Do you have a high performance work environment? Does it depend on who you ask?

Here are three questions to start your thinking…

 

"Learning and visionary approaches appear to be superior to planning as means for creating strategy."
Henry Mintzberg, author and Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University in Montreal

Creating High Performance Environments

What is the connection between work environment and performance?
Research has shown that environment has a direct impact on the organization’s financial and non-financial performance. There are two components to this environment; one is the organization’s culture ¹, the other is the climate within individual teams or work groups ².

Organizational culture – loosely defined as “the way we do things around here” – is comprised of formal and informal factors that are constantly in tension. For example – the need to do things differently and the need for consistent processes and procedures; the need to pay attention to the external environment when making decisions and at the same time to attend to the organization’s internal needs. Organizations that understand and can balance such “creative tension” effectively are more able to achieve performance goals in
– Profitability
– Quality
– Innovation
– Market share
– Sales growth
– Employee satisfaction

The second connection between environment and performance is at the team or work group level. This is where the majority of work occurs in information-driven or knowledge-driven organizations. Much more than individuals, groups are responsible for innovation and for processes and practices that have the ability to move the organization forward. Recent global research has shown that there are only three things that have a material impact on the ability of groups of qualified people to perform at high levels. All are related to the environment or culture in which the team operates. With these components teams can perform at unexpected levels. Without them, even the brightest, most energetic people lose focus and energy.

Contact Parallax for more information on shaping your work environment to enhance performance.

How can you learn about an organization’s environment?
Learning about an organization’s environment can occur in two ways, formally through assessment and informally through conversation. Both are necessary to gain the deep, shared understanding necessary to make sound decisions.

Through formal assessment organizational members respond to a paper and pencil or online survey. If an organization is very large, a sample of members across the organization can also be used. Responding to a statistically reliable and valid survey instrument has the benefit of providing not only a baseline look at the culture, but also providing normed information for comparison. Such assessments can be designed to provide sub-group information as well on regions, divisions, functions or other breakouts meaningful to an organization.

Parallax relies on the Denison Organizational Culture Survey to gain this formal perspective. It has been used globally and has tens of thousands of responses on which its norms are calculated. It looks at behavior rather than personality which makes understanding needed changes much easier (see comparison of Denison and Other Assessments). It also was designed with a business setting in mind and the language used is appropriate for all organizational levels. Lastly it is the only survey that has demonstrated clear, consistent connection to financial and non-financial performance measures. (See sample from a report)

Equally important are informal conversations. Conducted prior to the survey, conversations across the organization can identify areas where customized questions would be valuable or gain a level of nuance that is not possible using only a standardized survey. Conducted after the survey they provide employees with an understanding of the results and engage them in the process of moving the organization forward.

Contact Parallax to learn more about how your organization might benefit from looking at its “culture.

Where does “hard fun” fit?
“Hard fun” is what happens when an organization and it’s employees are learning their way to their desired future. It is people being engaged and stimulated by what they are involved in and seeing the connection between what they are doing and a larger, meaningful goal. It is energy, it is interest, it is commitment to work through challenges and learn through difficulties because of a personal emotional connection. It is the competitive advantage that can allow an organization to innovate and thrive because employees are performing in alignment with their own interests as well as the organization’s.

Attaining “hard fun” is a shared responsibility. It requires focus and commitment on the part of the organization and employees. The organization provides the environment and each employee chooses to contribute to the desired outcome. “Hard fun”, like life, is a journey, not a destination.

Contact Parallax to explore the opportunities for “hard fun” in your organization.

¹ This research was originally described in the book “Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness” by Daniel R. Denison. For more information on the most recent research updates http://www.denisonculture.com/news.html 

² The global research that identified these three characteristics is described in the 2004 book
Contagious Success by Susan Lucia Annunzio.

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