive and courageous HR professionals and organizations out there: Agile is leading us on an exciting transformation journey towards a promising future.
What to do next:
Every discovery and transformation journey is unique. Here are some things that can help you learn more: