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| The Case for Agility |
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October 14, 2010
Topic: Employee Management Reference: Murray, Alan. “Managing the Future Workplace? Start Here.” The Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100142405274870347090457. September 24, 2010. Just like everyone else, I keep looking for the change in the business cycle and the ignition of the economic engine. There have been some excellent corrective measures taken, and yet we have not seen a major business upswing. After what seems like four years, it is starting to feel like the return to expansion will never happen. The recent issues in mortgage foreclosures are definitely not helping. October 14, 2010
Topic: Employee Management Reference: Murray, Alan. “Managing the Future Workplace? Start Here.” The Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100142405274870347090457. September 24, 2010.
Just like everyone else, I keep looking for the change in the business cycle and the ignition of the economic engine. There have been some excellent corrective measures taken, and yet we have not seen a major business upswing. After what seems like four years, it is starting to feel like the return to expansion will never happen. The recent issues in mortgage foreclosures are definitely not helping. What if real structural change is actually taking place and the future will be substantially different than the recent past? If so, management will need a different outlook and a different set of tools to deal with employees and the ongoing malaise. It will be more difficult to keep optimism up and workforce complaints down. There could be more strife in the workplace as a result. The commentator in the referenced article came to the same conclusion and advocates some creative steps to help manage the uncertainty. “Success in the new era won’t ultimately require a perfect crystal ball…Rather, it will require institutions that can survive through uncertainty…and managers who have the humility to know that they don’t have all the answers but do have the confidence and willingness and judgment to lead their team to find them.” To accomplish the same the commentator advocates manager’s using more data and field verification to get better market intelligence, cross-training your talent, and insisting on candor. Agility will be a key differentiator and those who understand that and collaborate with employees to achieve an effective work environment will enjoy more success than the ones that do not. That means that every system will have to be adapted to facilitate agility, from hiring to training, to how work teams are deployed. The time is now to infuse agility into your operation in a meaningful way. The failure to properly adapt will not help you change your outlook or your outcomes. It will only make it worse. |