New York City, USA | Apr-26-2017 “#1 trend: HR embraces agile" | HR Trend Institute "HR drives the agile organization" | HRO Today --- Rapid transformation is affecting industries across the globe and almost any organization today is forced to respond to issues of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). Something that can no longer be mastered through industrial age structures and practice. The zeitgeist in these turbulent times is Lean | Agile. It has evolved as the predominant, most effective way of working across the entire organization. These responsive enterprises maintain competitiveness by transforming their business activities to leverage the digital age. This means providing the right environment for people to prosper and do their best work; and puts increasing pressure on Human Resources (HR) practices. And while Lean | Agile can actively address critical aspects of HR like engagement and performance; it also highlights the disconnect of traditional HR in a Lean | Agile world. This challenges HR to realign their People approach and imposes a far-reaching transformation to bring HR into the 21st Century by shifting from process-oriented HR Management to empowering Lean | Agile People Operations.

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New York City SHRM | Strategic Management Conference | Apr-26-2017
Fabiola Eyholzer | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR
Lean | Agile People Operations (HR) –
The 21st Century People Approach

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You can have the best strategy and the best
building in the world, but if you don’t have the
hearts and minds of the people who work with
you, none of it comes to life.
– Renee West

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Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 3
The Importance of People in VUCA Times

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The Importance of People in VUCA Times
Fact is: We live in VUCA times and have to respond to its
challenges
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 4
Volatility
Uncertainty
Complexity
Ambiguity

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25 Years of Apps Eating The Work Desk by Vala Afshar
What does digital transformation mean to you?
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 5
Source: 25 years of apps eating the work desk by Vala Afshar
Companies founded in the past 12 years
The Importance of People in VUCA Times
Technology Disruption

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The Importance of People in VUCA Times
The digital transformation has far-reaching consequences
– also (or especially) for Human Resources
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 6

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The Importance of People in VUCA Times
(Too) many challenges are a ticking time bomb
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 7

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The Importance of People in VUCA Times
Reality Check: What made companies great in the 20th
century will not make them great in the 21st century
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 8

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The Importance of People in VUCA Times
Companies try to respond to the challenges of today’s
business world: Often making it worse than better.
Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 9Apr-26-2017

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The Importance of People in VUCA Times
Successful enterprises have the courage to fully embrace
change and take a different route.
Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 10Apr-26-2017

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The Importance of People in VUCA Times
Lean | Agile is a business & leadership philosophy, fit to
match the challenges of the Digital Age
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 11

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A Lean | Agile Chronicle

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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Common challenges resulting in unhappy customers and
low profitability
Common challenges:
• Poor quality of product or service
• Low morale and employee engagement
• Unsuccessful projects
• High cost of operations
Resulting in:
• Unhappy customers and
• Low profitability
Lean | Agile solves it by developing a culture of
• Continuous improvement and
• Collaboration
Source: adapted from “About Agile and Lean” by Phil Abernathy
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 13

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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Lean is about creating value through respect, flow,
innovation, and relentless improvement
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 14
Source: The SAFe® House of Lean, Scaled Agile Framework

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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Agile is based on a set of values, principles and practices
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 15
Practices
Principles
Values

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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Agile delivers value through an iterative approach
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 16

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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
The core of Agile are interdisciplinary, collaborative, and
empowered teams
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 17

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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Lean | Agile embraces dynamic environments and theory
Y leadership
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 18
Source: Adapted from Bjarte Bogsnes «Ambition to Action»
• Relative & directional goals
• Dynamic forecasting &
resource allocation
• Holistic performance
evaluation
• Responsiveness
• Iterative approach
• Continuous Feedback &
Relentless Improvement
• Empowerment
• Collaboration
• Rigid, detail & annual
• Rules-based
micromanagement
• Centralized command &
control
• Secrecy, sticks & carrots
• Value based
• Autonomy
• Transparency
• Internal Motivation
dynamicstable
Theory “X” Theory “Y”
Leadership
Environment
Traditional
Management
Lean | Agile

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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Lean | Agile has an undisputable proven track record
Source: 10th State of Agile Reports, VersionOne
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 19
87% 85% 84% 81%
Ability to manage
changing priorities
Increased team
productivity
Improved project
visibility
Increased team morale
/ motivation

