DRIVING BREAKTHROUGH
PERFORMANCE IN THE NEW
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Gail Thakarar
June 2014
AGENDA
• Changes in the Labor Market
• Driving Performance & Retention Through Employee
Engagement
• Driving Performance in the New Work environment
CHANGES IN THE LABOR MARKET
CHANGES IN THE LABOR MARKET
•
•
•
•
Geographically Dispersed Workforces
Higher Volume of Information
More Matrixed Organization Structures
Generational
CHANGES IN THE LABOR MARKET
WORKPLACE
CHARACTERISTIC
VETERANS
1922-1945
BABY BOOMERS
1946-1964
GENERATION X
1965-1980
GENERATION Y
1981-2000
Work Ethic
Respect Authority,
Hard work,
Company first,
Seniority
Workaholics,
Desire quality,
Question
authority
Eliminate the task,
Self reliant
Want structure &
direction,
Skeptical
What’s next,
Multitasking,
Tenacity,
Entrepreneurial
Work Is:
An obligation
An exciting
adventure
A difficult
challenge,
A contract
A means to an
end
Leadership Style
Directive,
Command &
control
Quality
Everyone is the
same,
Challenge others,
Ask why
Remains to be
seen
Communication
Formal memo
In person
Direct,
Immediate
E-mail,
Voicemail
CHANGES IN THE LABOR MARKET
WORKPLACE
CHARACTERISTIC
VETERANS
1922-1945
BABY BOOMERS
1946-1964
GENERATION X
1965-1980
GENERATION Y
1981-2000
Rewards &
Feedback
No news is good
news.
Satisfaction in a job
well done
Money. Title.
Recognition.
Give me
something to put
on the wall
Sorry to interrupt
but how am I
doing?
Freedom best
reward
Whenever I want
it. Meaningful
work
Motivated By
Being respected
Being valued and
needed
Freedom and
removal of rules
Working with
other bright
people
Work/Life Balance
Keep them
separate
No balance ‘Live
to work’
Balance ‘Work to
Live’
Balance – It’s
5pm - I’ve got
another gig
Technology is:
Hoover Dam
The microwave
What you can
hold in your
hand, PDA, cell
Ethereal –
intangible
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
WHAT IS EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT?
•“The extent to which employees commit to something or someone in their
organization, how hard they work, and how long they stay as a result of that
commitment.”*
•CLC research demonstrates that increased discretionary effort is a direct
prediction of improved performance
CLC survey of 50,000 employees found:
•Engaged employees perform 20% better
•87% less likely to leave the organization
•1 in 10 employees are fully disengaged
•No high-engagement or low-engagement groups
•Engagement levels determined by company strategies and policies
•Emotional engagement is 4 times more valuable than rational engagement
*Defined by Corporate Leadership Council
MOST EFFECTIVE LEVERS OF DISCRETIONARY
EFFORT
20 MOST EFFECTIVE LEVERS OF EFFORT
MANAGER IMPACT
1.
Connection Between Work & Organization Strategy
2.
Importance of Job to organization Success
3.
Understanding of How to Complete Work Projects
4.
Internal Communication
5.
Demonstrates Strong Commitment to Diversity
Yes
6.
Demonstrates Honesty & Integrity
Yes
7.
Reputation of Integrity
8.
Adapts to Changing Environments
Yes
9.
Clearly Articulates Organizational Goals
Yes
10
Possesses Job Skills
Yes
MOST EFFECTIVE LEVERS OF DISCRETIONARY
EFFORT
20 MOST EFFECTIVE LEVERS OF EFFORT
MANAGER IMPACT
11.
Sets Realistic Performance Expectations
Yes
12.
Puts the Right People in the Right Roles at the Right Time
Yes
13.
Helps Find Solutions to Problems
Yes
14.
Breaks Down Projects into Manageable Components
Yes
15.
Accepts responsibility for successes & failures
Yes
16.
Encourages & Manages Innovation
Yes
17.
Accurately Evaluates Employee Potential
Yes
18.
Respects Employees as Individuals
Yes
19.
Demonstrates Passion to Succeed
Yes
20.
