Research Update: Opening the black box of 'agile' HR

Based on an extensive review of the literature, Junaid and Fatima from the School of Management at Massey University revisit our understanding of the term ‘agile’, especially in light of New Zealand’s low workforce productivity, the current COVID-19 pandemic and what the future of work demands from HR professionals.

Previously, the main focus of the discussion on agile HR was the need for HR to have fast decisionmaking, flexible solutions, a highperformance work system and flexible work arrangements. The business world is full of clichés, with ‘agile’ being a recent addition to this list.

We are realising that HR needs to move away from its reactive and compliance approach. While it tries to use popular terms such as ‘agile’, we need to be aware and cautious of the tokenism in using catchy terms. The dangers of tokenism are regularly highlighted in the research, in the forms of fuelling discrimination, lowest productivity in OECD and lagging HR.

Agile HR is not about early morning stand-ups by ‘scrum masters’ in flashy open-space work environments with Kanban posters. It is more of a mindset: a mindset to learn, unlearn and relearn. We have to ask whether HR has really learnt or changed itself, more than just changing job titles from CHROs to Chief People Officers or Chief Happiness Officers, for example? If not, then how will we meet the demands of the dynamic times we are living in?

To relearn, let’s unpack how agile HR should work. According to PWC’s 2020 report, HR should focus on creating human-centric, agile and nimble structures and on health and safety. A common practice adopted by agile teams is to create ‘user stories’. These are written from the perspective of a user. One might argue that HR is agile and is creating human-centric solutions based on user stories. But who is the user? Let’s say we talk about migrant stories. How does a migrant’s story get interpreted by a non-migrant HR person? Does HR really understand the migrant predicament? In our experience, a migrant user story is HR’s interpretation and their spin on the narrative of the user without understanding the migrants’ culture, metaphors or language.

The current context of the COVID-19 pandemic being a challenge also provides us with an opportunity to unlearn our old ways of doing things. The pandemic has been a time where organisations and HR have been pushed, and globally, some lessons can be learnt from many agile organisations. We don’t see or hear a great deal of that within the New Zealand context, because, here, the pandemic has not caused as much devastation. But during COVID-19, many have been affected in New Zealand by what has been happening in their parent countries. For these people, they are rather discriminated against, and their reality is not given much attention.

Way forward

If software has eaten the world, then agile has eaten the software world. Similarly, HR in its adoption of agility will also be eaten by agile or be one with it. Organisations should rethink talent sourcing and recruitment by embracing emerging technologies and diverse skill sets. HR should take a scenario-based approach to defining the required workforce in five to eight years’ time. When leaders support employees by understanding their needs and adapting, companies will have more successful cultures, and this evolution will lead to more success. The task for HR is to change mindsets and create space for different voices to be formed and heard when championing diversity and inclusion initiatives. It needs to go beyond the 'tick box' approach, and make sincere efforts to hire people from diverse backgrounds at all levels.

Junaid Hilal is a faculty member at Massey’s School of Management with more than 15 years’ experience of working across Asia and the Middle Eastern markets. Holding various leadership positions with Barclays, Standard Chartered, Samba Financial Group and ABN AMRO Bank, Junaid has managed profit centres, launched products and businesses from scratch, and developed and led large-scale cross-functional teams. As a management consultant, he provides services to start-ups, small to medium enterprises, government entities, commercial banks, and local corporate groups. His expertise is in business strategy, business process re-engineering and early career talent acquisition.