Building a high performance culture

In today’s fast-paced and complex work environment, managers are increasingly overwhelmed by the volume and complexity of their responsibilities. Recent studies, such as the 2022 Gartner Building an Organisation of Great Managers employee survey, highlight that it’s not just the number of tasks but also the complexity that has significantly increased since the pandemic.

Furthermore, it’s important to recognise that this affects us too; professionals in central people functions are feeling the heat and specifically, HR colleagues were highlighted in 2024 research as being particularly high risk of burnout over the next 18 months.  It’s crucial to explore how we can support managers to be resilient, effective and empowered to lead their teams successfully contributing to a high performance culture.

Key challenges for managers

  1. Increased responsibilities and complexity:

    • According to the Gartner survey, managers are reporting significant increases in the number and complexity of tasks and decisions they need to manage daily. This overload is not only impacting their performance but also their relationships with their teams.

  2. Balancing task and people management:

    • Many organisations focus heavily on achieving targets and KPIs, often at the expense of people management. We’re seeing more and more clients struggle with this; the need to drive maximum business efficiency means people management is almost relegated to a ‘discretionary activity’… which doesn’t work long-term.
    • There’s a growing need to rebalance managers’ roles to ensure they can effectively lead their teams while meeting organisational goals.

  3. Burnout and mental health concerns:

    • HR burnout, in addition to that already felt by managers and leaders, has emerged as a significant concern, highlighting the need for support systems that help managers deal with high demands and maintain their mental health.

 Strategic priorities for 2024/2025

To address these challenges, here are several key talent management priorities:

  1. Leader and manager development:

    • Upskilling managers to handle increased complexity and volume of work while promoting leaders who have the skills and track record to navigate this environment effectively.

  2. Career management and internal mobility:

    • Encouraging internal mobility and career progression to fill skill gaps and offer growth opportunities to talented individuals.

  3. Employee experience measurement and delivery:

    • Focusing on understanding and enhancing the employee experience, closing deltas to foster engagement, retention and performance.

Developing a strategy to build a high performance culture

To thrive in this new environment, organisations need to foster a culture of high performance. Key elements include:

  • Psychological safety: Creating an environment where employees feel safe to take risks, share ideas, and admit mistakes without fear of reprisal is a core part of driving a high-performance culture. When people feel like they can try new things without fear of recrimination if they go wrong, people step away from an attitude of ‘let’s continue to do things the way we’ve always done them’, to ‘let’s innovate and take some balanced risk… let’s see what comes out’. This is not about removing accountability; there are consequences if things don’t go to plan. But the blame-game doesn’t get played, so people are more willing to try new things.
  • Intrinsic motivation: Prioritising employee engagement by fostering an environment where people feel valued, confident, and connected. This is borne out of an ability to ‘bring one’s entire self to work’; by breaking down the barriers which potentially inhibit one’s authenticity at work, people are more likely to deliver high quality work and discretionary effort. (Hackman and Oldham (1975), Gagne and Deci (2005))
  • Embracing failure as a learning opportunity: Promoting a growth mindset where failures are seen as opportunities for learning and innovation. Carol Dweck took the thinking of James, Binet and Rogers into unchartered territory in the 1980’s, exploring the effects of one’s view on learning agility that can have on one’s success. The irony is that an individual’s innate belief in a ‘fixed mindset’ or ‘growth mindset’ is often affected by childhood experiences, so enabling people to realise that failure is an opportunity to learn once they reach employment requires significant levels of institutional trust.
  • Define, review and embed a compelling EVP: While recent research does indicate that it’s an employer’s market at the moment (KPMG and Personnel Today both emphasise that general employer hesitancy and increased competition for jobs gives employers the upper hand in picking out the best candidates), it continues to be important that employers are mindful of how they attract and retain their best talent.

Agile employers are thinking about how they offer a differentiated package; with Paydata’s trend analysis on pay reward indicating a plateau for 2024/25, businesses need to think about what they offer that makes them more appealing than the alternative.

Actionable steps for leaders prioritising a high performance culture

To implement these strategies effectively, leaders should consider the following steps:

  1. Assess and plan:

    • Review your current leadership competencies and behaviours to ensure they align with future needs. Audit your culture to determine if it supports high performance and psychological safety.
    • Be prepared to take steps when you discover misalignment. Leaders in people and reward functions need to think about what is going to keep their best people engaged and retained, and be willing to try new things where necessary.

  2. Execute and support:

    • Align talent processes with the desired culture, providing clear guidance and support for managers to develop the necessary skills. Reviewing ‘what good looks like’ in your business, defining it clearly, then aligning your reward and recognition approaches to these frameworks is critical.

  3. Review and adapt:

    • Regularly evaluate employee engagement data to identify areas for improvement and adjust strategies as needed. What works now will not always work in the future, so be willing to review and adapt.

Conclusion

The role of managers is more critical than ever in driving organisational success. By supporting them through effective development, promoting a culture of growth and psychological safety, and aligning talent strategies with these priorities, organisations can empower their managers to thrive in this complex environment.

Are you ready to support your managers in this new era of complexity? Contact us at People Business to find out how we can help you develop a tailored strategy for leadership development and organisational success.