In the past, recruiting & talent management were the clear priorities for HR managers while agilists have increasingly focused on change management and the further development of working methods and corporate culture. According to the latest figures from the specialist magazine “Personalführung”, that could change now.
HR and agile were parallel worlds in the past
"HR and Agile colleagues are not yet pulling together in most companies."
From our daily experience with HR and Agile experts we have come to this conclusion time and again. Especially because with Echometer, we are developing a tool that combines agile collaboration and classic personnel development. But why is this so?
One reason for the separation between HR and Agile in the past was that HR often focused on recruiting, talent management or employer branding. Change management and team development, on the other hand, was often - if possible - left to agile people (Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches). The potential of cooperation between HR and agile coaches remained untapped.
The study – "New Work" is new #1 priority in HR
Given this background, we were very pleased to read that since Corona, work organization and new work are now also at the top of the priority list for HR:
Sure - "New Work" is not the same thing as Agile. But agile work methods have a large overlap with New Work when it comes to team self-organization and flat hierarchies, for example. So change makes it necessary for agile people and HR to work together.
Why is this an opportunity for HR AND agilists?
- Agilists are usually very good at estimating which agile methods can also be used in other fields (Kanban, retrospectives, dailies, etc.) and thus provide important impulses for New Work. Furthermore, Scrum Master and Agile Coaches usually know the needs of the teams very well. The exchange between agile people and HR is therefore a great opportunity for HR to better understand their own teams.
- HR has a trustful and long-standing exchange with both the management and the works councils. Especially when agilists want to develop the company as a whole, cooperation with HR is an important lever.
Outlook – HR goes agile in 2021
If HR and agilists unite their forces in the present time, the change in working methods, which is currently becoming increasingly necessary, can be driven forward sustainably.
The goals overlap anyway: strengthening the self-organization of teams, reducing hierarchies, developing managers into coaches, to name but a few.
What are your experiences regarding the cooperation between agilists and HR? Write it as a comment to our LinkedIn post here.
We look forward to your experiences with the HR + Agile interface!
Background to Echometer
And what does Echometer have to do with it?
With its software for team retrospectives & team health checks, Echometer links the subject areas Agile Collaboration and HR Analytics.
As a tool for (remote) team development, Echometer is used by HR departments as well as Scrum Masters or Agile coaches.
