Senior HR leaders in large, complex enterprises have piloted Agile ways of working and seen the benefits in small teams.
Now comes the hard part: scaling those benefits across a global HR organization.
How do you structure multiple HR squads, spread across regions and functions, so they move fast and stay aligned?
How do you maintain an employee-centric focus when dozens of agile experiments fire at once?
We tackle these questions head-on. We’ll explore the challenges of scaling Agile HR in global enterprises, from coordinating across borders to balancing autonomy with control. We’ll propose concrete team structures (like Agile squads and “HR product” teams, even AI-augmented pods) that can drive rapid transformation at scale.
The goal is to give you a roadmap for organizing HR for agility at scale, so you can transform not just one project, but your entire HR function into a fast, responsive, employee-first powerhouse.
Learn how to transform HR into a people-first function that builds trust, designs better experiences, and drives real business results in this interactive, 10-minute guide. Read Now.
Rolling out Agile in a single HR team is one thing; embedding it across a multinational HR operation is another. Scaling Agile HR in a global enterprise presents unique challenges…
In a large organization, you might have dozens of agile HR squads tackling everything from recruitment to learning to rewards. Without careful coordination, you risk duplication of work or teams drifting in different directions.
One squad in Europe might be refining the onboarding process while another in Asia is redesigning it entirely – both unaware of each other. Keeping teams in sync as the network expands becomes critical.
Global enterprises need some consistency (in policies, employer brand, core technology) yet also flexibility to adapt to local cultures and regulations. Scaling agility means deciding what is fixed globally and where teams have freedom to innovate. For example, an agile squad in Brazil might need autonomy to adjust a performance program for local norms, but within global guardrails on fairness and compliance. Hitting this balance is a governance puzzle for HR.
Agile HR teams excel by obsessing over employee feedback and needs. But as you scale to many teams and thousands of employees, maintaining that human-first focus is challenging.
There’s a risk that in a burst of agile activity, teams churn out lots of “updates” that overwhelm employees or fragment the experience. Ensuring coherence in the employee journey, so improvements add up to a better overall experience (not a chaotic one), is a real concern when many HR squads are iterating simultaneously.
Large enterprises often have complex HR tech ecosystems. Introducing Agile practices at scale often goes hand-in-hand with modern platforms, self-service tools, and AI automation. However, rolling out new tech globally can be slow if done traditionally. The challenge is for agile teams to leverage technology (like AI chatbots or workflow tools) in a distributed way without waiting for monolithic IT projects. Later in this chapter, we’ll see how agentic AI adds both urgency and opportunity to scaling agility.
Finally, scaling Agile HR means cultural change at all levels. Senior leaders might worry about losing control if dozens of teams self-organize. Mid-level managers used to hierarchical decision-making might resist new ways of working. In global firms, one region’s HR might fully embrace agile while another region remains skeptical. Overcoming these adoption gaps – building an enterprise-wide agile mindset – is a non-trivial challenge.
In short, scaling agility in HR is a systems challenge: it’s about redesigning the structure, governance, and culture of the HR function so that agility can thrive beyond a single pilot team. The good news? It can be done, and has been done by forward-thinking organizations. Let’s explore how.
To scale Agile, HR must often reorganize from a traditional hierarchy (or classic Ulrich model) into a network of agile teams. Instead of rigid departments (Recruiting, Training, etc.) handing off work, you create cross-functional squads that each own an outcome or “product” in the employee experience. These squads act like mini start-ups within HR, with each having a clear mission, the skills to deliver it end-to-end, and the authority to experiment and iterate quickly.
There are several ways to define the missions of agile HR squads. Here are a few common archetypes:
In practice, a scaled agile HR operating model may include a mix of these squad types. For instance, a global bank might set up journey squads for major employee milestones (hiring, onboarding, career growth, rewards), plus a technology squad to roll out new digital HR tools, plus a “People Analytics” squad supplying data to others. The key is that each squad has a customer-centric mission (employees are HR’s most important customer) and is empowered to deliver improvements continuously.
Picture your HR organization not as a pyramid of siloed departments, but as a network of squads clustered around missions, supported by shared practices. One way to visualize this is an adaptation of the famous “Spotify model” to HR.
At the base are the agile teams themselves. Each squad is represented as a node (or cell) responsible for a certain outcome. Think “Onboarding Squad,” “Benefits Squad,” “Performance Squad,” “HR Tech Squad,” etc. Each squad is cross-functional, containing all roles needed to deliver value in that area (perhaps an HRBP, a subject matter expert from a Center of Excellence, a tech specialist, a designer, etc., along with a Product Owner and maybe a Scrum Master for agile process). They operate with a high degree of autonomy day-to-day.
Squads that work on related missions can be grouped into a tribe. You might group a few squads under a larger umbrella. For instance, an “Employee Experience Tribe” could encompass the Onboarding, Career Growth, and Wellbeing squads. A “Talent Tribe” might include Recruiting and Learning squads. Tribes are a way to ensure alignment and knowledge sharing across squads that have connected goals. In practice, a tribe might meet periodically (say monthly) so squads can share progress, align on broad objectives, and ensure their work fits into an integrated experience.
