Why agile companies are more successful
There is hardly a member of the animal kingdom that can match the agility of the cheetah. This feline predator can react to changes in the direction of its prey at the highest of speeds and thereby guarantee its survival. Animals that live in colonies have managed to adapt perfectly to their environment through optimized organizational structures – whether bees, wasps or ants. Their survival depends on just how fast and coordinated their actions are. What has taken millennia of evolution can also be of benefit to today's companies. So why don't we take cue from these animal models? Effectiveness, performance and stability are the foundation for perfect agility.
What are agile organizations?
In its HR Report 2018, the human resources service provider Hays examined what is essential for agile corporate structures. According to the study, agile organizations are characterized above all "by a high ability to adapt rapidly to changing conditions and market situations. Flexibility with regard to the adaptation of products, processes and above all the employees with their competencies are decisive success criteria. Agile organizations are highly networked, and the employees organize themselves to a high degree. In addition, the work and project teams are – to a certain extent – able to make autonomous decisions. This requires a trust-based corporate culture – the trust of managers towards their employees and of employees towards each other. “
How is optimal agility achieved?
Already today, half of the study respondents (51 percent) already consider the topic to be very important, and the relevance is set to trend upwards. A total of 69 percent attach even greater importance to agility in the future. The three most important topics for companies are employee retention, making work structures more flexible and promoting the employability of employees. But just why is the implementation of agile structures lagging well behind? Some 36 percent of those surveyed lay the blame for this on excessively rigid processes. This is down to unclear decision-making competencies and a lack of willingness to change within the workforce. Once again, this demonstrates that sensitive change management is needed to establish new structures in companies and satisfy all stakeholders.
Sensitive change management is needed to establish new structures in companies.
What advantages do agile personnel processes deliver?
Preferred areas for creating agile processes include IT (17 percent of the companies surveyed) and human resources (13 percent). In HR, the share is expected to increase by more than 100 percent in three years. The transition to agile, networked, system-supported personnel processes through a professional workforce management system creates potentials in companies along the entire value chain. Companies that want to stay ahead in fast-moving markets are dependent on such processes in order to operate in a demand-driven and cost-optimized manner – while taking the needs of their employees into account at the same time.
What results will agile companies achieve?
The results that companies achieve by deploying a workforce management solution – whether on premises or in the cloud – confirm the thesis that greater agility definitely results in stronger performance.
Practical experience
What concrete benefits do companies gain from greater agility in workforce planning? Here are some examples from customer projects:
- 80 % less overtime
- 50 % reduction in sickness rates thanks to greater employee self-determination
- 50 % faster delivery times
- 20 % more productive working time
Would you like to learn more about the decisive advantages of a workforce management system? Then be sure to check out www. atoss.com. We have the perfect solutions for every industry, sector and company size.
