high performance culture aholisticframework

8/13/2019 High Performance Culture AHolisticFramework

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High Performance Cul ture - A hol istic f ramework ahalingam

1.0 In troduc tion: Organizations are undertremendous pressure to deliver results like neverbefore. The rules of the game in the marketplaceare changing by the day. Customers havebecome more discerning and thereforedemanding. Competition is no longer fromexpected sources and known players. A mobilephone is no longer a speaking device, butcombines in itself a fashion statement, an alarmclock and smart way to network with friends onthe move. Organizations have a hard timefiguring out what will sell in the marketplace andwhat will not. Cost pressures are a reality forcinga worldwide thrust for global outsourcing todestinations that are more cost effective. What iscertain in this otherwise uncertain world ofbusiness is the need for a high performanceculture - something that needs to go beyond therhetoric in annual reports to a reality. This articleprovides a pragmatic and holistic approachbased on author's practical experience in drivinga high performance culture. This approach hasalso strong behavioural science foundation.2.0 Understand ing High Performance CultureHPC : Rather than trying to define an HPC, letme articulate what it can do for organizations. AHPCdelivers the following:2 1 An organization-wide sense of urgency thatreplaces the complacency arising out of variousreasons;2 2 A bias for action as an attribute of all themembers of the organization2 3 Organization-wide alignment to the visionand goals2 4 A can-do mindset as organizational leadersare focused on what people can do rather thancannotdo

25 A culture of meritocracy26 People development focused on theirstrengths27 An organization-wide goal-orientation withmanagers' setting stretch goals and facilitatingtheir accomplishment28 All the above leading to a lasting culture ofhigh performance focused on delivering value tothe customers3 Past approaches to HPC: The battle cry forHPC is nothing new. It has been high on theagenda for CEOs and HR leaders alike for a fewdecades now. There have been many attemptsand approaches towards building such a culture.HR leaders heavily relied on tweaking theperformance appraisal systems and introducingmany different types of incentive programs. Aspate of motivation techniques was leveraged.All of us will remember an era that witnessed asudden spurt in motivational speakers ofdifferent ilk. Trainers (or entertrainers?) were inhuge demand to provide gyan and guidance onhow to set SMART goals, how to sandwichpositive and negative feedback, how to providenon-directive counseling and how to administerfast track promotions to star performers. Booksfocused on these themes were selling like hotcakes. Organizations reported mixed benefitsfrom these investments. There were nofundamental flaws in any of the aboveapproaches. They were well-intended andperhaps even well-thought-out. The sub-optimalresuIts of these initiatives stem med from the factthat they did not offer a holistic perspective andcomprehensive approach. They were focusedon either symptoms of a larger problem or asmall part of a larger whole.4.0 New holistic approach to HPC: Theapproach I have attempted here (andimplemented widely in my organization) issomewhat holistic and offers a good possibilityof not only creating but even sustaining a HPC.Problem with many tools and techniques istheirshort-lived impact. Sustaining becomes anightmare. I would like to call this framework a

C. Mahalingam is Executive Vice President & Chief People Officer withSymphony Services Corporation. He can be reached at [email protected].

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Six Components of High Performance CultureTogether, these six pillars offer the much neededpromise of both engendering and sustaining aculture of high performance. A diagrammaticview of the framework is as below:5.0 Foundation for the Framework: The sixpillars of the proposed HPC framework rest onthe institution of people management. HPCtakes deep roots when organizations articulate astrong philosophy and approach to managing itspeople. What differentiates high performanceorganizations worldwide is this focus on peoplemanagement as the foundation. Managers,both first line and up-line all the way up to theBoard, have the responsibility to ensure thatpeople hove a sense of urgency, their strengthsare being leveraged, and their contributions arerewarded and reinforced and theirdevelopmental needs are addressed. The six-pillars call for actions by the people managers.Therefore, the starting point for implementingthis framework would be strengthening theinstitution of people management in theorganization.6.0 Getting the best out of the Framework: Thisinvolves ensuring that the people managers(with responsibility for managing a team ofemployees) understand the framework andtheir role in it. The arrows around the sixpillars of HPC connote that these are mutuallyreinforcing in nature to deliver the HPC. Thefollowing paragraphs will explain the role of thepeople managers in building and strengtheningthese six pillars:6.1 People Manager Mindset: The mindsetpillar of the framework recognizes that it caneither be one of Pygmalion or NIGYSOB.Pygmalion in Management is a powerfulmanagement paradigm that was popularized by

