How the performance of your people can drive your business success

When you get the right people in the right seats, you establish the foundations for maximising the potential of your business.

However, there is a lot more to it than just that.

To truly succeed in any business, a work environment must be established that is conducive to driving high performance, not just having a ‘good culture’.  Dan Collins (multiple Olympic K-2 Kayak medallist and world champion) has a mantra that the underlying basis for winning is to ensure that the dominant currency in any workplace is performance.  We would agree.

Whilst employee engagement remains important, the critical factor for getting the most out of your people and your business has to be a performance mindset, underpinned by open and honest conversations and the notion of personal responsibility and accountability.  The bottom line is that to maximise the potential of any business you need performance to be embedded into the fabric of the organisation – from the upper levels of any senior leadership group through to the broader team and support networks.

So how do you ensure that performance becomes the primary currency in your workplace and gets embedded across your entire business?

Welcome to our High Performance Framework…… you can download it here.

Our High Performance Framework has been developed for growing organisations to use as a blueprint for ensuring performance is established as core to the business culture and guides the structures, tools and processes needed to drive businesses through their next stage of growth.

Based on research by Boston Consulting, McKinsey & Co and other tier one consulting firms, the framework creates a common and performance-based language that enables all leaders and their teams to get on the same page faster and develop their skills together.

How does the High Performance Framework work?

Central to the framework is the core foundation of a well-defined HR Strategy, which includes having the right organisational structures in place, together with a well-constructed workforce plan.  This HR Strategy should be intrinsically linked to the Corporate Strategy and reviewed regularly to ensure you maximise the chance of achieving the strategic imperatives set by the board and/or owners.

Wrapped around the central HR Strategy is a critical set of 3 Leadership Drivers.  These include:

• Executive Recruitment to ensure you have A-Grade executive leadership capability to lead and drive your teams. McKinsey research has found that ‘A-Grade’ Leaders are up to 800% more productive than their less capable peers – a huge differential in any language.
• Leadership Development to ensure your leaders are constantly being developed and provided with a consistent tool-kit and language with which to lead teams effectively
• Succession Planning to ensure you either have the internal talent identified within the business to assume future leadership roles (and provide contingency), or understand the gaps you need to fill as you grow the business – which may involve sourcing new talent to deliver the necessary skills and capability.

Finally, we have a set of Performance Drivers that provide the remaining systems, structures, processes and tools for leaders to leverage and apply across the business:

• Employer Branding to crystalise your employer value proposition and attract A-Grade talent. Your employer brand has a large and direct impact on your ability to recruit the talent you need.
• Remuneration & Incentives to ensure clarity exists around remuneration approach and incentive plans are in place to drive and reward performance
• Performance Management to develop KPIs, scorecards, meeting rhythms and feedback systems to help manage and drive performance-based communication and accountability on a daily basis.
• Culture which is established through clear values, standards and habits, all aligned to your corporate purpose and performance mindset.
• Leveraging Technology to select the right HR systems and technology stacks to optimise efficiency is your business
• Managing Risk by developing contingency plans and ensuring compliance with relevant employment and OHS laws

The important thing to note is that all of these drivers are interlinked and connected, and centre on having a sound HR Strategy at the core.  You can (and no doubt will) address issues associated with any one driver at any given time, but to get the most out of your team and maximise your business potential, you need to prioritise and build out all elements of the framework over time.

What effect can a HR Strategy have on my bottom line?

The pay-off is big, with Boston Consulting Group research showing significant impacts as outlined in the table below:

So, if you’re looking to outperform your competition, take a closer look into our High Performance Framework to help you get there.