Organisations around the world talk about being high-performance workplaces that demand the best from people, use resources wisely, and excel at reaching its goals. Indeed, some companies such as Microsoft, Siemens, Accenture, Google, Reliance Industries, Adobe, Marriott International, and IKEA are well known for their performance cultures while still being revered as among the best places to work.
Certainly, there is a lot that goes into building a strong performance culture and it is a journey of years, not a few months of work. Any company can embark on a journey to instill and manage a culture that will build the foundation for strong performance. When considering a company’s long-term success, the ability to outperform competitors makes a significant difference in growth and long-term viability.
This article is the first of two articles that will give a roadmap for creating and sustaining a performance culture in your organisation. This article focuses on beginning the journey with a vision, strategy, and goals that provide a purpose for the company. Next, we talk about shaping the identity with values and a culture that supports the purpose. We then have the clarity to align initiatives to deliver the goals and the performance metrics to track progress. The second article will focus on the people leadership that underpins the performance culture and makes it sustainable over time.
In Nepal, there is an array of companies from five people working together in a small travel office to hundreds of employees providing a service or manufacturing products. Regardless of the company size, the journey to building a performance culture is remarkably similar, and it begins with a clear sense of purpose.
Establish Purpose: Clear Vision, Strategy, and Goals
This is the most important place to start because performance is tied to purpose. Why are we working hard? What are we trying to achieve? What is the vision for our company and are we realising it? Google’s vision is ‘to provide access to the world’s information in one click’. IKEA’s vision is ‘to create a better everyday life for the many people’. A vision frames a purpose and then is the guide to the strategies to achieve the vision. The goals get tangible targets for the strategies and successful performance advances the goals of the company rather than just getting things done.
Understanding the vision and strategy of the company puts a framework around the performance expectations of the employee. Vision and strategy provide purpose, direction, and approach, whereas goals translate the vision and strategy into expected financial returns, growth, increased market share, new products, satisfied customers, etc.
Here are some questions to ask your management team to begin the performance journey:
- Do we have a clear vision that defines the macro-purpose for our company?
- What is our corporate strategy for fulfilling the vision and do employees know it?
- What is the business strategy for our division, department, team, site, etc.?
- Who are our customers and what is our value proposition to each customer segment?
- What key organisational/competitive capabilities are needed for the future?
- In what markets will we be either the #1 or #2 player? How will we gain the #1 position?
Establish Identity: Define Corporate Values and Culture
After establishing purpose, a company needs to define how will they live out the purpose. Corporate values guide behaviour, decision-making, and form a foundation for the culture. Simply stated, a company’s culture is the shared values, beliefs, and attitudes that are reflected in behaviour norms that signal what is important to the company and thus shape its identity.
Corporate and individual performance can be directed by a defined and enforced value system that considers the nature of the business and industry and the vision of the company. Esteemed values along with the dynamics of the work environment shape the company’s culture by providing a corporate brand or identity that strongly influences the way the company conducts business. McDonald’s, one of the best-known brands in the world, is known for its strong performance culture driven by values, the first of which is service by focusing on its customers.
Here are some questions to ask your management team to establish identity:
- What are our corporate values and how did they get named as our values?
- What stories and corporate heroes do we talk about that reflect our values and culture?
- How do our values and corporate culture influence the way we conduct business?
- When do we compare our decisions against our values to ensure alignment?
- How do we instill our values and culture into our interviewing and employee orientation processes?
- Do competitors, potential employees, and industry leaders see our culture as a competitive advantage for us?
- Are our corporate values and culture too closely tied with one leader? Will our culture remain strong if the CEO, COO, or the Chairman leave the company?
Establish Alignment: Clear Initiatives and Performance Measures
When a company has a clear purpose and identity, it is time to align resources and create plans to accomplish the goals. These plans involve creating initiatives, forming teams, hiring people, and then executing the work to accomplish the goals. Many companies have great strategies but fail to execute them.
The strategy tree examples illustrate the importance of establishing alignment between the goals of the company and initiatives that drive the goals, followed by the metrics that track progress. Over time, companies can lose sight of what is important and what they are committed to doing. The Strategy Tree provides a visual reminder and can serve as a discussion aid to help employees stay on track and focus on the major goals.
Playing a game and not keeping score can undermine performance since people eventually lose track of how well they are performing and motivation lessens. Without clear and consistent performance measures, people lack guidance on how much must be done, improved, or by when. Performance alignment is ensuring each person’s work fits with the priorities of the company.
Here are some questions to ask your management team to establish alignment:
- Is each goal sufficiently resourced? Have we created the right initiatives to accomplish the goals and are the right people assigned to the initiatives and given adequate resources?