Dr. Sterling Livingston through his HarvardBusiness Review article (HBR - September-October 1988). Pygmalion was a sculptor inGreek mythology who carved a statue of abeautiful woman (he named her Galatea) whosubsequently came to life and married him.Applied to management, this implies thatmanager's expectations hold the key to asubordinate's performance and development.In our framework, we are making a case thatpeople managers must play 'Pygmalion' all thetime with the people they manage, set highexpectations of performance, offer support andhelp them deliver such high expectations. Onthe contrary, if managers play NIGYSOB(one ofthe psychological games from Eric Berne'sGame People Play), then this mindset will tendto make people play defensive and kill theinitiative. HPC demands that managers aretrained to play pygmalion and not NIGYSOB6.2 Focus: HPC framework requires that thepeople managers focus on what strengthstheir team members individually bring towork rather than worry about whatweaknesses they may have. Over the lastdecade or so, the emphasis has beenturning to what is now fairly well known asthe field of positive psychology (thanks toDr.Martin Seligman) that requiresleveraging the strengths more than deficitsin the personality. Peter Drucker devoted awhole chapter is his exemplary work (titledThe Effective Executive ) asking managersto make the strengths of the subordinatesproductive. His view is that where thereare peaks, there will be valleys Herubbishes the idea of a well-roundedemployee as imaginary and impractical.Hence, in order to create a HPC, managerswill do well to turn their focus on strengthspeople bring. This is again a paradigm shiftfor our managers long used to pointing outwhat people cannot do. Strength-basedmovement is catching up worldwide andthere lies the hope that organizations willsculpt the jobs to tap into the strengthsrather than finding the ideal-fit that doesnot exist


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6.3 Culture atwork: Thethird pillarof HPCistheculture people managers are driving in theirteams. I borrow some concepts from Darwiniantheory of evolution and Gresham's law fromEconomics. Using these foundations, I haveused the metaphors of Darwin and Gresham.When managers are clear about creating aDarwinian culture, they will promotemeritocracy. Gresham's law states that whenunchecked, bad currency drives good currencyout of circulation. In our context, a parallel isdrawn to conclude that when bad performers gounchecked by their managers, good performerswill tend to leave. In short, managers need tocommunicate in clear terms that badperformance will not be tolerated, althoughappropriate improvement plans and counselingsupport will be provided. It is fairly simple andstraight forward that in team and organizations,there is simply room for one If Darwin comes in(meritocracy), Gresham walks out; If Gresham(mediocrity) comes in, Darwin walks outics. Using these foundations, I have used themetaphors of Darwin and Gresham. Whenmanagers are clear about creating a Darwinianculture, they will promote meritocracy.Gresham's law states that when unchecked,bad currency drives good currency out ofcirculation. In our context, a parallel is drawn toconclude that when bad performers gounchecked by their managers, good performerswill tend to leave. In short, managers need tocommunicate in clear terms that badperformance will not be tolerated, althoughappropriate improvement plans and counselingsupport will be provided. It is fairly simple andstraight forward that in team and organizations,there is simply room for one If Darwin comes in(meritocracy), Gresham walks out; If Gresham(mediocrity) comes in, Darwin walks out6.4 Catalyst for behavioural change: In theframework for HPC, I am making a case formoving away from traditional feedback andsubstituting this with what coaching Guru, DrMarshall Goldsmith calls as Feed Forward (Youcan look up the masterpiece article: Try FeedForward instead of Feedback atwww.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com ). Feedforward pretty much uses the same data points amanager would use to provide feedback. But

