"Improving Your Organization's Speed and Agility"
No Author Cited
Hewitt Associates, May 2002
Hewitt's study reports that CEOs are striving to improve organizational speed and agility as a result of intense market pressures generated by customer demands, competition and the fast pace of business today.
In addition, 67 percent of the 60 surveyed CEOs and 91 percent of the 261 surveyed HR executives believe HR should help lead the company in its endeavors to better speed and agility. However, less than half in both groups believe HR is currently assuming this role. On the other hand, the department is making progress. Seventy-two percent of HR leaders included speed and agility improvement in their fiscal year 2002 business plans. A little more than half also specified speed and agility performance measures.
CEOs attributed "organizational inertia of people and systems (risk aversion, lack of teamwork, legacy technology)" as the greatest challenge to improving speed and agility. As a solution, they are instituting people motivators and behavior changers such as changing culture, developing goals, accountabilities and incentives.
HR leaders saw lack of agreement among business leaders on what to do as the biggest obstacle. They believe that improving speed and agility in five major areas – talent management, corporate change and restructuring, HR service delivery, health benefits management and retirement benefits managment – will bring some to significant business result improvements.
This study relied on questionnaires sent to CEOs and HR leaders at 188 large organizations. It is also available by calling the Hewitt InfoDesk at (847) 295-5000.
