How Can People Analytics Help Organizations Through Change?

The continuing global disruption due to COVID-19 has caused major systems-level disruption that has ultimately lead us towards a transformation and evolution in organizational work patterns and design.

We are now truly in a VUCAR (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous and Responsive) world, and it pointless to look at all these challenges unless organizations make tangible and quick responses to these disruptions at play (hence the added 'R' in VUCA). Those organizations that can respond quickly and effectively will reap competitive advantage from their workforce.

This is a chaotic ‘new normal’ that promises exciting challenges for the HR function, but only if businesses can embrace and utilize the power of people data and operate in an agile and strategic way. 

Embracing Agile Work and Rethinking Organization Design

With people being at the centre of organizational success, their capability significantly affects the ability of an organization to compete. Especially at this point in time, where people need to work from home, it has become apparent that we have shifted to an agile way of working and need to rethink our organizational design.

For over two decades, agile methods have revolutionized IT and greatly increased success rates in technology quality, application and speed, and also boosted the motivation and productivity of IT teams.

Today, businesses need to go agile. But how exactly does agile work? For organizations to implement this concept, they will have to look at the organizational design and the capability of their workforce as a strategic imperative towards delivering the business strategy.

The unpredictability of the aftermath of this pandemic warrants the workforce to become responsive. Therefore, Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) will need to be adaptable by supporting everyday operational planning and being able to carry out rapid scenario planning in key situations.

Even with the best-laid plans, things can change - such as failed assumptions, skill misalignment, incorrect resource forecasting, significant productivity changes and even organizational structure change.

Agile organizations will be collecting all such people data and analytical insights to counter change using SWP that reinforces the evolving business goals and strategies.

Managing Remote Work Culture through ONA

With the current global situation, it has become apparent that the traditional hierarchies and protocols will do more harm than good for organizations, as they hinder communication and decision making.

There is now a need for HR to understand that the paradigm shift required to become agile is far more than understanding agility. Today, technology allows us to be able to implement this concept, but HR will need to break the traditional hierarchies and move to a robust network system, whether that be teams, communities or clusters of knowledge experts. This will enable HR to position itself from a service function to a power function for their organization as they will be the forerunners of merging digital technologies with organizational networks.

Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) provides a structured way to visualize how communications, information and decisions flow through an organization, and is certainly a priority for people analytics teams to consider. It will enable HR to look beyond the organizational structures and help understand how the business can operate in such turbulent times.

ONA can be used to not only understand the challenges associated with effective collaboration, but also enable the management of the remote workforce to ensure business sustainability and growth.

ONA and the use of data-based insights relating to communication flow can help to influence the way organizations are designed for success. It is of the utmost importance to understand the implication of ONA as not only a tool to gather data but also to create and nurture work culture through highlighting employee networks and high involvement strategies for within this new remote settings. 

A chaotic ‘new normal’

Businesses are facing unprecedented times during this global turmoil leading to a host of economic, global and political issues that are challenging business operations and strategies.

Deloitte’s 2019 Global Human Capital Trends survey highlighted that 84% of respondents felt the need to rethink their workforce experience to improve productivity and that to become more agile, 80% believe they need to develop their leaders differently.

Although these issues may seem timeless, they are reemerging against a whole new workplace context; focusing organizations to move beyond their mission statements and reinventing themselves around the human focus and this we believe is possible through the assistance and application of people analytics.