It is almost half a year into managing a crisis and the unprecedented uncertainty that it brought to us personally and professionally. As we look around, there are a number of businesses that are sustaining this crisis pretty well, while some have crashed and some are flourishing irrespective of the pandemic. While the reasons behind the success and failures could be many, however, one thing that is undeniable is that businesses who adapted to the changing ecosystem are responding outstandingly to the crisis.

Adaptability is the key. 

To help you through these tough times and accelerate your adaptability quotient, it is our privilege to bring to you some of the key findings from Asia Pacific’s largest study on the State of HR Transformation conducted by Alight Solutions in partnership with People Matters and also insights from some leading CHROs on what ‘adaptable’ means to them in today’s context, in an exclusive video series - Adaptable HR: The Future is Now!

Here is the first episode of the video series which features Shaswat Kumar, Vice President & Asia Head - Payroll, Advisory, and Cloud Solutions, Alight Solutions and Steven Yudiyantho, Senior VP - Human Capital Strategy & Talent Management, PT Bank Mandiri, Indonesia, where they reflect on “Why the next curve of business impact is Adaptable HR”.

To make the content more action-oriented, we have divided each episode into three chapters which will give you a glimpse of a step-by-step process to achieving adaptability.

Chapter-1: Adaptability in HR: A brief overview

In this rapidly evolving business ecosystem, adaptability plays a central role in helping organisations navigate the uncertain and ambiguous future. The third-edition of Asia-Pacific’s largest study on the State of HR Transformation, recently launched by Alight Solutions in partnership with People Matters, focuses on the theme Adaptable HR. As business, talent and the HR community at large, face unprecedented situations triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, the study shows how being adaptable is no longer a choice, it is imperative, it is inevitable. 

Everything at the workplace is undergoing a dramatic transformation and interestingly, what could have been a reality of the future, has now become the present. Kickstart your journey of Adaptable HR, in this first chapter of the episode, with Shaswat Kumar, Vice President & Asia Head - Payroll, Advisory, and Cloud Solutions, Alight Solutions as he decodes what Adaptable HR means and why it is the next curve for your business impact. 

Chapter-2: Insights from Asia Pacific’s largest study on the State of HR Transformation:  A deeper outlook

In the second chapter of this episode, Shaswat Kumar, Vice President & Asia Head - Payroll, Advisory, and Cloud Solutions, Alight Solutions answers the following key questions that might puzzle you when you activate your Adaptable journey:

• What does adaptability look like?
• What are the signs of adaptability?
• What are the kind of outcomes one should expect from their adaptable HR journey?

Moving ahead, Shaswat delves deeper into the insights of the State of HR Transformation Study 2020 as Steven Yudiyantho, Senior VP - Human Capital Strategy & Talent Management, PT Bank Mandiri, Indonesia poses questions on how one can navigate through the following key milestones in the Adaptable HR journey:

• How HR transformation can enable business transformation?
• How digital is a key to accelerating your adaptability quotient?
• Why should you discard your traditional 3-pillar HR model and think through model-specific roles?

Chapter -3: CHRO’s take on adaptability in HR

Reflecting on the enablers of successful transformation from the Asia-Pacific’s largest study on the State of HR Transformation, it was found most of the success comes through when HR is willing to change itself. In fact, resistance to change from HR is the biggest barrier in realising transformation. In the third chapter of the episode, Steven Yudiyantho, Senior VP - Human Capital Strategy & Talent Management, PT Bank Mandiri, Indonesia reflects on the findings of the study and shares how Bank Mandiri is approaching a logical, disciplined, and impactful strategy towards the art of becoming adaptable.

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

Q1. What does adaptability mean to you in today’s context?

A: Earlier, it was said that HR, as a function, is nice to have. However, with the unprecedented change and uncertainty, it is an inevitable function to have in order to compete in this crisis. However, this also requires the HR team to be agile and adaptable to the current threats and uncertainties posed by the pandemic. Today, the HR function has a great opportunity in front of them when it comes to creating value for the business. At Bank Mandiri, we have realised that collaboration across HR and other functions is key to being ‘Adaptable’. 

Q2. Going through the State of HR Transformation Study 2020, what are some of the trends you relate with the most?

I think as the study indicated, we need to relook at the overall structure of the traditional HR function and build critical skills among the professionals like Design Thinking, User Experience, and Data Analytics. These capabilities are not only useful in responding to the talent needs, but overall business needs as raised by the consumers. Agility in HR learning, I would say is the most important trend from the study that I resonate with.

Q3. What are some trends that will be further amplified in the future?

A: I recently saw a cartoon published in one of the magazines, where it was written, “the digital transformation is accelerated by the advent of COVID-19.” This was an interesting thought and I feel it is a blessing in disguise. It has helped us address issues like, “Do we have enough infrastructure, do we have the right ecosystem to drive digital transformation?”  Take this example, for years, e-learning penetration for us was as low as 5 percent. But after the pandemic struck, after these three months, we observed more than 15 percent increase in e-learning adoption. To me, this is a good number as without any intervention led by our team, the adoption rate went from almost zero to 15 percent. The new normal for us is to pick up the opportunity in front of us and accelerate the momentum of digital transformation. 

Q4. How are you looking at accelerating your HR function to make it more adaptable? 

A: Three things that I feel would expedite the transformation:

1) Mindset shift: HR function should share responsibilities with line managers, management, and employees. There is a mindset shift required when we perceive an HR function - it should be perceived as a shared role.

2) Make decisions based on data: The infrastructure needs to be in place in order to have credible data and sound analytics. Right data can add value to business continuity and success.

3) Digital is not a technology but a culture: Do not take digital transformation as a technology implementation process. However, treat it as a cultural shift that leads to the maximum adoption of technology and tools.