One can look at numerous examples of how many companies who were once considered undisputed  market leaders, but are now seen as irrelevant companies – from whose failures one can learn lessons.

Whether it’s the mobile phone or tech industry or the film and photography industry, these companies are no longer in the commanding position.

What caused them to lag behind?

Dynamic and unforeseen forces affect the working environment every day, as a result of which rapid advancements and developments occur at an unprecedented pace.

The resistance and inability of such organizations to cope up with change is one of the reasons why most of the businesses find it hard to survive in a competitive world that poses a growing need for specialized skills, new business models, innovative and future-oriented approach, building a holistic learning culture and a shift from traditional leadership hierarchies. Due to this, it has now become crucial for organizations to constantly adapt and reimagine themselves in order to increase the overall efficiency & productivity and inculcate a high-performance culture.

Creating a high-performance culture in organizations

Even while operating in different industries, facing different challenges, having different leaders and competition, organizations such as Google, Starbucks, Uber, Netflix etc. have much in common. Their “performance” and the way they constantly rework their strategies to tread ahead of their respective competitors is what makes them stand out.

Simply put, a High-Performance Organization is one which:- 

• Is able to quickly and efficiently change its operating structure and practices to meet the present needs of business
• Inculcates new technologies and innovations to support the new age future economy
• Focuses on long term success while delivering short term actionable goals
• Is flexible, customer focused, and able to work efficiently in teams
• Supports flatter hierarchies, teamwork and diversity
• Spends much more time on continuously improving its core capabilities and invest in workforce, leading to increased growth and performance

But how do we create high-performance organizations? It’s a well-known fact that organizational and people capabilities drive business performance and enable companies to execute their strategies in the best way possible. But while most of the executives have well-developed tools for financial and operational performance, they don’t have the similar tools for driving these core competencies.

In order to fill this gap, the role of the HR personnel becomes extremely significant in hiring and retaining the right talent, managing the operational hierarchies, affecting the business performance and influencing the overall company culture. By effectively translating business strategy into a powerful people strategy, the culture can be shaped to achieve strategic goals and the organization can be enabled to drive and sustain in the increasingly volatile environment. This can be done in the following manner:-

Shifting away from traditional leadership hierarchies 

A traditional top down leadership hierarchy, where employees need to report to the top management for every critical issue leads to a slower decision making process, missing out on ideas and the separation of authority from those who are actually responsible for work. For this reason, high-performance companies of the future demand a de-centralized work culture which is inclusive and follows an autonomous & open ended approach rather than an autocratic one. Leadership responsibilities can no longer exist in older traditional top-down hierarchies. Instead, they should influence across functions and levels.

Focus on continuous learning

A research report by Pearson suggests that soft skills and intellectual competencies such as complex problem solving, creativity, effective communication etc. have become extremely significant and 52% of employers in India feel the need to significantly invest in training and reskilling employees for new roles. Apart from this, the research also shows that with the rise of digital disruptions and technological innovations, future jobs won’t be humans versus machines, but it will integrate the skills of humans and machines. For this purpose, it is necessary that we find out ways in which the human capabilities can be blended with technology so that workers can become digitally literate, conversant with modern day technology and a holistic learning culture can be fostered.

Evolved hiring process

Since human capital is one of the most critical factors for an organization’s success, it is important that HR personnel are equipped with modern day technological platforms that enable them to hire the right talent and gain a competitive edge. Making technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning etc., a part of the HRM will result in a more responsive, smarter and active HR function and will ease out the otherwise tedious activities such as hiring, interviews, job postings and so on. This will allow the HR managers to focus on other major issues and increase workplace productivity.

Adopting new performance management system 

Apart from this, there is a need to have performance management systems which put employees at the center, helps them grow and achieve not only business targets, but their own greatest potential. Quarterly reviews and conversations, engaging feedback sessions, periodic assessments, trainings and performance ratings and rewards can motivate people and lead to effective talent management in the organization.

A successful enterprise is not made by accident. With the advent of new trends, industries, consumer demands, emerging competition, it is vital for organizations to constantly innovate and reinvent themselves. By actively managing their people strategy, an organization can actually achieve high performance efficiency, outperform its competitors and turn challenges into opportunities while bridging the gap between where they are and where they want to be.