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Recorded on October 21st '25 / 12:30 PM to 1:20 PM CEST

What the Most Agile Companies Do Differently

Boardroom
Boardroom 2 | Room E4 View on map →

How CHROs and Chief People Officers are building cultures of ownership, candor, and urgency to stay ahead of disruption

Disruption is the new normal. Between geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic volatility, and advances in GenAI, organizations must pivot faster than ever. Yet most large companies are too slow, too complex, and too cautious to keep up. A select few Agility Champions have cracked the code—consistently seizing new opportunities faster than rivals and delivering more than double the shareholder returns of peers over the past decade. What are they doing differently, and how can HR leaders fuel this level of agility in their own organizations?

Speaker
Don Sull
Professor of the Practice
MIT Sloan School of Management
Read more

Culture and leadership at every level in the organization are the key drivers of agility. An MIT study of feedback from nearly one million employees across 900 companies reveals the most agile companies consistently build cultures of ownership, actively reduce barriers to action, create a shared strategic context, have candid discussions about the most difficult topics, and drive a relentless sense of urgency. For CHROs and Chief People Officers, this creates a unique opportunity: to design talent systems, leadership models, and organizational practices that unlock speed and resilience at scale.

This private boardroom will bring together senior HR leaders responsible for embedding agility in their organizations. This session will translate cutting-edge research into practical steps for HR leaders and provide a forum to for peers to share actionable steps to increase agility. We will focus on the five ways that Agility Champions compete on speed.

  • Create a culture where employees are empowered, take responsibility for results, and take an enterprise-wide perspective
  • Actively reduce bureaucracy, red tape, and organizational complexity that impede action
  • Create a shared understanding of the company’s strategy, progress, and how each team contributes to overall success
  • Have candid discussions about the most important topics, including what is not working, prioritization, and resource re-allocation
  • Maintain a sense of urgency to match the tempo of start-ups

KEY AREAS OF DISCUSSION

  • How can HR leaders hold managers accountable for their team’s results and ensure they focus on what’s best for the company as a whole?
  • What are concrete steps to manage organizational complexity, strip out excessive red tape, and ensure faster coordination across silos?
  • How can HR partner with the CEO and senior leaders to make sure that employees throughout the organization understand the strategy and how their team contributes to the bigger picture?
  • How can CHROs make it easier to reallocate talent across different parts of the organization to match shifting priorities?
  • How can HR leaders maintain a culture of urgency and speed even in a large organization?
See the 2025 Agenda
See the 2025 Agenda
Speaker
Don Sull
Professor of the Practice
MIT Sloan School of Management
Read more