Employers with a strong agile culture more than treble their commercial performance, according to research.
Consultancy JCURV’s second annual State of agile culture report found that organisations who switched to this way of working saw an increase of 237% in performance and had employees who were almost twice as engaged as those at non-agile businesses.
The Agile Business Consortium defines agile culture as “an environment that is underpinned by values, behaviours and practices which enable organisations, teams and individuals to be more adaptive, flexible, innovative and resilient when dealing with complexity, uncertainty and change”.
The JCURV report found that more than nine in 10 organisations who had not previously adopted an agile approach increased their agility as a result of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
Employee satisfaction was 160% higher at organisations that introduced agile working at scale. Respondents at agile organisations were seven times more likely to feel like they had a great team spirit.
Businesses with a strong agile culture were found to be most prevalent in industries that were hit the hardest by the pandemic, including professional services, healthcare and pharmaceutical, government and education. The highest levels of agility were reported by respondents in financial services.
Vikram Jain, managing director at JCURV, explained that the data should reassure everyone that agile practices are a way to feel prepared for whatever may happen in the future.
He added that introducing such a culture should be done in a strategic way so as not to overwhelm existing work expectations, and to ensure engaged employees are not at risk of burnout.
“With a 237% increase in business performance reported from those who have built a strong agile culture, agility should be at the top of mind for any organisation looking to ensure they are attracting and retaining the best team possible and maximising productivity,” Jain said.