Agility at Work

In late 2016, Luxembourg’s government was looking for ways to attract Financial Technology (FinTech) companies to the area - and to encourage investment in that space. With their finger on the pulse, and sensing this would spur a need for specialized talent, a local recruitment specialist acted quickly, hiring a dedicated FinTech consultant. The task: to develop a pool of candidates in the emerging FinTech sector even before the companies arrived. 

This agile thinking and quick response soon paid off when one of their clients came with an urgent FinTech hiring need: a systems and security expert who could integrate their systems in accordance with EU regulations and wear other hats for the small and growing organisation. Even with the tight timeline, they were able to quickly respond. Due to earlier preparation, they placed an expert candidate within two weeks. One year later, the client is still happy with their hire, the candidate is thriving, and the local recruitment specialist – Badenoch + Clark Luxembourg – has become the go-to recruitment partner in Luxembourg’s FinTech space for technical roles all the way through C-suite searches. 

So, what’s the lesson here?

Being the first to identify and prepare for an emerging market helped Badenoch + Clark to grow a new line of business immediately into six figures with seven-figure projections within the first five years. Our developing expertise in the FinTech space has become so specialized that we’ve hired a second dedicated FinTech consultant to meet our clients’ needs. Without the agility and foresight to identify a future need, this wouldn’t have been possible. 

 

We talk a lot about agility, but what, exactly, is agility? 

The word is defined as the “ability to move quickly and easily” or to “think and understand quickly,” which brings us to our next question…

 

What does agility in business look like?

Agile people move with speed and ease. Those with mental agility process and understand information quickly. 

When it comes to business, organisational agility goes one step further: Agile organisations not only perceive market changes ahead of their competition, but their teams also rapidly respond and adapt both to survive and to thrive. In this way, agile organisations position themselves to make the most of change by evolving in a way that turns new trends into key opportunities.

“VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) is now a firmly established reality of the dynamic business environment in which we operate,” says Darren Robinson, Regional Head of Belgium + Luxembourg at Badenoch + Clark. “And this fact requires leaders with the agility to maneuver their organisations to best fit the circumstances.”

How can you bring this agile mindset into your business?

Companies can foster agility in their workplace with this three-pronged approach:

1. Hire strategically, with soft skills in mind. “Strong candidates continuously seek to identify opportunities and anticipate needs,” says Robinson. Aim to hire adaptable employees who show a mastery of flexible thinking and collaboration. 
2. Manage with intention and trust. Task leaders with focusing their teams on positive outcomes without micromanaging their path toward these goals. Teams should direct themselves in a way that allows them to act on new developments, so don’t limit decision-making power to a bottleneck of high-level leaders. Encourage workers to adapt along the way and update their daily priorities as needed.
3. Don’t wait for perfection. “Proactivity and speed of implementation are essential,” Robinson explains. So test constantly and always move forward with the understanding that anything can be updated if necessary. Learn from each iteration and move to improve. If teams wait to make decisions or launch a new service before someone at the top deems it perfect, then your organization may lose out to a more agile competitor. 

 

At Badenoch + Clark, our deep expertise and vast experience in high-level recruitment help us to identify and place agile candidates who make an impact in their organizations. 

If you’re familiar with our brand, you’ll see that we have a fresh new look, reflective of our commitment to be agile, to better anticipate your needs and to always be ready with help when you need us. Learn more about how we can work with your organization, including hiring agile team members. We look forward to collaborating.