The Ability to Respond to Change: Flatter Organizations With Greater Talent Mobility

The year 2020 brought unprecedented changes to the world of work. But 2021 and 2022 have seen further disruptions, from the continuing pandemic to the volatile international situation and its possible implications for your business.

What if you thought of the ability to change itself as a core capability for your business? What would that mean for your talent operating model?

First, it would mean flatter, less hierarchical and hence more nimble organizational structures. These structures would let teams expand or contract based on the changing needs of the business. Second, it means a flexible approach to work that leverages and builds on the talent you already have inside your organization.

Last year, during the pandemic, I shared an article I wrote on what companies can do to become more agile. Reading it over, it’s still very relevant, since the pace of change, and the need for agility, aren’t going away anytime soon.  

In this article, I discussed how companies “have moved away from a strict reliance on hierarchies toward a team-of-teams framework….flexible, team-based structures help companies move their talent to address the company’s most pressing business challenges.” Why the shift? Because “hierarchical structures are slow” and relatively unresponsive to change. Less hierarchical, more malleable structures favor the capability to change.

In addition to having flatter structures, talent mobility provides another way to be Agile. You can optimize talent mobility by letting your people opt-in to new project opportunities for a small percentage of their time. They don’t have to leave their full-time jobs. Project-based work that uses the untapped talent within your organization is another way to foster nimble companies that can respond to change.   

Here are three steps you can take, if you’re not doing them already, to begin to create flatter, more nimble organizations:

·        Delegate decision-making down to the team level and empower teams to act quickly.

·        Maximize project-based teams.

·        Begin to take stock of your internal talent pool.

Today the ability to respond effectively to change is a core capability. You can read more here about how to create flatter, more responsive organizations that are more able to manage change.