DECEMBER 2020HR TECH OUTLOOK 19transformation in its business and organisation. This transformation demands HR to play an active role and in order to drive HR's capability to support the Company transformation, in October 2019 we embarked on a new operating model based on the Agile way of working. This also gives us the ability to be more customer centric, fast to adapt and learn.What does the term agile HR mean to you and your organisation, in terms of the objectives or pillars that you set out to achieve? Agile HR to us means three things, namely a new way of organising, a new way of working and a new way of decision making.a) A new way of organisingInstead of purely separated by functions, there are now many more cross-functional teams (squads) aligned to business priorities. These squads are accountable for the outcome, and are evaluated on customer centric and business measures.b) A new way of workingDuring daily huddles, the squads review progress and identify roadblocks. Initiative delivery takes an iterative approach, where iterations are continuously improved based on customer feedback.c) A new way of decision makingThe squads are empowered to make decisions that are customer- and business-driven. This accelerates initiative development and delivery. Additionally, leaders play a critical role to debottleneck any obstacle faced by the squads. Agile covers three key elements, namely how we organize, how we work and our mindset and behaviors. This is as illustrated below. Implementing agile HR must have included a complete rehaul of your models ­ in terms of agile mindset, structure and methodology. Tell us what changed, what needed to change, and what continues undergoing change? You're right, a thorough #AgileHR implementation should cover the three elements - method, structure and mindset.Firstly - Agile Methods, which is about managing projects in shorter, interactive work cycles and constantly collecting customer (employee) feedback. Secondly, Agile Structure which involves organising the HR function around customer-centric teams with greater empowerment & decision-making authority.Most important but perhaps most challenging is Agile Mindset, which requires us to think of HR's role as providing products that evolve rather than resources that are final.In our case, to kick-off our Agile HR journey, firstly the squad set-up needed to be in place. This is the `structure' aspect of Agile. Mapping against our priorities, each squad works on delivering the key outcomes of the key strategic pillars. Each squad hasclear missions, measure of success and workstreams. They are arranged cross-functionally, with customer as the core of the effort. Agile is new to almost all of our staff, so squad members underwent a crash course in Agile to learn its methods, ceremonies and philosophies. This was when the Agile mindset was first inculcated, and the Agile methodologies introduced among the members. It was also important for us to understand the customer. Therefore, customer reach out programs were done, including design thinking empathy sessions, surveys and so on. From there, the squads carried onto deliver their mission, using the Agile methodologies.Efforts continue to be made to inculcate business and customer centricity into Agile HR practitioners, so that they are able to relate HR outcomes to business value drivers. This is to ensure the initiatives are always contributing to business objectives. Additionally, we continue to explore ways to flip other functions in HR to be run in the Agile way.What are your secrets to managing such an in-depth project, in terms of getting stakeholder buy-in and involvement, on-ground execution, pilot testing, and more? A key success factor in a project like this is change management, both at leadership level and squad level. Leadership support and buy-in go a long way in ensuring adoption by the organisation. To do this, immersion programs were held with key leaders, to share success stories. Regular Agile showcase are also done so leaders a kept abreast of the squads' progress and challenges.Farid Basir
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