To maintain standards and share expertise across squads, you have Chapters and Guilds (communities of practice, McKinsey). For example, all HR professionals in people analytics roles across different squads might form a “People Analytics Chapter” that meets to exchange insights and set common data standards. Similarly, an “Employee Experience Guild” could be an open community that anyone interested in design thinking for HR can join. These constructs keep capability leadership in place (so specialists still collaborate and grow in their field) even as they work in dispersed agile teams.
At the top, there’s still a need for a slim leadership layer… but its role is ENABLING rather than directing. The CHRO and a small leadership team act as a hub that sets the vision (the “North Star” for all squads), ensures resources and talent are allocated to squads, and maintains oversight of ethics, compliance and major policy decisions. Instead of hierarchical approvals, this leadership layer provides strategic alignment and removes impediments. Visualize this as a core circle in the center of the network, connected to all squads (showing that leadership communicates vision to all, and receives feedback/data from all).
In this agile HR network, work gets done through collaboration and shared goals, not through bureaucracy. Decisions are made by the squads “closest to the information”.
For example, the Performance Squad decides how to tweak the performance review process this quarter based on employee feedback, without needing a 10-stage sign-off from every region’s HR head. Meanwhile, the broader tribe structure and leadership communication ensure that, say, the Performance Squad’s changes complement what the Compensation Squad is doing, so the pieces fit together.
This model has been successfully implemented. ING, for example, reorganized its HR department into agile squads and saw much faster delivery of HR solutions, rolling out changes (like new learning programs or policy tweaks) in weeks instead of months. Spanish bank BBVA went even further, converting a 2,000-person global HR team into an agile network within 9 months, breaking old functional units into multidisciplinary squads across 10 countries.
The result? HR solution delivery became 3 times faster than before (see Agile HR: Bringing Speed and Flexibility to HR Service Delivery), quality improved, and internal client (business leader) satisfaction rose significantly. These cases show that agile networks can scale to very large HR functions.
So how can you get started structuring your HR teams into an agile network? Here’s a practical playbook:
Map out the key value streams or service areas in HR where faster iteration would benefit the business and employees. Prioritize a set of missions. For example: improving onboarding, accelerating hiring, enhancing learning, boosting engagement, etc. Ensure each mission is outcome-focused (“increase new hire productivity in first 90 days”) rather than task-focused. These missions will become your initial squads.
For each mission, assemble a small team (5–9 people) with the skills to deliver end-to-end improvements. Mix roles, e.g., an HRBP who knows the business, a CoE specialist with deep expertise (comp or L&D), a tech or data analyst, maybe a front-line manager or employee rep for voice of customer. Designate a Product Owner for the squad (often a senior HR person responsible for that outcome) and if possible assign an Agile coach or Scrum Master to facilitate team ceremonies.
Give each squad a clear charter: what employee/HR outcome they own, what metrics define success, and where they have autonomy. For instance, a “Career Development Squad” charter might be to continuously improve internal mobility and growth opportunities, measured by metrics like internal fill rate of roles and employee career satisfaction scores. Clarify boundaries too, e.g., the squad can change processes/tools in their domain freely as long as they adhere to legal/regulatory policies and stay within budget.
As soon as you have multiple squads, set up a cadence to coordinate and share. Many companies use a bi-weekly “scrum of scrums” or leadership stand-up where each squad’s lead reports on progress, dependencies, or needs. Quarterly, consider a larger planning meeting (an agile “big room planning” event) with all squads to align on major initiatives for the next quarter. At ING, HR leaders held stand-ups in an Obeya (big room) every two weeks to check progress on strategic themes, with the full team assembling quarterly to set big priorities. These frequent, fluid interactions replaced slow top-down governance. Adopt a similar rhythm so squads stay aligned but not micromanaged.
Don’t flip the entire HR organization to agile squads overnight. Start with a few pilot squads in high-impact areas. Let them run for a couple of sprints and refine their ways of working. Gather feedback from team members and stakeholders. Then adjust. Maybe you realize some squads are too big/small, or need a different skill mix. Expand by waves: add more squads once the initial ones show success and you’ve ironed out kinks. This iterative scaling (versus big-bang) allows the culture and governance to catch up as structure evolves.
Equip squads with collaboration tools (digital Kanban boards, shared backlogs, analytics dashboards) so their work is transparent. Provide training in Agile methods adapted for HR (common courses include Agile HR certifications or inviting an Agile coach with HR experience). Some organizations appoint an “Agile HR Center of Excellence” to mentor squads and share best practices. Thales, for example, upskilled their Talent Acquisition team with Agile training and brought in an HR Scrum Master to coach them. This helped individual recruiters transition from siloed work to a self-managing team that planned together and visualized their hiring pipeline on a Kanban board.
