Future-Proofing Your Workforce: The Power of Learning Agility in an Evolving Workplace
Mark Leisegang, Insights
I’d like to start by telling you a story, a story about a seasoned HR consultant called Anya. Anya found herself at the forefront of a new challenge. AI-powered tools were automating many of the traditional HR tasks from recruitment to performance reviews. At first, Anya was concerned. Would her expertise become obsolete in the world of automated processes? At first, Anya was afraid. Would her role become redundant, as technology moved forward more rapidly? This could have been the start of a very downward spiral of disengagement and de-motivation, but instead of fearing the future, she embraced it.
She began to see AI as a tool, not a threat. She learned to use AI to streamline her work, freeing up time to focus on more strategic tasks. AI allowed Anya to analyze vast amounts of data, identifying trends and patterns that would have been impossible to spot manually. However, Anya also recognized the unique value that humans bring. AI, while powerful lacks empathy, creativity, and the newest understanding that humans possess. She realized that her role was not to be replaced by AI, but complement it. In the end, Anya’s ability to learn, to adapt, to embrace the future was connecting a human touch that allowed her to thrive in the world of AI.
Learning agility matters because it’s the ability to rapidly acquire new skills and knowledge and adapt to unfamiliar situations. It’s critical to individuals, but also critical to the success of organizations. In the modern workplace, learning agility is crucial for staying relevant, driving innovation, and navigating ongoing disruptions and challenges. Individuals with high learning agility who excel in dynamic environments, embrace ambiguity, are flexible and learn from both success and failure. It involves being open to change, continuously seeking growth, and effectively applying past experiences to new opportunities.
The correlation between learning agility and business success is well documented in various statistics and case studies. Organizations with high engagement and strong learning cultures, often driven by accessible learning opportunities, are more likely to help companies to be first to market with innovative products. As can be seen there, they also drive 25% higher profit margins. Organizations with slightly agile employees also see higher productivity than less agile competitors. And we all know that productivity boosts efficiency, enabling business to drive greater value for less resource.
For these reasons, 94% of executives identified learning agility as critical to business success and in dealing with technological changes. For these reasons, Microsoft underwent a major cultural transformation under, CEO Satya Nadella, from a know-it-all culture to a learn-it-all culture. Nadella encouraged employees to prioritize learning agility as a core value. As this moved forward, the transformation encouraged innovation, empowering employees to embrace challenges and adapt to change. This resulted in an increase from $86 billion in 2014 to $143 billion in 2020, a 258% increase in stock.
So what is learning agility? Well, it starts with mental agility, people agility, change, agility, results agility, and at its core self-awareness. So what do I mean by mental agility? A person with strong mental agility is someone who finds it easy to adjust their state of mind to new circumstances and situations. To promote mental agility, encourage curiosity, open-mindedness, problem-solving, while allowing employees to learn from past experiences. A person with strong people agility can adapt their behavior in different social situations and manage interpersonal dynamics with ease. To promote people agility, encourage open communication, active listening, and empathy in the workplace.
Individuals who are strong in change agility are not only comfortable with change, but also seek out an opportunity to innovate and grow. To promote change agility, create a culture that embraces innovation and flexibility. Individuals with result agility can quickly pivot strategies, maintain focus on key objectives, and stay productive under pressure and deliver outcomes. To promote result agility, empower employees to take ownership through autonomy and flexibility. Self-aware employees recognize their strengths and areas for development, making them more receptive to feedback and proactive in seeking growth opportunities. Use personality assessments and emotional intelligence training to enhance this.
So like Anya, we develop agile learners and ourselves and others, it improves engagement leads to innovative solutions, it creates the ability to change and it increases performance. Here’s to creating a world of agile leaders.
