Agility in business is no longer optional. Organizations that adopt agile ways of working see measurable gains in operational performance, including speed, predictability, and target achievement, while also improving employee engagement through clearer missions, greater empowerment, and stronger customer focus. But agility comes with constant change, requiring organizations to build real responsiveness and resilience.

“How do I survive in this world where change is coming hard and fast, creating a real sense of loss on a number of levels, and my response to it may not always be productive and constructive?” asked Kenneth Matos Ph.D, director of market insights at HiBob. Matos spoke during a From Day One webinar about “Building Resilience: Staying Agile Through Workforce Disruptions.” 

Matos brings psychological expertise to the design of agile organizations, offering HR leaders, managers, and teams practical tools to adapt and thrive amid constant change. Drawing on organizational psychology and his experience at HiBob, he helps managers and employees drive sustainable growth and productivity.

Creating Structural Support

Building an agile culture and organizational resilience requires structural support, says Matos. This includes company policy and managerial practices. You want your organization to remove friction so employees can adapt easily, he says. 

Matos suggests starting with clear guiding principles rather than rigid policies. Policies should provide context by explaining their purpose, not just prescribing what to do and what not to do. He also emphasizes the value of scalable platforms for cross-team collaboration, which are often more cost-effective and impactful than investing in single-purpose technologies. Scalable tools can expand or contract as needs change, making it easier to evolve processes and communication without being constrained by the technology itself.

Another way to boost structural support is through HR incorporating flexibility into workflows and employee journeys. “It might make a lot of sense to have a meeting at the end of the day to close out what you’ve been doing, but it also might get in the way of having a really diverse workforce of people who might have caregiving responsibilities,” he said. 

Creating internal marketplaces for projects and learning can reduce the need to hire externally by making it easier to redeploy existing talent. Matos also points to job architecture as a critical area for structural support, emphasizing that it should be treated as an ongoing, evolving process rather than a fixed framework. “Are these roles still making sense as we launch a new product? Are these roles still making sense if we go into a new area or we’re shrinking as an organization?”

Learning and development should also become demand-driven. Matos suggests finding people who want to complete specific tasks and giving them the learning resources to fulfill those tasks. This makes new skills more likely to stick. Additionally, performance systems should be reviewed more frequently. An effective system has the rewards and structures that check against what employees want to accomplish.  

Lastly, says Matos, organizations must adopt agile budgeting. “I think one of the mistakes that HR often makes is that we don’t realize how much of what we do is defined by things like the financial process,” Matos said. “So the fact that budgets get reviewed once a year sets the limits for the reward process that we do and how we think about learning.”

The Importance of Personal Development

Personal development helps employees shift from change resistance as an instinctual response, says Matos. For example, when asked how teams can decompress during uncertainty, Matos emphasizes that the key aspect is allowing people to be heard using feedback.

Inviting teams to reflect on their current challenges, successes, and what could be done differently helps replace doubt with clarity and confidence. Managers play a critical role by supporting personal development and normalizing role evolution, celebrating past accomplishments while reinforcing that employees are resilient, adaptable, and capable of change.

“Asking people, say on a weekly basis, ‘what did you learn this week? What did you learn this month?’ Can just help them stop and go, ‘Right, I’m supposed to still be learning things, not just executing this job over and over again like a cog in a machine.’”

Establishing a shared narrative can ease transitions by encouraging open conversations between employees, leaders, and peers about stepping into new roles. Previews, pilots, and trials also help employees gradually acclimate to organizational change. Most importantly, supporting employees’ livelihoods requires honest discussions about their role in the organization, future growth opportunities, and where they envision their careers heading.

These discussions should reinforce resilience and adaptability as positive growth indicators. “Markers of an agile workforce is that they have fluid professional narratives,” Matos said. “They don’t see themselves as bound to a particular title or job track, but as having a collection of skills that they can apply to a variety of different purposes and goals that change with the context around them.”

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, HiBob, for sponsoring this webinar. 

Stephanie Reed is a freelance news, marketing, and content writer. Much of her work features small business owners throughout diverse industries. She is passionate about promoting small, ethical, and eco-conscious businesses. 

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