By following this playbook, you create the scaffolding for multiple agile HR teams to flourish. It’s about thoughtful design – you’re essentially building a new operating model for HR, one squad at a time, but ensuring the pieces eventually connect into a coherent whole.
As you scale agile teams, a big question arises: how do we ensure all these squads have enough freedom to move fast, but also enough alignment so that we don’t spin off in different directions?
This is especially tricky in global enterprises, where HR must respect local differences yet uphold a unified company culture and comply with global standards. The solution lies in smart governance – frameworks that provide “freedom within a framework.” The core principle is often described as “aligned autonomy.”
In other words, you want high autonomy and high alignment at the same time. They are not opposites; they’re separate dimensions. With the right model, autonomy actually amplifies alignment rather than undermining it. But achieving this balance requires clarity on who makes which decisions, and strong communication of strategy.
This diagram represents four states an organization (or HR function) can be in:
This is the worst of both worlds. Teams have no freedom to innovate and no clear direction. In an HR context, this might look like a bureaucratic HR department where every action requires approval (low autonomy), yet leadership has not set a clear people strategy or goals (low alignment). Teams in this quadrant tend to be disengaged and output is minimal.
Here, the whole organization marches in one direction, but only the top decides that direction. HR teams in this state experience heavy oversight: global HQ dictates policies and programs rigidly across all regions. While there’s consistency (alignment), local HR has little room to adapt or experiment. This can achieve efficiency and compliance, but it’s slow to respond to change, and it stifles front-line innovation. Too much top-down control in a fast-changing world is a liability; as one agile coach quipped, “too much direction feels like micromanagement” (EasyAgile).
This is the startup vibe gone wrong: teams can do whatever they want, but there’s no unifying vision or standards. If each HR squad operated in a vacuum, you might get creative ideas, but also conflicting policies and a fragmented employee experience. Imagine one country’s HR team implements unlimited vacation as an experiment while another prohibits carryover of leave; with no coordination, employees at the company get wildly different messages. In the matrix, this is a dangerous place: lots of activity, little coherence. As a result, efforts are wasted or even work at cross purposes.
This is where you want to be: the “magic” quadrant. Teams are deeply aligned to the organization’s purpose and strategy, and they have the freedom to decide how to achieve those goals. In HR, this means every squad understands the broader HR vision and key metrics (for example, “improve employee NPS by X” or “build a culture of continuous learning”), but each team has latitude to innovate solutions that fit their context. Leaders set the what and why, teams figure out the how. When done right, you get a consistent employee experience and strategic impact, delivered through empowered teams that can adapt to local needs in real time.
The job of governance in a scaled agile model is to move the organization toward that top-right quadrant. To do so, consider these mechanisms:
1. Clear Strategic Vision and OKRs
Alignment comes from everyone understanding the big objectives. So HR leadership must clearly communicate the strategy (e.g. “Our HR North Star is to deliver a unified, delightful employee experience that drives engagement to top-quartile levels”) and possibly set enterprise-wide OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for HR. Each squad can then translate those into their own backlog priorities. If a squad knows, for instance, that one key result is “reduce new hire time-to-productivity by 30%,” they have a target to align to even as they autonomously experiment with onboarding improvements.
2. Minimal but Critical Guardrails
Define non-negotiables where consistency or risk control truly matters, and let teams loose on the rest. Guardrails in HR typically include legal compliance (labor law, data privacy), core cultural values, and perhaps certain global policies that must stay standard (for equity or brand reasons). Document these clearly as “Agile HR Guardrails.” Anything outside that list, squads should feel empowered to change. For example, you might say: thou shalt comply with GDPR and EEOC guidelines (global guardrail), but thou shalt experiment with different learning programs or manager training approaches (local freedom). Security and data standards might be tight, whereas something like how you celebrate employee recognition can be loose and locally tailored.
3. Federated Governance Bodies
Instead of a top-heavy global HR governance board that approves every change, move to a federated model. This could mean a Global Agile HR Council that meets monthly, consisting of representatives from each region or tribe. Their role is to share what squads are doing, catch any major conflicts or redundancies early, and agree on any enterprise-wide actions needed. They don’t micro-manage squads; they serve as an information radiator and alignment checkpoint. In one global company, the head of each HR tribe joined a bi-weekly call to report key backlog items and flag if they were diverging from corporate standards. If something was off, they discussed solutions (like syncing two squads to co-create a single approach rather than two competing ones). This kept alignment high without requiring pre-approval of each squad decision.
4. Shared Metrics and Dashboards
Ensure that all teams are measured in part on common outcomes. This naturally drives alignment because everyone is accountable to some of the same scoreboard. For instance, track an overall Employee Experience Index (from surveys) that all HR squads contribute to. Each squad might have its own metrics too, but a few shared KPIs (like employee satisfaction with HR services, or average time to resolve an HR query) fosters a one-team mentality. Modern HR systems can provide global dashboards so every squad and leader sees the same data in real time. When 93% of agile organizations report improved customer (or, in HR’s case, employee) satisfaction and better operational performance compared to peers, it’s often because they are actively measuring and transparently sharing these metrics to keep teams focused on the big picture.