- Do individuals have a line-of-sight from their work to how it aligns with the goals of the company?
- How do we ensure performance accountability? Who is responsible for the major initiatives and who is accountable that the measures are achieved?
- Do we follow up on projects to ensure goals have been met beyond implementation?
- Is our measurement system focused on behaviours and outcomes? How can we effectively measure that we are doing things the ‘right way’, and not just getting the right results?
If an organisation can firmly establish its purpose, identify, and then align the work to accomplish the purpose, then it has established a strong foundation for a performance culture. The next article will discuss how people leadership underpins the performance culture and makes long-term success possible.
This is the most important place to start because performance is tied to purpose. Why are we working hard? What are we trying to achieve? What is the vision for our company and are we realising it? Google’s vision is ‘to provide access to the world’s information in one click’. IKEA’s vision is ‘to create a better everyday life for the many people’. A vision frames a purpose and then is the guide to the strategies to achieve the vision. The goals get tangible targets for the strategies and successful performance advances the goals of the company rather than just getting things done.
Understanding the vision and strategy of the company puts a framework around the performance expectations of the employee. Vision and strategy provide purpose, direction, and approach, whereas goals translate the vision and strategy into expected financial returns, growth, increased market share, new products, satisfied customers, etc.
Here are some questions to ask your management team to begin the performance journey:
- Do we have a clear vision that defines the macro-purpose for our company?
- What is our corporate strategy for fulfilling the vision and do employees know it?
- What is the business strategy for our division, department, team, site, etc.?
- Who are our customers and what is our value proposition to each customer segment?
- What key organisational/competitive capabilities are needed for the future?
- In what markets will we be either the #1 or #2 player? How will we gain the #1 position?
Establish Identity: Define Corporate Values and Culture
After establishing purpose, a company needs to define how will they live out the purpose. Corporate values guide behaviour, decision-making, and form a foundation for the culture. Simply stated, a company’s culture is the shared values, beliefs, and attitudes that are reflected in behaviour norms that signal what is important to the company and thus shape its identity.
Corporate and individual performance can be directed by a defined and enforced value system that considers the nature of the business and industry and the vision of the company. Esteemed values along with the dynamics of the work environment shape the company’s culture by providing a corporate brand or identity that strongly influences the way the company conducts business. McDonald’s, one of the best-known brands in the world, is known for its strong performance culture driven by values, the first of which is service by focusing on its customers.
Here are some questions to ask your management team to establish identity:
- What are our corporate values and how did they get named as our values?
- What stories and corporate heroes do we talk about that reflect our values and culture?
- How do our values and corporate culture influence the way we conduct business?
- When do we compare our decisions against our values to ensure alignment?
- How do we instill our values and culture into our interviewing and employee orientation processes?
- Do competitors, potential employees, and industry leaders see our culture as a competitive advantage for us?
- Are our corporate values and culture too closely tied with one leader? Will our culture remain strong if the CEO, COO, or the Chairman leave the company?
Establish Alignment: Clear Initiatives and Performance Measures
When a company has a clear purpose and identity, it is time to align resources and create plans to accomplish the goals. These plans involve creating initiatives, forming teams, hiring people, and then executing the work to accomplish the goals. Many companies have great strategies but fail to execute them.
The strategy tree examples illustrate the importance of establishing alignment between the goals of the company and initiatives that drive the goals, followed by the metrics that track progress. Over time, companies can lose sight of what is important and what they are committed to doing. The Strategy Tree provides a visual reminder and can serve as a discussion aid to help employees stay on track and focus on the major goals.
Playing a game and not keeping score can undermine performance since people eventually lose track of how well they are performing and motivation lessens. Without clear and consistent performance measures, people lack guidance on how much must be done, improved, or by when. Performance alignment is ensuring each person’s work fits with the priorities of the company.
Here are some questions to ask your management team to establish alignment:
- Is each goal sufficiently resourced? Have we created the right initiatives to accomplish the goals and are the right people assigned to the initiatives and given adequate resources?
- Do individuals have a line-of-sight from their work to how it aligns with the goals of the company?
- How do we ensure performance accountability? Who is responsible for the major initiatives and who is accountable that the measures are achieved?
- Do we follow up on projects to ensure goals have been met beyond implementation?
- Is our measurement system focused on behaviours and outcomes? How can we effectively measure that we are doing things the ‘right way’, and not just getting the right results?
If an organisation can firmly establish its purpose, identify, and then align the work to accomplish the purpose, then it has established a strong foundation for a performance culture. The next article will discuss how people leadership underpins the performance culture and makes long-term success possible.
