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Agile HR: Why Companies Need their HR to be Agile

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February 4, 2021 - AGILE HR

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by Management 3.0 Facilitator, Thiago Brant

(https://management30.com/facilitators/about/?trainer=4111) who is

one of our Agile HR facilitators

I’ve noticed that the term Agile HR is used increasingly in the media

lately. As more and more courses on the topic emerge, many

companies are in search of Agile HR. But what exactly does this mean?

In this article, I will answer some questions asked by my colleagues

either on LinkedIn or events I have attended. This is quite a

comprehensive topic so it must be approached thoroughly. I believe

the next wave of agility, potentiated in 2021, will be largely based on

the agile leader and the involvement of HR with agility.

Come with me!

Quick links:

What does HR mean?

Can HR become agile?

What is the importance of agile human resources?

How can Agile HR help companies in transformation?

What does HR mean?

Human Resources is a very typical term for the transition from

Management 1.0 to Management 2.0, when companies began to value

human beings as their most valuable assets, but were still seen as
 “resources.” Some companies even adopted different terms such as
(https://management30.com)
Human Talents.

Human Resources then becomes the area that is responsible for all

aspects related to people, which include:

Recruitment and selection process

Incentives and Rewards (https://management30.com/energize-

people/rewards-incentives/)

Performance Evaluation

Career and Succession Plans

Organizational Design

Skills Development

Motivation and Engagement (https://management30.com/energize-

people/motivation-engagement/)

Can HR become agile?

HR not only can, but must become agile. The world has changed, and
the “agile” way of handling things is now part of the creative workers’

daily lives. Therefore, all the processes mentioned earlier need to

evolve, becoming more agile, to meet this new reality.

And at this point there are two very distinct approaches, which

need to be taken into consideration when talking about Agile HR:

Agile 4 HR
This is the idea of bringing agility into HR, from the point of view of HR

as an organization. Here we talk about applying agile practices and

mindsets in the day to day of HR. Structuring HR in value streams, with

 small and cross-functional teams
(https://management30.com)
(https://management30.com/blog/cross-functional-team-leadership/),

with a customer focus and a culture of innovation.

HR 4 Agile
Here comes the idea of HR as a change agent

(https://management30.com/blog/change-manager-explained/),

concerning the HR function for the company. It is HR contributing to

inspire the organization, hire great professionals, energize, and develop

people, besides making the company admirable for the job market
(what we call employer branding).

I see Agile HR much more as the second point (HR 4 Agile), but this

would hardly happen without looking at the first aspect (Agile 4 HR).

And here comes the concept of leading by example

(https://management30.com/blog/leadership-by-example/).

“
The HR that uses the agile mindset becomes an example for
the rest of the organization.

What is the importance of agile human resources?

Agile HR has strategic importance within organizations. As mentioned

earlier, the workplace is increasingly more agile, and HR has an

important role in taking care of what we now call, agile people, the

creative professional who is responsible for all the company’s value

delivery.
 Agile HR is the one that embraces the organization’s initiatives and can
(https://management30.com)
execute all HR processes in an agile manner, and in a way that ensures

people’s agility. If HR does not become agile, it tends to be an obstacle

in the daily business execution and ends up becoming a costly and

even irrelevant area.

What is the role of HR in Strategic Planning?

Something that traditionally was not done, was to put HR as a

protagonist at strategic discussion tables. It is common for HR to be

there, but in general just to be present, without much of an active

voice.

Today, in a complex world that requires agility, and motivated agile

people, HR needs to have the same weight in strategic planning as

operations, finance, marketing, and other strategic areas.

How can Agile HR help companies in transformation?

HR helps companies in transformation and leading change

(https://management30.com/blog/getting-agile-transformations-

right/), but it also contributes to change in HR processes, leading them

to follow and embrace change.

Creative professionals require different ways of dealing with career

plans, remuneration, development, and challenges. HR needs to evolve

all of these practices, making them agile and aligned with agile

people’s wishes and desires.

 Is it possible to operate a transformation project of
(https://management30.com)
the organization without the effective participation of
HR? And without an Agile HR?
Many companies have followed this path, marginalizing HR. But in all

my practice as an Agile Coach, I have realized that the biggest obstacle

to agile transformation in organizations is exactly the HR processes. No

matter how agile the areas and the creative professionals become,

there will always be a moment in which they will run into some

bureaucratic process on HR’s part.

And when HR embraces the transformation, it must factor itself into it.