The bottom line is that scaling agile requires a shift in governance style from command-and-control to what we might call “guide-and-guard.” Leaders become enablers who guide with vision and guardrails, rather than approvers of each task. This allows autonomy to flourish within a cohesive framework. It’s a learning process: you might initially err on the side of too much control (old habits die hard) or too little oversight, but through retrospectives at the leadership level you can adjust. Remember, autonomy and alignment are not static states; they’re something you continuously calibrate as you grow.
✅ Shared Vision Documented: We have a clear, concise HR vision or mission statement that all squads reference for guidance. Key strategic HR priorities for the year are communicated to all teams.
✅ Global HR Policies Reviewed for Flexibility: We’ve identified which policies/processes must remain globally consistent and which can be adapted by teams. (e.g. “Compliance rules – fixed; Wellness initiatives – flexible.”)
✅ Decision Rights Defined: Teams know what decisions they can make independently vs. what requires consultation. For example, a squad can change an HR workflow but if a change impacts employment contracts or legal terms, it must go through Legal.
✅ Feedback Loop for Governance: The governance group (e.g. HR leadership team or agile council) regularly solicits feedback from squads: Are the guardrails clear? Is decision latency still low? This meta-retrospective ensures governance itself improves continuously.
Using this checklist, you can periodically audit whether your agile HR organization is staying on track (autonomous yet aligned). If something’s off (say, squads complain about needing approval for minor changes… a sign of over-control), you adjust governance accordingly. The goal is a self-correcting system that evolves as the organization scales.
No agile transformation (at scale) succeeds without strong, visionary leadership. In the context of HR, the CHRO and senior HR leaders become the architects of agile ways of working. They must create the conditions for squads to flourish and ensure agility scales beyond experiments. This isn’t about sponsoring one agile pilot; it’s about rewiring the function’s culture and habits.
Here’s how HR leaders can enable scalable agility.
First and foremost, the CHRO needs to clearly articulate why HR is embracing agility at scale. Paint a compelling vision of an HR function that is fast, flexible, and closer to employees. For example, “We are transforming HR into a network of nimble, customer-focused teams so we can deliver value to our employees in real time.” This vision must be communicated consistently. Leaders should also model agile behaviors themselves, showing openness to change, encouraging experimentation, and even running leadership team meetings in agile formats (stand-ups for updates, retrospectives on their own work).
When the top team works in an agile rhythm, it signals commitment. At ING, leaders noticed that involving HR early in the company’s agile journey gave HR a head start and credibility (HR had to be agile itself to champion agility organization-wide). A CHRO should be seen actively participating in agile ceremonies (e.g., joining a squad demo to give feedback) to reinforce the importance.
Scalable agility requires letting go of old micromanagement tendencies. HR leaders should push decision-making down to squads as much as possible. That means giving teams a mandate (“improve X metric by Y”) and the resources to achieve it, then stepping back and trusting them to execute. Ensure that your direct reports (HR VPs, regional heads, CoE heads) do the same: retrain middle managers from task masters to servant leaders or coaches. A useful practice is for leaders to explicitly define “bounded autonomy”: for instance, telling a squad, “You have a budget of $50k and authority to change any process in this area without additional approval; if you need more or want to change policy, come to me.” By defining the sandbox, leaders actually free teams to move fast within it.
In agile, we often say “Decentralize control but maintain alignment”. Leaders give squads room to run, stepping in only when alignment drifts or risks emerge. The quote “Make sure they feel enabled to make mistakes as they learn” from ING’s HR director is apt – leaders must permit mistakes. If a squad’s experiment fails, the response should be “Great, what did you learn? How fast can you try a different approach?” rather than punishment. This psychological safety net, set by leadership tone, is essential for agile culture.
HR leaders need to ensure their people have the skills to thrive in an agile model. This could mean investing in training a cadre of Agile HR coaches or certifying existing staff in agile methodologies (Scrum Master, Product Owner, Agile HR practitioner programs). It also means redefining roles: identify who in your current team can serve as Product Owners (often those with broad business perspective and execution drive), who could be Scrum Masters (facilitators/project managers with a coaching mindset), etc. In some cases, new hires might be needed – e.g., bringing in a few people from agile tech or operations teams to seed new practices in HR.
Another leadership task is establishing career paths in the new model: reassure HR professionals that growing in an agile org might mean becoming a Chapter Lead or Tribe Lead rather than a traditional manager. Set up mentorship and peer learning so that teams share agile know-how. Leaders should also encourage rotation or secondments into agile teams as a development opportunity. Essentially, treat “agility” as a skill to be built enterprise-wide, starting with HR. If 63% of HR leaders are already using some form of agile methods (as a Gartner study found), those who haven’t yet must catch up or risk their teams falling behind in skills.
