Catalyst |
Developing
dexterity for
workforce
resilience and
innovation
I
t’s
tempting to fall into the trap of making swift assumptions about
how the world of work has changed, but the truth is that we may not
yet know.
As much as we are craving optimism and stability, financial experts believe
the volatility in today’s markets will continue throughout this year and
into next. The past six months have shown that things can change at a
moment’s notice, and we cannot overlook the fact that the pace of recovery
will be different, depending on the industry in question and the local
response to COVID-19.
Where volatility is the norm, dexterity is a requirement – an organisational
adroitness that enables businesses to react quickly and appropriately to
whatever the external world throws at them. Our in-depth feature (p7)
debates what this might look like in practice, including examples from
some of our clients and insights from experts in risk and resilience.
Liberating our talent
In business, the word ‘dexterity’ tends to be linked with ‘digital’ –
describing “the ability and ambition to use technology for better business
outcomes”, to quote Craig Roth, vice president of Gartner Research. In
July’s edition of Catalyst, we discussed immediate digital responses to
COVID that look set to stay, and the need to pick up the pace of
digital transformation, designing new people processes from a
digital-first perspective.
However, dexterity is about much more than digital. Wider organisational
dexterity involves reframing talent management as talent liberation,
according to author and consultant Maggi Evans. She argues that if
we cannot predict what will happen in the future, we must plan for a
range of scenarios and ensure there is a diversity of skills within the
organisation (p14).
In the short term, we will require adaptive talent strategies – “approaches
with sufficient flexibility to enable us to respond to immediate needs, to
scale up or down, to redeploy and refocus”. To prepare for the long term,
we must start by considering the strategic aims of our organisation and
possible scenarios for how it might evolve and grow.
Nurturing internal talent will be a large part of this. For instance, as part
of its total talent strategy, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a dedicated
internal talent team and mobility systems that have created an internal
market for jobs and career development (see p9). Broadening the talent
pool will also be necessary, with organisations embracing many types
of worker.
A culture of learning
Dexterity encompasses mindsets, beliefs and behaviours; an example of
a recent mindset shift is the acceptance of widespread remote working
by organisations that, mere months ago, would have baulked at the idea.
Meanwhile, leadership traits coming to the fore include empathy and
compassion – a desire to invest in people’s happiness as well as their
productivity, and so build engagement that adds to resilience. Leading
virtually, and in turbulent times, requires EQ as well as IQ.
Innovation thrives where people feel psychologically safe and are
supported to be curious. Research by Harvard Business School (p12)
shows that curiosity leads to enhanced creativity, collaboration and
communication, and is a key driver of learning. A culture of learning must
underpin any dexterity-led organisation in future.
As disruptive and damaging as COVID has been – and continues to be – it
has also given us an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine and reinvent
working. Built-in dexterity enables organisations to do this not once, but
over and again, as circumstances fluctuate and change.
David Leigh
CEO, Alexander Mann Solutions
Where volatility is the norm,
dexterity is a requirement – an
organisational adroitness that
enables businesses to react
quickly and appropriately