It’s clear that in a world of work defined by volatility,
uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, the need to adapt fast is imperative.
HR faces the same reality of solving problems faster by modernizing and digitizing the function.
In other words, HR needs to urgently adopt an agile approach to transform the world of work.
This means primarily adopting an Agile mindset.
So for HR, being more agile means:
Structuring HR to respond and adapt to situations with more speed and flexibility.
Having a flexible approach to HR that molds as the workforce changes.
And dynamically supporting the organization as it becomes more responsive to customer needs.
So if you’re looking to improve your HR processes with the Agile methodology, we’ve made it easier
for you - by breaking it down into 5 practical steps you can implement in your organization.
But before we move on, remember to subscribe to the channel,
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*MUSIC*
Hi, my name is Neelie, and today I will dive into one of the most relevant topic for HR today: Agile HR.
We’ll be discussing 5 practical steps you can use to implement the Agile methodology in HR!
Every step will be followed by a practical example to help you understand how you can apply it.
1. Define the problem
Before you can use any methodology to improve an HR process,
you first need to identify the exact issue you are trying to improve. The best way to find out
is to consult with all the relevant stakeholders involved.
For example, let’s assume that when it comes to new hires, it currently takes a new employee 10
days to fill out all the relevant paperwork. The organization wants to shorten this to three days.
2. Decide on your resources, as well as the roles and responsibilities.
Once you know the problem, the next step is to put together a team that can tackle it.
Agile teams are usually small and have complementary skills.
This team will be using one of the agile methodologies to design and execute the
desired solution. For example: Scrum, Kanban, Continuous Delivery, XP - to name a few.
Each methodology comes with its own way of managing the project.
But simply put, the work will be carried on in sprints - this is a 2 to 4 weeks period,
at the end of which an initial version of the solution needs to be delivered.
In the following sprints, the team iterates on their previous work.
For example, in our onboarding project we now know
that in order to shorten the time it takes to fill in the relevant paperwork, we need
a system that can streamline all the necessary documents and eliminate duplicate information.
In order to build this, we need a team consisting of HR generalists,
recruiters, and IT personnel to develop dashboards. We’ll need to deploy
each member of the team into smaller teams that produce high-end results.
Each team is responsible for providing feedback to the broader team
during standups. A scrum master will be responsible for guiding the entire process
and team. In our example, this could be the HR generalist.
3. Develop your sprint goals
In the agile approach, goals are what needs to be delivered by the end of each
sprint. These can be broken down into activities that create a ‘backlog.’
You need to develop this backlog to decide what you need to do and how
long it will take. The entire team needs to contribute to this process.
Activities are then prioritized and assigned to different team members. During standup
meetings, the team members update each other on the progress they’ve made.
In our example, we need to gather all the documentation for onboarding
and place it into an electronic database to automate it within two weeks.
This would be a goal, and your backlog would break it down into smaller tasks. Such as:
Gather employee registration form and payroll form and upload them to a shared folder.
Establish a process of who signs what and when. Review two electronic signature solutions.
These tasks will be prioritized and assigned to different members of the team.
4. Start with your first sprint.
As mentioned before, a sprint is a specified and usually short period of time
in which a team tries to complete a specific amount of work.
This helps teams get things done faster, and the maximum time for a sprint is usually four weeks.
During the regular (daily or weekly) standup meetings,
the team should discuss their progress, as well as challenges, delays, and dependencies.
For example: Has the HR generalist compiled the folder with all the forms?
If not, where is the problem and who can help with it?
5. Take note of feedback.
After completing your sprint, you’ll go into a sprint review.
Here you need to consider the feedback, both from the team
and from the client or end user.
Understand what issues came up, identify barriers to success,
and frustration points. Analyze if there’s a fair workload and if collaboration has taken place.
If there are notable successes from the first sprint, be sure to celebrate this.
This will help the team to be more motivated for upcoming sprints.
In our example, after testing the new process, the team found out that the process still took six days.
The new employee forgot to sign one form. The team decides to iterate on the process
and include an email, sent on the 2nd and 3rd day, to remind the employee to sign the forms.
You may need to choose the parts of this process that work for you. Or you may need to run several
sprints until you complete the final product. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
These are the first 5 steps to implement the Agile methodology into your HR strategy. Are you
already working agile? If so, which specific steps have you taken and which approach do you prefer?
Let us know in the comments below and see you next time!