In the rush of agile execution, it’s ironically easy to get lost in velocity and forget why you’re doing it (it’s for the employees). CHROs should constantly bring discussions back to the employee perspective. For example, when reviewing squads’ plans, ask “How will this change impact employees? What are employees telling us this sprint?” Encourage squads to include real employee input in every review or demo. Possibly institute a practice like employee feedback panels that regularly interface with squads. Leadership can also highlight positive outcomes for employees as the key wins.
By keeping the organization’s North Star on being human-first and employee-centric, leaders ensure that scaling agility doesn’t turn into scaling for efficiency at the expense of empathy. This also means leaders should champion ethical and thoughtful use of AI and tech – making sure that in scaling through digital means, no group of employees is left behind or disadvantaged. A simple habit is to have an empty chair (representing the employee) in important meetings; a reminder that the employee voice must be present in every decision. Leadership ethos drives culture: if the CHRO is always asking “How does this make life better for our people?” then every squad will internalize that mindset even as they rapidly experiment.
Finally, leaders need to focus the organization on results – the value created – rather than bureaucratic metrics. In agile HR at scale, that means tracking the improvements in employee experience, response times, productivity, etc., rather than, say, adherence to process or hours worked. CHROs should establish a dashboard of agility metrics that matter (we detail examples in the next section). Then use those metrics in management discussions. For instance, regularly review how much faster HR is delivering change or how employee engagement scores are moving as a result of agile initiatives.
When goals are hit, celebrate publicly. Share stories: “Our UK talent squad filled roles 30% faster this quarter, let’s give them a hand and see what we can learn from their approach.” Recognize teams not for following a plan, but for achieving outcomes and learning from failures. This shifts the culture from “did we execute the project plan?” to “did we move the needle for our employees and business?” One senior leader described this as moving HR’s focus to delivering on the organization’s purpose with agility, rather than agility being a goal in itself (BCG). In other words, keep tying agile back to business value; this keeps stakeholders supportive and teams motivated.
In summary, CHROs and their leadership teams act as champions and guardians of agile, ensuring the entire HR organization evolves. They provide air cover for teams to try new things, invest in people and tools, and relentlessly focus everyone on the endgame: a more responsive HR function that delivers for employees. Leadership enablement might not grab headlines like a new technology, but it’s the make-or-break factor in scaling agility. HR leaders who master this role can turn their function into a true strategic asset… as some did at companies like ING and BBVA, where HR led the agile transformation from the front.
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No chapter on rapid transformation in 2025 would be complete without discussing the impact of artificial intelligence. As agentic AI (AI systems capable of autonomous actions) becomes prevalent, HR teams have a powerful ally – and sometimes a disruptive force – in scaling their work. AI-augmented HR structures are emerging as a way to achieve agility at a radically new scale, but they require smart integration into the team model.
What do we mean by AI-augmented structures? In practical terms, it means incorporating AI tools and “digital workers” into HR processes and even teams.
Think of an AI-powered HR virtual assistant that can handle tier-1 employee queries, or a machine learning model that auto-screens candidates, or an algorithm that suggests personalized learning content to employees. These aren’t science fiction; they’re being deployed now. The agility angle is that AI can dramatically speed up routine tasks and provide 24/7 scalability without linear headcount growth. However, to fully leverage AI, HR operating models need to adapt, often by creating agile teams around AI capabilities and by treating AI as “team members” in processes.
Here are key considerations and examples of how AI and agility intersect:
Some organizations are setting up dedicated agile teams to drive AI adoption in HR. For instance, you might charter an “AI in HR” squad that continuously pilots and implements AI solutions for HR service delivery. This squad could experiment with a chatbot for answering HR FAQs, roll it out in a sprint, gather employee feedback on its accuracy and helpfulness, and iterate – much faster than a traditional IT project. By working in an agile loop, they catch issues early (like the bot misunderstanding a policy question) and refine before scaling up.
One company used a similar approach to implement an AI-based interview scheduling assistant; a small agile team piloted it with one department, collected data, and improved the algorithm within weeks, then expanded company-wide. The team treated the AI like a product that needs constant improvement – a very different mindset from a one-off system install.
As more HR tasks get handled by AI, the role of HR professionals shifts to overseeing and enhancing those AI agents. Agile methodology is invaluable here because it enables rapid adaptation of policies and processes as AI comes online. For example, if your AI recruitment screener suddenly starts favoring certain profiles (unintentionally causing bias), you want an agile mechanism to respond. Perhaps the Recruiting squad quickly adjusts the algorithm’s parameters or introduces a manual check, all within a sprint cycle. In a traditional setup, that issue might be discovered months later in an audit; an agile HR team, by contrast, would catch it in the retrospective of the very next sprint. In fact, 78% of executives say that to get the maximum benefit from AI, a new operating model is needed that allows rapid reconfiguration of processes. Agile HR is exactly that kind of operating model: one that can flex and re-form processes on the fly as AI tools proliferate.
