Managing and coping with change turned out to be the number one issue for high performing HR organizations in a study just published by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4CP). In analyzing the responses, i4CP divided the results into two main groups, the high performing organizations (HPO) and the low performing organizations (LPO). The study found that the LPO’s top critical issue to be strategy execution/alignment with managing change coming in second while for HPO’s managing change ranked #1. The HPO’s, nonetheless, showed they are able to manage change better than the LPO’s due to their ability to take a longer term view of the business environment and, most importantly, due to their corresponding preparations. The ability to move effectively in anticipating change is what i4CP calls being “agile”. As one of their conclusions they recommend the development of agility in both leaders and workers:
“Individuals at all levels of the organization can be trained to think and behave in ways that promote agility. Invest in specific training initiatives such as one-on-one coaching, workshops and action learning programs. Promote talent mobility to build experience with change and increase the organizational flexibility of talent deployment.”
You can download the study through a free subscription. A more in depth review of the study with accompanying link can be found here: How High Performing HR Organizations Keep Pace With Change. The name of the study is Building a Change-Ready Organization: Critical Human Capital Issues 2013