Preparing to Thrive Blog Series: Building Real Agility for the Road Ahead

What’s changed for employees and employers in 2022? Everything. The COVID-19 pandemic started a paradigm shift in workplaces and the workforce, and the roller coaster ride is not over. Supply chain issues, labor costs and scarcity, changing work preferences, regulations, shifts in consumer spending and economic contraction leave some organizations facing the most challenging times.

To survive this steep evolution curve requires careful planning and swift action. At the same time. The stakes are no lower than your organization’s ability to remain relevant – can you still achieve your mission, compete in your market and be a desirable place to work? It all depends on the actions you take now.

Our upcoming blog series will outline the pillars necessary for your organization to rapidly adapt to today’s new realities and meet the challenges to come. We will explore:

Agility and resilience

Organizational agility calls to mind Lean or Just-in-Time operations. But these are merely consultant-fueled buzzwords counter to the term’s real meaning. As you’ll read in future blogs, we use “agility” to refer to the ability to anticipate, evolve and adapt. In practice, we recommend that agility always be paired with strategies to build resilience, the complementary strategy for organizations to absorb shocks and overcome challenges.

Our recent past has proven that agility without resilience creates more risk for organizations than benefits. As we look to the future, agility and resilience are the foundational capabilities for organizations to thrive. Predictive modeling and scenario planning can help build these capabilities. We’ll dig deeper into additional tools that can be transformative for the way you do your work.

When assessing our clients’ performance through the pandemic, we found that organizations that integrated these techniques and insights into decision-making were more likely to adapt and saw fewer negative impacts. More importantly, with accurate assessments of reaction speed, breakpoints and capabilities, these organizations are now ready to capitalize on opportunities presented by our current volatility.

Look for more insights on agility and resilience as we roll out the blog series.

A strong “people supply chain”

The current environment calls for organizations to manage labor like they would a goods and services supply chain, to optimize costs, assess availability and incorporate flexibility into the workforce. This requires rethinking talent recruitment and management, focusing on outcomes instead of skills and utilizing a broad range of suppliers and labor approaches, including reskilling, upskilling and automation.

For too long, organizations have operated with the excuse that they can’t predict talent issues — that strategies can’t be proven and ROI can’t be measured when it comes to people. We have shown in many client instances that this is not true. Organizations can move past these excuses and build robust capabilities to analyze and optimize their people supply chain. Further, organizations must fundamentally rethink their labor strategy – how work gets done and by whom. Failure to do so will only allow your competition to pull ahead — and push your organization toward irrelevance.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll discuss ways to optimize your people supply chain in the face of high demand, short supply and rising costs.

A compelling employment brand

Today’s fiercely competitive environment means talent has more choices and is less willing to compromise on the “things that matter.” Shifting work expectations add further complexity, as the things that matter have changed, and what matters to one employee may or may not matter to another. Moreover, the so-called “great resignation” brought home drastic changes in behavior – people’s willingness to stay unemployed for longer or change their lifestyle to find a career that matches their values is just one example.

Too many organizations are already starting to assume that a recession will eliminate talent scarcity and bring the labor market back in line. Our data shows that is not true. While parts of the market will soften, others will continue to stay white hot. In short, companies must consider shifting expectations and building a flexible workforce plan that meets talent where they are. The wrong strategies can lead to turnover, reduce engagement internally and move your employment brand toward irrelevance.

Looking for ways to build your employment brand through effective talent strategies? We’ll have more in our series.

Planning ahead

What will the coming year bring, and how should organizations be preparing? We will recap some best practices and outline recommendations for managing people and expectations as companies move into Q4 and 2023 planning.

Organizations that want to thrive must adapt and, in many cases, transform to stay relevant. To continue to lead in your industry, be an attractive place for talent and deliver on your mission, your organization must plan and manage differently – and continue to evolve to keep up with the rapid pace of change. Watch for more insights on these opportunities in future blogs.

Brian Wilkerson, Corporate Vice President, hrQ
Brian is a nationally recognized expert in talent strategy and workforce planning. He has been at the forefront of helping companies turn talent into a competitive advantage for the past 20 years, with some of his past clients including Yamaha, Hasbro, Baxter Healthcare, Western Union, and federal, state, and local governments.

Brian regularly speaks at national conferences and has authored articles and book chapters on innovations in Human Capital. Brian brings extensive knowledge, expertise, and real-world applications to help organizations achieve their business strategy and growth objectives.