We can start to think of certain AI applications as virtual team members. For example, if an AI tool handles employee leave requests autonomously, your “Benefits Squad” might consider the AI tool part of its team capacity. Daily stand-ups might even include checking the AI’s performance (“Did the virtual agent resolve most queries yesterday? Any escalation patterns we need to adjust for?”). This human-AI teaming requires clarity of roles: the AI does X, the humans do Y, and the team collectively is accountable for the outcome (e.g., 95% of leave queries answered within seconds, with high satisfaction).
Designing workflows where AI and people collaborate is a new skill. Some progressive HR teams are creating AI playbooks: guidelines for when to let the AI work autonomously vs. when to have a human in the loop. These playbooks can be updated iteratively. If the AI’s accuracy improves, maybe the humans step back more; if a new scenario arises the AI wasn’t trained for, the team adjusts the process. Agile ceremonies provide the built-in check-ins (planning, review, retro) to continuously optimize this dynamic.
A potential pitfall of heavy automation is losing the human-centricity HR is built on. Agile’s emphasis on customer (employee) feedback is the antidote. Agile HR teams should treat any AI deployment as a hypothesis to be tested with real users, gathering qualitative feedback in addition to quantitative metrics. For instance, after introducing an AI knowledge base to answer employees’ policy questions, an HR squad might gather a sample of employees for quick interviews: “How did you find the new virtual agent? Was it helpful? Did anything frustrate you?” This could surface issues like the tone of the AI’s answers being too cold. The team can then tweak the content or decide to insert a human follow-up for certain sensitive queries – whatever makes the experience more empathetic.
Mercer analysts observed that the best uses of agentic AI in HR “don’t just streamline processes, they optimize experiences”. Agile methods (with their iterative design and feedback loops) are how you ensure the experience stays optimal. If employees start feeling like the AI is too impersonal, the agile team quickly picks that up and course-corrects, perhaps by adding more personalization or transparency into how the AI makes decisions.
AI can be a great leveler in providing consistent HR service globally. A well-trained AI chatbot doesn’t care if an employee is in London or Bangalore; it can deliver the same quality of answer in milliseconds. This helps solve the scale problem without simply adding more HR personnel in each region.
One real-world example: A global company implemented an AI-based HR help assistant (similar to Applaud’s AI capabilities) that could handle a significant portion of tier-1 inquiries across 15 languages. This was orchestrated by a central agile team but co-created with input from regional HR (to ensure local context was built into the knowledge base). The result was a tier-zero support system that deflected thousands of repetitive queries (like “How do I update my bank details?”) from ever reaching an HR rep, freeing human teams to focus on complex, value-add interactions.
In essence, technology like that provides autonomy at scale and employees get instant service, while HR ensures consistency. As an example, Applaud prioritizes such tier-zero self-service for employees, reducing overall case volume and freeing HR capacity. The impact is twofold: employees get fast answers, and HR teams are not bogged down by routine tickets. Leaders should view such technology as an enabler of agility: it’s easier for small agile teams to manage a global workforce’s needs when AI handles the common stuff uniformly.
Looking ahead, 2026 is dubbed “the year of agentic AI in HR” by industry watchers. Those predictions suggest that digital agents will become top value drivers in HR. But there’s a catch: organizations that fail to prepare their ways of working, i.e., those that don’t have agile processes and an adaptable culture, may struggle or be left behind. In plain terms, scaling agility is what prepares HR to fully exploit AI’s potential.
An HR team used to quick iterations will be far better at implementing AI, learning and pivoting as needed, compared to an HR team that moves in annual cycles. In summary, AI-augmented HR structures mean humans and machines working in tandem, at speed. Agile methodology is the glue that holds this together; it provides the framework to continuously integrate AI, manage the change, and keep the experience human-centered.
The HR teams of the future might include “digital coworkers” and require even more adaptability from us humans. By embracing this now – perhaps establishing your first AI-focused squad, or automating one process and iterating on it – you’re not only scaling capacity, you’re future-proofing your HR organization. Agile HR isn’t just about doing HR faster; it’s about transforming HR into a tech-savvy, resilient function that can ride the wave of AI disruption rather than be swamped by it.
As we scale agile in HR, we must be able to answer the question: Is it working? Senior stakeholders will want to see evidence that all this squad reorganization and new ways of working are paying off. Equally important, HR teams themselves need feedback through metrics to know where to improve. This section covers data and practical metrics for agility in HR operations: what to measure, and what real results have been observed in organizations that scaled up agile HR.
One of the first things to measure is how much faster HR can deliver changes or services. In agile software teams you’d track cycle time or deployment frequency; in HR, analogous metrics could be:
1. Time-to-implement new initiatives
How quickly can an HR idea go from concept to reality? For example, pre-agile it might take 6-12 months to design and roll out a new parental leave policy. An agile HR metric would track that end-to-end cycle time for changes. ING’s agile HR squads showed dramatic improvement here, rolling out HR policy tweaks or programs in a matter of weeks that used to take months. Another company reported that after adopting sprints, their HR team delivered 100% of planned initiatives on time for the first time ever (previously, their annual HR plan would slip or spill over into the next year). The difference was Agile gave them a mechanism to re-prioritize and still get critical things done. As a metric, you might publish the “average days to roll out a change” and aim to continuously reduce it.