The HR that transforms an organization is the one that manages to

transform itself by becoming agile.

Also read: Why Management 3.0 is essential for Agile Coaches

(https://management30.com/blog/essential-tools-agile-coaches/)

How can HR show its relevance to other sectors?

I have already mentioned leadership by example, and HR can use this

to be relevant.

“
HR can, and even should, be ahead of a transformation.

For an agile and/or digital transformation to happen, we need to create

the sense of urgency for change in senior management and bring the

so-called tipping point, the point where there is no turning back, but

realizing that we must embrace change.

 Kotter teaches us all this in his eight steps for change
(https://management30.com)
(https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-process-for-leading-change/), and

I believe HR can guide the organization through these steps, acting

alongside senior management while caring for all agile people so

everyone is aligned, engaged, and committed to this change.

How to have a design thinking mindset in HR?

(https://management30.com/wp-
content/uploads/2021/02/agile-hr-management30-workshop.jpg)
Agile HR
Workshop by
Management
3.0

This question was asked during one of the Agility in HR workshops

(https://management30.com/workshops/agility-in-hr/) I taught in

Management 3.0. My view is that HR also needs to see its initiatives as

products, which can be made by the MVP cycle and continuous

evolutions. All of this can begin with design thinking.

Let’s review the performance program. What about understanding the

needs of those involved? What about ideation to have more clarity?

What about starting with a prototype or MVP to validate the

hypotheses? All these lean startup concepts can be applied to HR

products. HR also needs to change its “projectized” mindset to a more

productized one.
 Let’s suppose that we want to review the company’s selection process,
(https://management30.com)
making it “more agile.” We know that for the selective process we have

to:

Migrate from the traditional competence assessment to a values

assessment and culture fit

Move from a centralized HR function to an all-hands participation

Stop being an on-demand process to make it a continuous process

Migrate from the traditional advertising boards to social and referral

networks.

From a bureaucratic process with steps and responsibilities to a

simple flow on a Kanban board

Avoid external suppliers to touch the process internally.

Avoid standards, allowing adaptation to each need.

Since it is impossible to make all these changes at once, we can

start experiments and gradual changes like:

Creating a squad dedicated to recruitment

Understanding the pain from both the candidates’ and the

recruiters’ sides

Prototyping and piloting solutions for these pains

Finding ways to measure the effectiveness of the process as well as

the satisfaction of the positions’ applicant and the requester.

If we want to involve the requesting teams in the process, for example,

we can start with a pilot, focused on some stage, and as we achieve

success and learning, we will expand to the whole process.

 In this case, we can first involve the teams in the profile screening
(https://management30.com)
stage, then in the interview stage, and the decision stage. All this, one

thing at a time, running experiments, measuring results and proposing

improvements. We can do this in sprints, for example!

And what is my personal view of all this?

I have been working with agility, digital and agile transformation for the

last 12 years. I have used several frameworks such as Scrum and SAFe,

and I have acted in several roles such as Scrum Master, Product Owner,

and Agile Coach.

Today I see that HR needs to understand what happens in the day-to-

day of agile teams, the famous squads. Which practices are they using?

What makes their daily work easier and what hinders it?

Management 3.0 is a great example of this. It is a management model

for agility and was embraced by agile teams. Understanding it and

contributing to its application is almost mandatory for Agile HR.

The reason why I decided to become an Agility in HR facilitator was

exactly to bring this vision to HR, and to contribute, so that all HR

disciplines can align themselves to agility.

“
HR needs to be seen as an accelerator of agility, and no
longer a bureaucratic and costly obstacle.
 Sample of upcoming workshops
(https://management30.com)
In February 2023

16 Feb 2023 – Agility in HR – Timezone: Europe / Berlin

(https://management30.com/events/details/?id=19287)

21 Feb-24 Feb 2023 – Agility in HR – Timezone: Europe / Berlin

(https://management30.com/events/details/?id=19382)

In March 2023

14 Mar-25 Apr 2023 – Agility in HR – Timezone: Europe / Berlin

(https://management30.com/events/details/?id=19286)

View all workshops (https://management30.com/events/?

searchType=Agility+in+HR)

More articles on Agile HR:

Agile HR leads to happier employees

(https://management30.com/blog/agile-hr-leads-to-happier-
employees/)

Why Agile HR and Why Now?

(https://management30.com/blog/why-agile-hr-and-why-now/)

Header Image by Christina @ wocintechchat.com (Unsplash

(https://unsplash.com/photos/rCyiK4_aaWw))

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