After the global pandemic and the disruption it caused, CEOs could be forgiven for wanting a period of stability. Instead, they’ve had to concentrate on protecting their businesses from the ongoing impacts of war, supply chain disruption, political and economic turbulence, persistent inflation, and ongoing labor shortages.
That’s not the end, either—a combination of demographics, technology, workplace change, and other similarly vast drivers of change are following suit. Modern life is in a seemingly constant flux, and organizations must be prepared to continuously transform.
Companies must now think about becoming change agile and dynamic – in short, they need to become ‘Dynamic Organizations’. Given that a recent Josh Bersin Company study revealed that just 7% of companies qualify as Dynamic Organizations, that might seem like a stretch.
In fact, it’s completely achievable, and CHROs can lead the way. Here’s how.
What is a ‘Dynamic Organization?’
Dynamic Organizations operate in the Post-Industrial Age model, strategically aligning people and skills to opportunities and improving productivity and business competitiveness in tandem. They continuously transform at speed and scale to drive exponential business, people, and innovation outcomes.
The impact on the business can be transformative. Dynamic Organizations are:
- Three times more likely to achieve financial targets
- 21 times more likely to be diverse and inclusive
- Seven times more likely to innovate effectively
- 20 times more likely to achieve higher productivity
Business leaders are only too aware of this. Our recent Global Workforce Intelligence (GWI) Project found that leaders were determined to achieve bold, permanent change and wanted to get there as soon as possible.
The reality is that fast-moving companies want to do many things at once: develop, move, and support employees with continuous investment and opportunities, while simultaneously building game-changing transformation-oriented work practices, reward systems, leadership frameworks, and culture.
Becoming Dynamic
The good news for CHROs is that HR can and should be in the driving seat. Dynamic Organizations strategically align their people and skills to the most important opportunities and seek to improve productivity and competitiveness in lockstep.
Shifting from jobs and roles to skills and work is an essential component of this. On the skills axis, is the organization evaluating external candidates based on skills and values fit, not just on their experience and education? Is it considering team and organizational fit? Employing workforce planning, using skills insights for today’s and tomorrow’s requirements?
And today, has the organization looked to strategically rebalance the workforce based on skills to avoid layoffs or have workable ideas around avoiding any need for workforce reductions by constantly reskilling, upskilling, and fundamentally transforming careers while moving people to the most important areas?
For any company serious about becoming dynamic, the HR and talent practices must be dynamic, too. Dynamic Organizations operate at the highest level of maturity in all HR practices and integrate them in creative ways. So, to get to this level, you need to be:
- Focused on internal hiring and flexibility, not just recruiting from the outside
- Addressing leadership readiness to support internal hiring and mobility
- Rewarding and recognizing teamwork and collaboration
- Providing a variety of skilling mechanisms to the workforce to build capacity inside company walls
- Fostering cross-functional, agile, transformation-ready leadership
- Reorienting the organization around projects and teams, not hierarchy and jobs
- Fostering an inclusive environment of growth and transparency
- And finally, looking to leverage next-generation HR technology to jumpstart the business strategy through your now re-energized and fully engaged people.
Dynamism takes work, but the rewards are worth it
It’s reasonable to look at all these challenges and stretch goals and ask why any organization would want to go to these lengths. The answer is simple: vastly improved business performance.
In a service economy, every company is only as good as its people, leaders, and culture can change, grow, and adapt. Success in the new world of work depends on our ability not just to hire people but also to create new work and workforce practices and irresistible experiences: to develop, reward, and recognize the right skills, support internal mobility at scale, and build the right culture and leadership support.
The Dynamic Organization is the only viable business approach in the post-industrial era. It simultaneously solves for productivity and engagement, financial performance and inclusion, customer delight, and innovation. The journey to the Dynamic Organization is challenging, but it’s essential for business survival and success – now and in the future.
Kathi Enderes is Senior Vice President and Global Industry Analyst at The Josh Bersin Company, supporting clients and the market with evidence-based insights on all areas of HR, Learning, Talent, and HR Technology.