2. Speed-to-hire and other SLAs
If you have service-level agreements (SLAs) for HR services, how have those improved? In recruiting, for example, measure Time-to-fill positions or Time from requisition to candidate offer. An agile Talent Acquisition squad can dramatically cut this down by eliminating handoffs and working in parallel. Thales saw a 72% increase in output from their TA team with the same headcount after going agile. Effectively, they could fill jobs nearly twice as fast as before –- coping with surging demand without adding staff. Similarly, for HR helpdesk queries, track how quickly issues are resolved or how many queries are answered within 24 hours; agile HR teams often improve these by proactively fixing root causes and using kanban to manage work-in-progress.
3. Frequency of releases/updates
In Agile HR, you might count how many iterative improvements are delivered per quarter. For instance, the number of HR policy updates, system enhancements, or employee-facing improvements released in a quarter. Higher frequency (with small scope each) indicates a healthy cadence of iteration. Some companies even set a target like “deliver value to employees every sprint” and measure what percentage of sprints actually resulted in something rolled out (even if to a pilot group).
Speed alone isn’t enough; are the agile changes actually solving problems? Metrics here include:
4. Employee Experience Scores
Use pulse surveys or transaction feedback to gauge if changes are improving the employee experience. For example, if an agile team revamps onboarding, measure the New Hire Satisfaction at 30 days before vs. after. If a squad introduces a new internal mobility program, track Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) related to career growth. 93% of agile organizations reported improved customer or employee satisfaction relative to peers. HR should see a rise in employees’ satisfaction with HR services as agility scales. One could measure this via periodic “HR Satisfaction” surveys, asking employees how satisfied they are with the help and services HR provides. Look for trends: perhaps it climbs quarter by quarter as agile improvements take effect.
5. Quality of Solutions
This can be specific to the domain. For learning initiatives, you might measure knowledge retention or skill uplift from new agile-designed programs vs. old ones. For processes, measure error rates or rework. An example: if an agile payroll squad experiments with a new payroll self-service, track payroll accuracy and the number of payroll tickets before and after (ideally errors drop because the squad iteratively fixed pain points). BBVA’s HR agile transformation reported not only faster delivery but also better quality solutions coming out of HR teams, which could be measured by fewer issues post-implementation or higher ratings of new tools.
6. Internal Client and Stakeholder Feedback
Aside from end employees, the “customers” of HR include managers and business leaders. Incorporate their feedback as a metric – e.g., a quarterly survey of senior leaders on HR’s effectiveness or agility. BBVA found that internal client satisfaction rose significantly after HR went agile. Qualitative comments from business leaders might mention quicker turnaround, more proactive HR support, etc., indicating that agility is making HR a better partner.
Agile methods aim to eliminate waste and focus effort where it matters. Some metrics to show productivity gains:
7. Throughput and Backlog Reduction
Monitor the volume of work completed by HR teams and the backlog of pending requests or projects. A successful agile scale-up often sees an initial reduction in backlog as teams tackle accumulated requests in priority order. For instance, one HR organization noted that by using Kanban boards and regular backlog grooming, they identified and eliminated inefficiencies, which helped them complete projects that had languished before. If your HR project backlog was 50 items and now it’s 20 because squads delivered a bunch of items or pruned low-value ones, that’s a visible win. Also track throughput (e.g., number of tickets resolved per HR service agent per week) – if that goes up without burning people out, it signals better efficiency.
8. Resource Utilization and Cost
It may sound cold, but a metric CFOs will look at is the ROI of HR initiatives. Agile HR can demonstrate ROI through things like cost per project or HR cost per employee trending downwards as efficiency rises. If an agile approach allowed you to avoid hiring additional HR FTEs or consultants for a project, quantify those savings. There’s evidence that agile HR leads to more output with the same or fewer resources. For example, Thales TA squad delivering 72% more with the same team. Productivity gain can be expressed as something like “HR delivered X projects or handled Y cases per HR staff, up from last year.” Another angle: reduced turnover or absenteeism in HR itself because the team is more engaged; agile often boosts team morale and engagement, meaning you spend less on replacing burnt-out HR staff.
9. Business Outcomes Linked to HR Agility
The ultimate metric is impact on business KPIs. While it’s always a multi-factor situation, you can sometimes tie HR’s agile efforts to business results. For instance, if faster hiring (thanks to your agile TA squad) meant key revenue-generating roles were filled quicker, you can estimate the additional revenue or savings from reduced vacancy times. Or if an agile well-being initiative improved retention by 10%, calculate the cost saved by avoiding turnover. Some banks that adopted agile across the board measured productivity gains of 25-35% and revenue acceleration of 15-25% – HR’s piece in that might be enabling capacity faster or improving talent allocation. While HR doesn’t control all outcomes, being able to correlate agile HR improvements with trends like increased employee productivity (McKinsey found a 30% productivity boost associated with Agile HR practices) or higher engagement is powerful. It shows HR agility is driving real ROI.
