As HR pursues agility, lack of strategy stands in its way, Gartner finds

Dive Brief:

Sixty-three percent of HR leaders surveyed by Gartner have added "agile methods and principles" to their workflows. The change comes alongside a larger movement made by organizations to prioritize agility. "Most HR leaders report their organizations are experiencing a large agile transformation broadly as a tool for improving organizational outcomes," Gartner said in the July 23 release of its findings.
The transformation may be impeded by a lack of strategy, however. Of the 253 HR professionals surveyed 78% said they have neither strategy nor outcomes set to lead the adoption of agile practices, Gartner said.
"While there is a growing consensus among HR leaders that HR should become more agile, there is an overall uncertainty about how to effectively apply the principles to HR," said Caroline Walsh, vice president in the Gartner HR practice.

Dive Insight:

A move toward agility will bring the HR function benefits "such as improved alignment to organizational priorities and rapid changes, as well as better, more relevant support," Gartner said in another release about the data. Gartner defined agile as "project management methodologies, tools and principles focused on solving end-user problems and characterized by dividing work into short cycles with frequent reassessment and adaptation of plans with highly collaborative and self-managed teams," Gartner said in its report provided to HR Dive.

In some ways, the novel coronavirus has pushed HR practitioners to pursue agility more quickly. "The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed the need for all organizations to be able to quickly adjust to the changing circumstances," said Mark Whittle, vice president of advisory in the Gartner HR practice. "Adopting agile methods will enable HR to provide more relevant support and better solutions to the organization at large."

As the COVID-19 pandemic changes how things are done in the workplace, organizations may have to rethink operations and strategic goals, Gartner predicted in an earlier report. An increase in telework, contingent work, employee monitoring and organizational complexity will shape people strategy in the near future, it said. The report found many organizations plan to replace "full-time employees with contingent workers as a cost-saving measure," and 16% are using technology more frequently to monitor productivity.