Innovation and Strategized Unconventional Structure planning to drive the VUCA world
During the recent massive disruption; HR Leaders have been the frontline players in navigating the organizations through the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous times. Swift and pertinent decision making; concern for the safety of employees; and also, managing the business continuity and more have been on the top of the priority list for HR Leads of the company.
When the whole world is dealing with complex and uncertain circumstances; HR managers and personnel need the ability to adapt to the new change. At the recent BW People 40 under 40 Summit an engaging panel discussion was held to deliberate on the theme “New Expectations from Leaders In The VUCA World”. The panelists for the session were Harshvendra Soin, Group Chief People Officer, and Head Marketing Tech Mahindra; Manmohan Kalsy, CHRO, United Breweries Limited, and Anil Jalali, Ex-CHRO, Capgemini and Business Advisor & Coach and the session was moderated by Resham Suhail, Editorial Lead, BW People.
The VUCA term is not the latest invention but being invented in the late 1980s has proven that the massive crisis has never been new, Anil Jalali mentioned during the discussion. He emphasized that leaders must think and operate from a deep inner purpose and vision; leaders must hunt for that very reason for accepting & reacting to the change and importantly create meticulously strategized structures and plans for the company.
Further discussing on the same lines Harshvendra Soin claimed these as the Hyper-VUCA times where the skills of leaders matter the most instead of just degrees or qualifications. Soin described in 4 major points on how the leaders must respond and lead in these trying times;
When session chair Resham Suhail asked that as a leader; how ready are you for New Normal and responding to it Kalsy mentioned that yes, we are ready as we utilized the resting period very well. Kalsy believes that it is the need of the hour to innovate and introduce unconventional structures and plans for the organization in response to the uncertain circumstances. Taking it ahead from there and explaining the changing expectations of employees he said that, “People expect leaders to be Credible, authentic and open to understanding.”
Experts ponder upon the importance of creating capabilities to learn new things constantly. In their view, learning & Development, Reskilling, Upgrading is extremely crucial for individuals and the company to stay relevant. Kalsy speaking on the same lines mentioned that he strongly advises that no cost should be cut from L&D and training modules in any company.
On the optimistic and action-oriented conclusive note; experts added that leaders of the new-age should be agile with a digital mindset to align leadership, reflect on themselves to create greater clarity for the long-term vision; and be more empathetic along with being open to communicate and understand.
