In the HBR survey, 86 percent of all respondents reported that decision-making and business processes had become so complex in their companies that it was inhibiting their ability to grow. There is a dramatic mismatch between process and the business environment. Fewer than 12 percent of the Fortune 500 companies included in 1955 were still on the list in 2017.
But then there are examples of other companies, which, in a very less span of time emerged as market leaders and can be described as high performance organizations. Netflix, Uber, and Google to name a few. Typically a high-performance organization is described as one that performs exceedingly better than its competitors over the long term. Companies that are identified as high-performing are coping not just with new rules, but are constantly innovating as well.
The world of work is changing. It’s more digital, more global, diverse, and automation-savvy. Further, business expectations, needs, and demands are evolving faster than ever before. As business leaders navigate their way through these complexities, it is important that they rethink how they approach leadership, talent acquisition and retention and organizational structures.
Companies may need to be more experimental and exploratory, or co-evolve with other actors in a multi company ecosystem. They need an adaptive, ecosystem-based focused strategy that drives value migration and dynamic capabilities.
As business leaders look for new ways to create such high performance organizations and be more efficient and adaptable, there are a few questions they grapple with. What does building a high performance organization truly mean? How do they create high performance organizations? What are the components or pillars of a high performance organizations? Who are the key stakeholders for building high performance organizations? To help business and talent leaders find answers to some of the questions, we bring to you the theme for October month "Creating high performance organizations".
Becoming a high performance organization
High performance organizations are not created in a day. There are several organizational and people characteristics that lead to sustained performance.
- Culture: As a high performance organization is the one that is able to survive and thrive amidst rapid changes and development, the organization needs a strong foundation. The organizational culture must be able to drive and sustain large-scale change and anticipate and adapt to an increasingly volatile environment.
- Leadership: High performing organizations are led by great thinkers and innovators. The old and traditional methods of leadership have to be transformed to adjust as per the changing needs and demands of the workplace.
- Organizational Structure & Design: The structure of the organizations have to be more nimble and agile. High performance organizations are where better decisions are made with better data at a faster pace.Silos have to be broken down and the change must be welcomed.
- Continuous learning: Organizations have to promote the culture of constant learning so team members can build the skills they need quickly and easily.
- Innovation: Companies that are identified as high-performing are coping not just with new rules, but are constantly innovating as well. The organizations have to make continuous efforts to bring meaningful change to improve programs, services, products and processes.
- People Processes: The talent of any organization is the key stakeholder to ensure its sustained growth. People strategies, from attracting to engaging to retaining the most capable individuals play a huge role in creating high performance organizations. The talent leaders hence become the strategic partner and enabler of business and help translate business strategy into a people strategy that forsters sustained growth.
Throughout the month, we will deep dive into each of these components or pillars of a high performance organization. With in-depth feature stories, interviews with global leaders and stories of forward-thinking, high performance organizations, our goal is to help you reflect on your journey towards becoming a high performance organization.
Stay Tuned and follow #ChangeTheGame!