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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Excurse: Agile in Education
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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Agile thinking is not new
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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Agile is no Silver Bullet
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A Lean | Agile Chronicle
Agile values and principles are here to stay – even if you
don’t follow agile practices
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 23

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Agility & Human Resources
HR is facing its biggest transformation yet
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Agility & Human Resources
HR is the secret to achieving Business Agility
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Agility & Human Resources
The Manifesto for Agile HR describes the core values of
Lean | Agile People Operations
Apr-26-2017
Manifesto for Agile HR
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Inspire and engage over manage and retain
Adding value over administrative efficiency
Collaborative networks over hierarchical structures
Transparency over necessary confidentiality
Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 26

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Apr-26-2017
Lean | Agile People Operations
Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 27

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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR strives to create inspiring, engaging & fun places of
work, where people can thrive
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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR rethinks instruments that are currently driven to
handle poor performance and mediocrity
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 29

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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR is no longer willing to make up for weak managers
and uninspiring leaders
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 30

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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR liberates itself from the dictate of hidden forces like
Finance and Legal
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 31

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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR challenges outdated thinking and established practices
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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR respects individuals and individuality while boosting
the power of collaborative teams
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 33

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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR inspires and empowers people
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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR is proactive, dynamic, and forward-looking
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 35

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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR becomes more transparent and visual
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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR fosters fast feedback and continuous & relentless
improvement
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Lean | Agile People Operations
HR co-creates and constantly evolves its solutions and
value delivery
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Agile HR Themes

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Agile HR Themes
Hire for attitude & fit, and rock at onboarding to
strengthen teams
• Proactively attract & engage talent
• Replace job descriptions with Value Descriptions
• Hire People over paper
• Employ for attitude & cultural fit
• Make a solid, team-based decision
• Excel at onboarding
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 40

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Agile HR Themes
Move to an Iterative Performance Flow and eliminate
employee appraisals in favor of continuous feedback
• Eliminate annual performance ratings
• Accept handling performance issues is a leadership task
• Avoid performance improvement trap
• Align performance cycle with iterations
• Set inspiring goals, and clarify expectations
• Continuously inspect and adapt
• Embed inspect and adapt into workflow
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 41

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Agile HR Themes
Get the topic of money off the table and recognize people
and teams in a meaningful way
• Decentralize salary decisions
• Allow for transparency to the salary structure and data
• Motivate through mastery, autonomy, and purpose –
not cash incentive
• Avoid toxic individual bonuses
• Combine various forms of recognition
• Embrace holistic approach to benefits
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 42

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Agile HR Themes
Offer meaningful growth opportunities and move talents
across the organization
• Empower employees to take the lead
• Illustrate prospective role-based career paths
• Establish individual career coaching
• Apply agile workforce planning and talent scouting
• Enhance growth through Lean | Agile leadership
• Create new beginnings
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 43

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Agile HR Journey

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Agile HR Journey
Is Agile just another management fad?
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 45

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“The Best-Kept Management Secret On The
Planet: Agile”
– Steve Denning

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Agile HR Journey
We need to invest in Agile HR and the moment is right
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 47
Jan-20-2016
2016 to
welcome the
acceleration of
agile adoption
outside IT
Jan-25-2016
HR drives
the agile
organization
Dec-1-2015
HR
embraces
agile (#1 of
11 HR Trends
for 2016)

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Agile HR Journey
Trigger | Initiate | Iterate –
the typical approach to Agile People Initiatives
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR
Agile HR
Assessm
ent
Iterate
Plan
Do
Check
Adjust
Trigger
Agile HR
Vision
Specific
Challenge(s)
ROI Review
(Terminate)
48
Initiate
Backlog
Refinement
Train &
Educate
Initial
Retrospective &
Backlog
Lightweight
Business Case

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Agile HR Journey
Start (continue) iterating today
Apr-26-2017Agile HR - The 21st Century People Approach | @FabiolaEyholzer | #AgileHR 49

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To win in the marketplace you must first win in
the workplace.
– Doug Conant, CEO of Campbell’s Soup

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Thank you!
Just Leading Solutions
275 Madison Avenue
14th Floor
New York, NY 10016
nyc@justleadingsolutions.com
www.justleadingsolutions.com
Fabiola Eyholzer
CEO
fabiola.eyholzer@justleadingsolutions.com
+1 908 340 8091
@FabiolaEyholzer
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