How Agile Employees Will Support Your Success

The fast-growth and start-up landscape is evolving at an incredible rate, driven by rapid digital transformation, new customer trends, and market dynamics.  To grow in this space, businesses need more than an innovative mindset; they need resilient, adaptable, and agile teams.

Agility is no longer just a concept prized by software developers and technology vendors; it's something every organisation needs to develop in their teams to ensure they can remain competitive.

Whether hiring new team members or upskilling your existing employees, here's why you should focus on cultivating agility in the years ahead.

Let's start with a definition:

On a broad scale, agile employees can adapt rapidly to shifting and uncertain working environments.  They're resilient and positive in the face of change, proactive about resolving problems and experimenting with new processes, and committed to constant development.

In the past, agility was often associated with software development, the project management landscape, or hybrid and remote work. However, any company can build and nurture an agile team.

Developing an agile team means hiring employees and developing existing team members' skills, focusing on strengthening a specific mindset and core characteristics.  Fundamentally, agile employees in any industry are those who show high levels of:

 
Resilience 

Agility and resilience often go hand-in-hand.  To adapt rapidly to changing environments, team members need strong emotional intelligence.  They need to recognise the value of change and be open to addressing new challenges.

 
Flexibility 

Although agile employees don't necessarily need to work in a hybrid or remote environment, they should have a flexible approach.  They should be able to cope with unforeseen changes in working environments and adapt to different requirements.

 
Competence 

Agile employees know that they need to constantly upgrade their skills and develop new competencies to thrive in a changing landscape.  They commit to lifelong learning and development and take advantage of opportunities as they arise in the workplace.

Collaboration fosters exceptional agility in any workplace.  When teams collaborate, share ideas, and access the same resources and data, they can quickly and creatively resolve problems.  They also benefit from a higher level of psychological security, which boosts resilience.

So, why are agile employees so important to fast-growth companies?  Simply put, the world is moving at a faster pace today than ever before.  In the last five years alone, organisations of every size have had to adapt to everything from new regulatory requirements to macro socioeconomic changes, new generations in the consumer market, and technology transformations.

Innovation will only continue to skyrocket, and if your employees can't adapt to these changes with speed and professionalism, your customers and business will be the ones that suffer.

Investing in hiring and developing agile employees means businesses benefit from:

Agility and adaptability are closely connected.  They're also two of the skills that analysts like McKinsey believe will be crucial to the future success of any team.  In a traditional workplace, where agility isn't prioritised , changes in customer preferences, the technologies used by your company, and your processes can lead to massive disruptions and costly change management.

However, agile employees tackle each change with speed and grace.  They stay up-to-date with changing market dynamics, technological advancements, and customer preferences and constantly adapt their skills and practices based on their learning.  This means they can pivot and creatively respond to challenges effectively in an ever-shifting landscape.

One of the main characteristics of an agile employee is the ability to collaborate and work effectively as part of a team.  As a leader in an agile workplace, you'll foster a culture of cross-functional teamwork, authentic and transparent communication, and inclusion. 

Breaking down the silos between teams and encouraging staff members to share diverse perspectives and experiences doesn't just lead to faster problem-solving.  It also helps to improve the adoption of new technologies and processes by keeping everyone focused on the same vision and goals.

 
Plus, it can catalyse , innovation and creativity within your workforce, leading to continuous improvement and regular breakthroughs.

In many agile software development methods, teams rely on constant feedback from users and testers to make iterative changes to product designs.  In an agile scale-up company, teams rely on the insights they gather from consumers to adapt their approach to product development, customer success, and buyer retention. 

Efficiency is a priority for many organisations , particularly as an uncertain economy pushes companies to attempt to accomplish more with less.  Agile employees are masters of efficiency. They constantly look for ways to streamline workflows, eliminate waste, and improve resource utilisation. 

What's more, because they're open to embracing new technologies to boost their performance, such as AI and automation, they can often achieve new levels of productivity much faster.  The agile employees' focus on constantly improving their performance ensures your company can reduce time-to-market, enhance return on investment, and reduce operational costs.