What does a High Performance through Engagement HPtE Strategy® fix?

Our High Performance through Engagement Strategy and the HPtE Strategy™ Framework is designed to support organisations find the synergy between Commercial, Customer and Culture to achieve sustainable high performance.

But, what does this actually fix?

To answer this question we need to explore what happens if we don’t have synergy between Commercial, Customer and Culture.

Traditionally, organisations have focused on achieving performance by focusing only on commercial responsibility. Organisations would look for improvements in efficiency and then try to convert those improvements into bottom line results. The fastest and easiest way to do that is to focus on improvements that reduce cost.

(Slide from an "An Introduction to the HPtE Strategy™ Framework")

But, reducing costs will only get you so far. If you cut to deep you start to impact on the ability to add value to the customer. Focusing on reducing cost has another more devastating effect that we will discuss further on.

The last two decades or so has seen more of a focus on continuous improvement (CI) towards creating increased customer value and improved processes as well as converting those improvements into bottom line results. Strategies like Lean, Six Sigma and Agile have made a significant contribution to this effort.

 

(Slide from an "An Introduction to the HPtE Strategy™ Framework")

We know, however, that a safe, secure and satisfying environment (a constructive Culture) is also a necessary condition for sustainable high performance.

Where does a safe, secure and satisfying environment for the people doing the work fit into the picture?  This is a question we ask in our introductory workshops.  The answer is always that a safe, secure and satisfying environment best connects to finding improvements in the service and processes that add value to the Customer.

A constructive Culture is the key to unlocking improvements to Customer value.

There is an important assumption that should be made explicit here. The people closest to the Customer or the process have more knowledge, intuition and experience about how to make improvements to Customer value and processes than anyone else.

Yet, traditionally the people closest to the work are rarely involved in the decisions about the performance of the organisation.

 

(Slide from an "An Introduction to the HPtE Strategy™ Framework")

We mentioned previously about the needs to convert any improvements into financial results. The fastest (and easiest) way to get any improvement to hit the bottom line is to reduce costs. The biggest cost in most organisations is labour. When there is pressure on Managers to ‘perform’ the temptation is to focus on reducing labour cost. This could be through redundancy, restructuring, benefit restriction, labour freeze’s, attrition programs etc, or a combination of these. How these are packaged and delivered matters not, the impact will be the same.

(Slide from an "An Introduction to the HPtE Strategy™ Framework")

Attempting to reduce labour costs has a negative impact on the Safety, Security and Satisfaction (Culture) of the work force and the work environment.

When there is pressure to provide a Safe, Secure and Satisfying work place AND there is pressure to reduce labour costs there is a conflict.
 

(Slide from an "An Introduction to the HPtE Strategy™ Framework")

That conflict shows itself through a Passive/Defensive and Aggressive/Defensive Culture.

The actual behaviours that turn up vary from one organisation to another but when we ask Employees and Unions how they would describe such a working environment they say things like:

• dictatorship,
• our way or the high way,
• ignored protocols,
• short term focus,
• increased expense,
• dis-engaged employees,
• in-efficiency,
• Labour shortage,
• work to rule,
• stagnation,
• mis-trust,
• high turn-over and
• buying loyalty
• … there are many others.

When we ask Managers the same question they describe:

• a dis-engaged workforce,
• nine to fivers,
• stifled creativity,
• low good will,
• industrial conflict,
• strike threats,
• grievances,
• high turnover,
• pessimism,
• blame and
• a breakdown in trust
• … to name a few.

This type of work environment is painful, expensive and inefficient!

The behaviours can be grouped into two categories:

1. People resist change (Passive)
2. People try to take control (Aggressive)

When people are passive/aggressive organisational performance drops.
 

 

(Slide from an "An Introduction to the HPtE Strategy™ Framework")

When organisational performance drops there is more pressure to improve the processes and the value to the customer. To improve the processes and the value to the customer there is more pressure to provide a Safe, Secure and Satisfying work environment ...

and ...

... when organisational performance drops there is more pressure to improve ‘performance’ by improving the bottom line. The pressure to reduce labour costs goes up.

The conflict is reinforced and the passive/aggressive behaviour gets worse and worse.  When passive/aggressive behaviour becomes the norm it destroys organisations and even whole industries.

This is not an environment for sustainable high performance.  Arguably, this is not an environment for any real performance at all.
 

(Slide from an "An Introduction to the HPtE Strategy™ Framework")

This is what an organisation that wants to achieve sustainable high performance must change.

Next:  What is the outcome of a High Performance through Engagement (HPtE) Strategy?

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HPtE Strategy™ Framework

Research and development by Karl Perry.
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