24: Why adaptability is so important for organisations - Ross Thornley, AQai

Hays Worldwide - Leadership Insights Podcast

24: Why adaptability is so important for organisations - Ross Thornley, AQai How can you build adaptability into your workforce and succeed in the new era of work? Listen to our podcast, featuring Ross Thornley, Co-Founder and CEO of adaptability assessments business AQai. You can read the full transcript here: https://social.hays.com/2020/12/15/podcast-24-why-adaptability-is-so-important-for-organisations/ Related content: • 11 skills that will help you become a better leader in the new era of work: https://social.hays.com/2020/10/14/11-skills-better-leader-new-era-of-work/ • How tech can help prepare us for more COVID disruption: https://social.hays.com/2020/10/15/how-tech-help-prepare-more-covid-disruption/ • Podcast 21: How leaders can champion self-care, reflection, and awareness: https://social.hays.com/2020/10/26/podcast-21-how-leaders-can-champion-self-care-reflection-and-awareness/ • Seven ways to make your team more adaptable to change: https://social.hays.com/2020/04/07/make-team-more-adaptable-to-change/ Timestamps: (01:02) It would be great if you could introduce yourself to our listeners and also tell us a little bit about your organisation AQai? (02:55) Please could you explain what we mean by adaptability? And could you perhaps give us some examples of adaptability in action within the world of work? (06:02)Now you've just touched on this, but do you think that the need for adaptability in workforces has increased specifically since the COVID-19 pandemic began and will this trend continue to increase in the new era of work? (08:07) With organisations continuing to invest in new technologies since the pandemic began, I'd imagine this has also impacted the need for adaptable skills in their people too. (11:29) Now we've discussed the importance of workplace adaptability, but how can organisations go about creating a workplace culture that enables their employees to become more adaptable? (16:14) Following on from that, which skills should leaders be supporting their employees to develop, to ensure that their organisation is able to adapt in this new era of what? (18:48) And how can leader’s role model adaptability themselves in order to incentivise their teams to adapt too? (21:48) Do you think organisations need to take a personalised approach to building adaptability in their workforces? And if so, how can they go about doing this? (24:23) What are the benefits to this tailored approach to adaptability? (26:07) How important do you think it is for business leaders to effectively share a vision or long-term strategic direction of the organisation for employees to better understand the importance of adaptability? (28:23) Now, on the other hand, how important is it for business leaders to listen to new ideas from their teams, if they are to successfully adapt to forthcoming changes? (33:12) And how can this be done effectively if leaders are managing hybrid teams where their employees are divided between the office and remote working on a part-time and a full-time basis as is quite common in this pandemic world? (34:48) And how should leaders go about addressing any suggestions for change? (38:28) Now, how important is it for business leaders to push their teams out of their comfort zone and take risks to drive adaptability? Could it be beneficial in the long-term to let their teams experience failure to achieve this do you think? (41:23) I'd like to finish with a question that we ask all of our guests. In this very uncertain environment that we're all experiencing right now. What do you think are the three qualities that make a good leader? And do you think that these qualities have changed because of the pandemic?