An agile people strategy is as critical to a company's sustainable growth as an agile business plan. For Filipino companies moving from crisis response into redesign, that means three challenges: revisiting beliefs to protect culture; balancing wellness with productivity; and building the right mix of employees, managers and leaders for the team of the future.
Over the last decade or so—amid high-speed technological developments and the COVID-19 disruption—local and global business leaders have recognized the importance of establishing a sound people strategy to ensure a company's sustainable growth.
This is especially true for digital-forward organizations, whose people-first mindset has been acknowledged as a critical success factor.
The COVID-19 pandemic, a most unexpected global event, triggered the need for companies to revisit their business strategies and models, work modalities, and their human resources.
By now, most businesses have adjusted to the new normal born out of the pandemic, and chief executives in the Philippines are among those who are optimistic about revenue growth in the short- and mid-term, as shown in the PwC-Management Association of the Philippines 2023 CEO Survey.
Under this new normal, workers must constantly be given opportunities to reinvent themselves and level up if a company is to secure its revenue targets and achieve its overall ambitions.
Beyond React and Respond: the four stages of pandemic response and recovery
During the COVID-19 years and their immediate aftermath, companies went through what experts call the four stages of pandemic response and recovery: React, Respond, Redesign and Redefine.
Earlier interviews by Acumen Strategy Consultants with a number of organizational leaders indicated that many companies appeared to have parked themselves in the Respond stage, given the uncertainty of things to come.
But now, with the emergence of what we can call a renewed business as usual, corporate leaders must carry on armed with key learnings from a global health crisis that shocked and crippled a world in the midst of making major digital strides.
These learnings are underpinned by a basic insight: in a crisis and change scenario, you go back to basics, and the foundations of an organization must be solid for it to survive.
As we plan for the future, a review of these learnings and of the organization's foundations is critical to establishing the right strategy for our people.
Three people-strategy challenges in the Redesign and Redefine stages
Global experts who were ahead in the recovery journey pointed to three challenges and considerations in the Redesign and Redefine stages: protecting culture, balancing wellness with productivity and building the team of the future.
Challenge 1: Revisiting company beliefs to protect culture amid new employee realities
This is a challenge because increased employee fragmentation and unconscious bias are expected by-products of the prolonged pressure and many changes. Because of this fragmentation, policies are no longer one-size-fits-all. The pandemic prompted a deeper "humanization" of the employee and a significant divergence of needs and motivations.
For a company, the impetus is to surface the right beliefs, values and norms that will cultivate the corporate culture needed for business growth.
How do we do this?
Corporate leaders must listen more deeply to truly understand different employee needs and what drives them.
Once we understand, we need to reflect on and review what matters to the company, what matters to employees, and what these mean for the prevailing corporate belief system.
Challenge 2: Balancing wellness and productivity in hybrid and virtual work
This is a challenge because, again, it is no longer one-size-fits-all.
Furthermore, the emergence and abundance of virtual roles have created new career paths and opportunities for many.
Companies now have to be intentional in developing their employee value proposition (EVP) to acquire and retain talent.
This means putting a strong focus on employee experience, as productivity comes with engagement and worker satisfaction.
What is required nowadays is listening often, through more frequent dialogue with employees.
A wider array of choices must also be put on the table, such as personalized benefits and the option to create bespoke wellness assistance programs.
Corporate leaders should also aim for sustainable productivity, which means easing the pressure to be overly productive everywhere and all the time.
Challenge 3: Building the team of the future—the right mix of employees, managers and leaders
This poses a challenge for two reasons. First, everything is evolving. While role names may be the same, expectations, ways of working and the skill sets needed to succeed are not. Second, in this empowered and hybrid workplace, where there is little interaction beyond the immediate team, it will be the middle or line manager who will spell the difference between engagement and attrition.
Setting teams up to succeed takes several steps: Reassess, Retool, Re-skill.
The new ways of working and value delivery will require a reassessment of the organization's design criteria and structure, to ensure teams are set up effectively to support the company's new strategies and plans.
As roles and expectations evolve, so must people's capabilities. Soft skills related to managing change and flexibility—such as intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, strategic decision-making, innovation, communication and collaboration—are must-haves moving forward.
This needs to be done mindfully, through a deliberate system of retooling, so that members help rather than burden their teams.
Why an agile people strategy matters as much as an agile business plan
In designing the workplace of the future, corporate leaders must keep in mind that having an agile people strategy is as critical as having an agile business plan.
Redesigning policies, the workplace and workplace etiquette will be a continuous trajectory rather than a one-time inflection point.
Having a test-learn-adapt mindset will be important in this continuing journey of transformation for everyone.
As a Filipino-led consulting company, Acumen uses its tools and competency to take you through a step-by-step process that brings to light the key aspects unique to your organization, helping you set up a company that is well grounded and dynamic. To learn more about Acumen's Organization Transformation service, contact us today.
Frequently asked questions
Why is an agile people strategy as important as an agile business plan?
A company's sustainable growth depends on a sound people strategy as much as on its business plan. Under the new normal, workers must constantly be given opportunities to reinvent themselves and level up if a company is to secure its revenue targets. Redesigning policies, the workplace and workplace etiquette is a continuous process rather than a one-time change, so the people strategy has to keep adapting through a test-learn-adapt mindset.
What are the four stages of pandemic response and recovery?
The four stages of pandemic response and recovery are React, Respond, Redesign and Redefine. Interviews by Acumen Strategy Consultants with organizational leaders indicated that many companies had parked themselves in the Respond stage, given the uncertainty of what was to come. Global experts point to three people challenges that arise as organizations move into the Redesign and Redefine stages.
How can companies balance employee wellness and productivity in hybrid and virtual work?
Start by listening to employees more often, through more frequent dialogue, because policies are no longer one-size-fits-all. Then widen the choices on offer, such as personalized benefits and bespoke wellness assistance programs, and aim for sustainable productivity rather than pressure to be productive everywhere and all the time. Because productivity comes with engagement and worker satisfaction, a deliberate employee value proposition and a strong employee experience are central to acquiring and retaining talent.
Why do middle managers matter so much in a hybrid workplace?
In a hybrid workplace with little interaction beyond the immediate team, the middle or line manager is the one who will spell the difference between engagement and attrition. This comes as roles themselves evolve: role names may stay the same, but expectations, ways of working and the skill sets needed to succeed do not. Setting teams up to succeed means reassessing organization design, then retooling and re-skilling people in soft skills such as critical thinking, communication and collaboration.
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