the fact remains that despite all techniques tomake feedback work, it does not. The fact is thatmanagers and the managed alike do not enjoythe process of feedback. A viable alternative,therefore, seems to lie in embracing the feedforward process. Here the focus is shifted fromthe past (what did not go well) to future (how canwe do things differently going forward). It is anamazing approach to helping employeesimprove behavior and performance and itworks HPC stands to benefit a lot more fromfeed forward than from feedback.6.5 Reinforcement: The next pillar involves howmanagers reinforce the high performance. I amkind of touching upon what has been a verysensitive topic for many years now. It relates todifferentiation at work based on performance.Most managers have a morbid fear ofdifferentiating and as such tend to treateveryone same. This goes against bringing in aculture of high performance. My frequentmessage to managers on this subject is: if youdifferentiate reward and recognition, badperformers leave; and if you fail to differentiate,good performers tend to leave; therefore thechoice is yours When managers do notdifferentiate rewards, they decay the culture ofhigh performance.6.6 Development of people: This is the sixthand final pillar of high performance in the holisticframework under discussion. Most managers donot recognize that segmenting talent in terms ofperformance and tailoring the developmentalplans to suit is critical to promoting highperformance. Marcus Buckingham of Gallupfame (read: One Thing You Need to Know byMarcus Buckingham) emphatically makes a casethat great managers play Chess and notCheckers when it comes to managing people.When you play chess, you tend to treat everyemployee as unique and when you playcheckers, you to treat everyone the same.Applied to development, I make a strong casethat top talent needs an advancement plan -career next steps, breeding ground jobs, stretchroles and the like. The massive middlesconstituting about 70% of the employeepopulation will need an enhancement plan-opportunities that stretch their performancelevels and enrich their contributions. The bottom


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10% r so will need a development plan-improvement opportunities that leverage theirstrengths and counseling support that pullsthem out of marginal performance. Managersneed to be sensitive to this difference ratherthan putting in place one common developmentplan for everyone7.0 Getting the best out ofthe framework: HighPerformance happens when peoplemanagers are helped to understand all the sixpillars ofthe HPCand their roles in strengtheningeach of these pillars. HR leaders will work withthe business leaders in getting their buy-in forthe framework and asking for investments toimplement the framework. The institution ofpeople management is extremely critical as alogical first step before embarking onimplementation of the six pillars. It is not easythough. If it was easy, every organization

could have done this. It is eminently doableonce a leadership commitment isobtained and atime-bound implementation plan isdrawn up.8.0 Conclusion: High performance has to bestrategy-focused and strategy-driven. In a highperformance organization, everyone from frontoffice to corner office is engaged in strategy-focused behaviours. This calls for a more holisticapproach than anything piecemeal. This articleprovides such a framework. I believe this willwork for avariety of reasons. One, this makes therole of people mangers very profound. Second,the components of the proposed frameworkdraw upon the proven foundations oforganizational behavior. As with any framework,the key lies in resolute implementation. Afterall, as the saying goes, the tool is only as good asthe craftsman using it as good as the craftsmanusing it

The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, I will know it. Thedesire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it r not. Excellence is adrive from inside, not outside. Excel at a task today - not necessarily for someone else to notice butfor your own satisfaction

Sculptor - The Story of Performance Excel lenceA man once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God.Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, Do you need twostatues of the same idol? No, said the sculptor without looking up, We need only one, butthefirst one got damaged at the last stage. The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparentdamage. Whereis the damage? he asked. There is a scratch on the nose of the idol. said thesculptor, still busy with his work. Where are you going to install the idol? The sculptor repliedthat it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. If the idol is that far, whois going to know that there is a scratch on the nose? the gentleman asked.

NIPMKC-Educational Development TrustBoard of TrusteesMr. G.S. Lakshmiprasad, Managing TrusteeMr. H.R. Alva TrusteeMr. N.P. Manjunatha TrusteeMr. D.R. Nagaraj TrusteeMr. S.N. Gopinath TrusteeMr. G.R. Ramanath TrusteeMr. Vasanth Kumar Kamila, Convenor

K R N T K CH P T E RESTD96D

high performance culture aholisticframework

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