To make this concrete, let’s illustrate a few metrics with hypothetical (but realistic) numbers for a global enterprise that has scaled agile HR:
| Metric | Before agile | Now | Example |
| Cycle Time for HR Projects | ~6 months | ~8 weeks | A policy change implementation went from 180 days to 40 days |
| Employee Satisfaction with HR Services | 70% positive | 85% positive | Pulse surveys show improved ratings in responsiveness and communication |
| HR Initiative On-Time Delivery Rate | ~60% | ~95% | |
| Talent Acquisition Throughput | 10 hires / recruiter / quarter | 18 hires / recruiter / quarter | |
| Internal Client NPS (for HR) | 0 (neutral) | +40 (significantly positive) | Business leaders actively recommend HR’s new agile approach because they see faster results |
| Major Releases per Quarter | 1 (big bang launch) | 6 (incremental across all HR products) | Small improvements to the HRIS, new chatbot FAQ answers, policy tweaks (continuously delivered) |
Of course, it’s not all rosy and some metrics might initially dip during the transition (learning curve effects). That’s why it’s important to baseline where you started and track over time. Agile is an ongoing journey, so trending the data is more meaningful than a one-time snapshot.
Use the data in retrospectives: if cycle times aren’t improving, why? Maybe too many dependencies or need to break work down more. If satisfaction isn’t budging, perhaps the wrong things are being delivered, and it’s time to re-prioritize backlogs based on what employees actually want.
One more point on data: qualitative evidence (stories, anecdotes) is also compelling. Don’t shy away from capturing testimonials: a manager saying “HR responded in days to a request that used to take weeks” or an employee noting “the new benefit update was rolled out so quickly after we gave feedback… impressive!” These narratives, combined with hard metrics, make a strong case to the C-suite that scaling agile in HR was the right move. Ultimately, the metrics should tell a story of an HR function that is faster, more adaptive, and more connected to the business.
If the numbers aren’t moving in that direction, agile scaling might be half-baked. But as we’ve seen from companies like Thales, ING, and BBVA, when done right, the impact is unmistakable: double-digit improvements in productivity and satisfaction, significantly faster response to new challenges, and a stronger reputation for HR as a strategic, innovative partner. Those are outcomes every CHRO would love to report.
Scaling agility in HR is no longer an experimental concept reserved for small tech startups or one-off pilot teams. It’s rapidly becoming the operating norm for leading HR organizations in large enterprises.
The pressures of today, from constant business change to the jolt of agentic AI, mean HR can’t afford to stay slow or siloed. By structuring HR as a network of agile squads, supported by smart governance and visionary leadership, we unlock a function that can transform at the pace the business needs.
We start by acknowledging the challenges and then reimagining the HR org chart into something more fluid and mission-driven.
We put employees at the center of squads’ missions, proving that scale doesn’t have to sacrifice human-centricity.
We introduce frameworks to visualize how autonomy and alignment co-exist, showing that with the right guardrails, freedom actually breeds innovation, not chaos.
We see CHROs not as controllers, but as chief enablers of agility, setting the north star and clearing obstacles so their teams can shine.
We factor in AI as the next team member not to replace HR professionals, but to elevate what they can deliver and to extend HR’s reach globally without losing the personal touch.
As a senior HR leader, you have a choice: stick with structures built for a slower era, or embrace a new model that lets you scale up change without scaling up complexity. The latter is what Scaling Agility is all about. It’s structuring for speed and innovation, while relentlessly keeping the employee experience front and center.
Yes, it requires bold changes: dismantling some old silos, empowering teams in ways that might make some executives initially uneasy, investing in new skills and technologies. But the payoff is an HR function that’s not just aligned with the business strategy, but often ahead of it, proactively leading change.
In closing, remember that scaling agile is a journey. Start small, learn, iterate. Embody the agile principles in how you execute this very transformation. As you move forward, keep sharing successes and learnings (perhaps via your own agile HR council or in industry forums) because the playbook for agile HR at scale is still being written collectively by practitioners like you.
That is the promise of scaling agility: HR becomes the engine of rapid transformation, not the brake. It’s time to seize that future, one agile squad (or multitude of squads) at a time. The agile, scalable, human-first HR organization is here.
How Applaud Helps You Make It Happen
At Applaud, we believe employees are a company’s most important customers. That’s why our technology is built entirely from the employee’s point of view—delivering more human, intuitive, and rewarding HR experiences that empower HR teams to do more for their people.
If you’re ready to turn employee-first HR from vision to reality, we’re here to help. Get in touch to see how Applaud can transform your HR Service Delivery and create a workplace where employees truly thrive.
Duncan Casemore is Co-Founder and CTO of Applaud, an award-winning HR platform built entirely around employees. Formerly at Oracle and a global HR consultant, Duncan is known for championing more human, intuitive HR tech. Regularly featured in top publications, he collaborates with thought leaders like Josh Bersin, speaks at major events, and continues to help organizations create truly people-first workplaces.