Cares About Employees
Yes
MAXIMUM IMPACT ON DISCRETIONARY
EFFORT
Change in Discretionary Effort
EMOTIONAL
Source: CLC Employee Survey
RATIONAL
The impact of rational
commitment is much smaller
DRIVING BREAKTHROUGH
PERFORMANCE IN THE NEW
WORK ENVIRONMENT
EXECUTIVE EXPECTATIONS
Percentage of Executives
32%
59%
67%
33%
Increase
Stay the Same
Decrease
15%
17%
26%
Revenue Expectations
35%
16%
Cost Pressures
Headcount
Source: Business Barometer Quarterly Report, CEB Finance Leadership Council, Q3 2012
Percentage of Employees
PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYEES EXPERIENCING AN
INCREASE IN WORKLOAD IN THE PAST 3 YEARS
Source: CEB, CLC, HR High Performance Survey, 2012
TO ACHIEVE PROFITABLE GROWTH
• Understand the most important changes taking place in
the new work environment and the implications for
employee performance and productivity
• Identify the necessary new skills and competencies for
employees to be productive and determine how best to
quickly build them across the workforce, and
• Adjust management approaches and target technology
investments to better enable high performance
UNDERSTAND THE NEW WORK ENVIRONMENT
• Frequent Organizational Change
– more and frequent
– greater financial uncertainty
– organizational downsizing
• Interdependent Work
– cross-function or departmental work groups
– matrix reporting relationships
– Geographically dispersed workforce
– Team-based work
• Knowledge Work
– New information technology
– More non routine work
– Greater information availability
NEW COMPETENCIES: DRIVERS OF PERFORMANCE
HIGH PERFORMER CHARACTERISTICS
NEW COMPETENCIES – DRIVERS OF PERFORMANCE
Adapt to Change
Organizational Awareness (3)
Self-Awareness (5)
Proactivity (6)
Learning Agility (9)
Work Collaboratively
Teamwork (2)
Influence (7)
Technical Expertise (10)
Apply Judgment
Prioritization (1)
Problem Solving (4)
Decision Making (8)
Source: CEB - High Performance Survey
TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS
Target Technology Investments to the Evolving Needs of
Knowledge Workers & Collaborative teams
• Build back from employee needs, not just broad business
needs
• Identify and use early adopters to redefine technology
needs
• Fix data accessibility and usability
• Create collaboration platforms to make immediate , inthe-moment interactions easy
• Provide a wider array of analytic application
Business Unit Performance Against Profit Goals
EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE SCORES CANNOT
PREDICT BUSINESS UNIT PERFORMANCE
Business Unit-Specific Average Employee Performance Score
Source: CEB, CLC, HR High Performance Survey, 2012
MODEL OF HIGH PERFORMANCE
Individual Task
Performance
An employee’s
effectiveness
at achieving
his / her
individual
tasks and
assignments
+
Network
Performance
An employee’s
effectiveness
at improving
other’s
performance
and using
other’s
contributions
to improve his
or her own
performance
=
Enterprise
Contribution
An employee’s
effectiveness
at his / her
individual
tasks,
contribution to
others’
performance,
and use of
others’
contributions
to improve his
/ her own
performance
Business Unit
Outcomes
• Profit
• Revenue
THE ENTIRE WORKFORCE MUST DISPLAY
ENTERPRISE CONTRIBUTION
Percentile Change in Profit
High Individual
Task and
Network
Performance
(High Enterprise
Contribution)
High Individual
Task
Performance
Alone
Percentage of Employees
Source: CEB, CLC, HR High Performance Survey, 2012
FOUR IMPLICATIONS FOR COMPETENCY
MODEL DESIGN
Problem
Solving
Organizational
Awareness
Teamwork
Prioritization
From:
1 Prioritizes Tasks:
Prioritizes activities to fulfill job
description and manager directs work
2 Builds Connections:
Increases the number of, and
maintains strong, personal
relationships
3 Knows Formal Organization:
Understands business basics and the
formal structure and mechanics of the
organization
4 Receptive to Change:
Displays openness and willingness to
change behavior in response to new
situations
To:
Prioritizes Contributions:
Prioritizes activities based on
organizational goals and self-directs
work
Understands Peers’ Motivations:
Coordinates one’s work and
performance with that of others to
achieve mutual outcomes
Understands Organizational Context:
Understands the informal structures
and decision-making processes of the
organization
Initiates Change:
Identifies problems or opportunities
for changes and implements solutions
when appropriate
TO DRIVE BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN
THE NEW WORK ENVIRONMENT
• Design jobs and roles that provide:
– Clear guidelines for network responsibilities, not just
individual responsibilities
– Boost manager effectiveness at facilitating and
advising not filtering
– Design roles to facilitate critical relationships, not
tasks
TO DRIVE BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN
THE NEW WORK ENVIRONMENT
• Improve Critical Competencies:
– Update competency models to reflect fundamental
changes in how employees’ prioritize their
contributions, work with others, understand the
organization and initiate change
– Tailor core competency models for critical employee
segments
– Incorporate customer input to improve the relevance
and impact of competency models
– Consider the needs of specific business lines and
customize the relative importance of behaviors for
each specific group
TO DRIVE BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN
THE NEW WORK ENVIRONMENT
• Performance Management Systems
– Update current performance management
approaches to better align with changes in the nature
of work
– Orient talent investments toward improving individual
task and network performance
– Focus on shifting all employees, not just a handful of
‘A-players’ to higher enterprise contribution to
achieve breakthrough performance
QUESTIONS?