High performance Organisation = Ownership+Accountability+Trust

High performance Organisation = Ownership, Accountability & Trust 

 

 

It was just last week during my leadership engagements when someone asked me,

‘How would you define a high performance organisation?’  

The definition per se at the top of my mind though, did not appear to the answer per se. I thus, reflected on the question over the weekend, read through some studies and delved into the nuances of a high performing organisation basis learnings from my one decade old career. 

 

The outcome was a simple truth finding, the key to define or create a high performing organisation lies in the culture rather than in mechanics. Culture, like a brand, is misunderstood and often discounted as a touchy-feely component of business that belongs to HR! Now that I have held your thought on the culture statement, let me bring in another variable into the equation ‘VUCA’, the buzz world of today’s organisation ecosystem where we operate in the environment of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity & Ambiguity and thus it’s a no brainer to say that organizations today are facing the need for change at a faster pace than ever before. The successful ones would only emanate from a culture fabric built in with what defines high performance. 

 

Apple, Google, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, GE, Unilever, Coca-Cola are members of an elite circle where exceptional performance is an everyday event, these groups operate on a different plane. We can name them - but can we explain them? When does High-Performance happen? What does it feel like? Can it be replicated?

So, here’s my attempt to articulate what it takes to be a high performing organisation. 

 

For high-performance organizations, there’s a strong link between taking ownership, having a culture of accountability, and having a high trust workplace. All three are critical to embed into the culture and values of an organization.

 

Taking Ownership means when I believe that that taking action is not someone else’s responsibility & that I have an obligation to the results. ‘I’ here denotes all of us who make the organisation, from the last rung in the ladder to the ones at the top. Simply put Ownership is about the initiative, not anyone’s but ours!

Accountability is about being responsible for the result. Ownership is about initiative & accountability is about follow-through. When you say “I’ve got this”, accountability means you will deliver as promised. 

Trust in the workplace tells others — “I believe in you. I believe you’ll do the right thing and I believe you’ll do what you say you’re going to do.”

Let’s take an example here, around Performance management, we often call it an HR responsibility and thus forget the ownership element here. A high performance organisation rests on the foundation of all taking ownership of the actions & results thereof. So how do we do it differently is the question? Aligning employees to the ‘WHY’ of the exercise, Bringing all on the same page for its execution, respecting the timelines on the exercise as if they were mine fully. All of us thus become the owners and participate fully in the initiative.

Accountability on the other hand as described earlier would mean that the stakeholders here, employees, HR function,leaders say ‘I have got it’, ‘I would follow-through’ and ‘we shall deliver’. The results thus are arrived from an ‘intrinsic pull’ rather than an ‘organisation / HR push’. 

Now the element of trust to seal the equation would entail that all stakeholders are trusted partners; we believe in the exercise & more importantly believe in the outcome thereof. Now this needs an approach where we connect the dots between big picture strategy elements such as mission (our purpose), vision (what we aspire for), core values (what we believe in), strategic focus areas (themes, results and/or goals) and the more operational elements such as objectives (continuous improvement activities), measures (KPIs), which track strategic performance, targets (our desired level of performance). If I know in doing what am I really doing, you have aligned me well to the organisation vision, now I trust what we are doing & I trust the KPIs set for me as an employee to ensure we get there! The trust equation is now realized & reaffirmed.

Ownership, Accountability & Trust, when used to sew the cultural fabric of an organisation creates a high performing organisation and this is what defines the winners from the followers! 

Let’s come together & create an even bigger brighter better team!