A Business Leader's Handbook to Building an Agile Organization

An adventure enthusiast and traveller at heart, Vikas is a seasoned engineering professional with close to three decades of experience across diverse functions of the manufacturing industry. In a recent interaction with Thiruamuthan (Correspondent, Industry Outlook), Vikas shared his insights on the importance of agility for organizations in today’s context, steps to cultivate agility and many other interesting aspects. Below are a few key extracts from the exclusive interview –

How has the concept of agility within an organization evolved in recent times? Also, briefly explain its importance.

A few years back, agility was only seen as a secondary factor and discussed about only when necessary. But in today's hypercompetitive and dynamic business landscape, agility is no more an option, but a norm for all companies for their long-term survival and to maintain an edge in the market. Business leaders have realized this and are now keeping agility as the core of every function and strategy. As a result, agility is now being embedded into the DNA of the organizational culture itself among almost every company irrespective of the industry they are operating in. However, organizations face a lot of challenges while developing a culture of agility within their workplace. Firstly, identifying the key areas where being agile is critical is a tough nut to crack for most organizations. Since there is no fixed blueprint on how to develop agility, organizations must do a proper SWOT analysis in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each of their functions and accordingly devise a plan of action for areas where there is still scope for further improvement.

Throw some light on the key factors that help in building agility across the organization.

According to me, the key building blocks for fostering agility across the organization are Clarity, Strategy, People, Culture, Controls, Measurement, and Communication. Firstly, the organization must make sure that all employees have a clear understanding of the company's vision/mission statement, future goals, challenges that might hinder their progress towards achieving them, and key qualities & skillsets that they must develop to successfully overcome those barriers and reach those desired objectives. Secondly, it is critical for companies to have effective strategies in place in terms of their product portfolio, tech adoptions, operations, and profitability. Thirdly, organizations must ensure that they have the necessary employee training and mentorship programs so that they stay aligned with the overall organizational strategy. Additionally, business leaders must bring about a shift in the mindset of employees from being just satisfied with surviving in their current job role to leveraging all the available opportunities within the organization to the fullest. Additionally, companies must have proper control over all their business processes and closely monitor the results of each process by comparing them with predetermined KPIs. Lastly, it is critical to ensure that there is a clear line of communication between all levels and functions within the organization.

While building agility, what industry-specific trends or external factors should organizations monitor for sustained adaptability?

To maintain sustained adaptability within the organization by utilizing external factors, the company must have stringent policies and frameworks pertaining to organizational values, principles, ethics, and other aspects. This is because employees are the cornerstone of every organization and each employee represents the company as a whole. Also, it has now become mandatory for enterprises to keep innovation and sustenance as the primary factors in every strategic activity happening within the organization. Additionally having effective corporate governance practices and conducting periodic SWOT analysis are critical to building an agile organization while simultaneously managing various external factors.

How does collaborative innovation contribute towards building industrial agility?

A collaborative approach towards innovation demands complete transparency and constant communication across the industry ecosystem. For instance, when we started working with the automotive industry in the 1990s, our OEM customers never seriously involved us in any of their development processes and asked us to start developing the product based on the drawings that they used to send us. However, this approach of the OEMs changed gradually as the years rolled, and today, they involve us with their next two levels of suppliers right from the day of their product development. The suppliers will be able to add value by contributing their expertise only when the company clearly communicates what it wants and how its product will function to the suppliers. This approach will not only ensure that there is no wastage of any resources with all stakeholders involved in the process but also accelerates the entire innovation process to a great extent.

In your opinion, how will technological advancements enhance organizational agility in the coming years?

I strongly believe that too much of either technology or labor intervention is both harmful. Thus, it is imperative for organizations to maintain a proper balance of technologies and their manpower. My current company - Robertshaw and my previous company - Morgan Advanced Materials were both 30+ years old organizations and employed a lot of earlier-generation technologies. While Industry 1.0 dealt with the mechanization of various manual tasks, 2.0 dealt with the electrification of those mechanized tasks, 3.0 dealt with automating those tasks, and the latest one - Industry 4.0 is related to the emergence of digitization. Currently, we are slowly entering into the Industry 5.0 phase, which is expected to bring in the concept of ‘Cobots’ (Collaborative Robots) for enhanced personalization. This will no doubt be one of the major tech evolutions we have witnessed in recent times, as it is expected to enable to organizations to strike a proper balance between technology and human intervention.