Pandit Deendayal Petrolium UniversityPower Sector Roundtable

Creating High Performing Work Systems

30/8/2013It is a privilege to be with you and share my views & experience on creating ‘high performing work systems’. While I present my views & insights, the perspective that I bring into discussion is that of a practising manager rather than that of an academician. I will share the experiences that we are having in driving performance in our organization as well as some of the phenomena & dilema that we are experiencing. I will also share some of the underlying principles which have helped us in achieving success.

When we think of high performance work the metaphor that comes to the mind is that of a beehive and the closest synonym is efficiency. Broadly there are 2 aspects of creating a hi performaing work system:

1. The processes & work systems as bedrock of performing work organization AND

2. The human systems and the role of organization in shaping human behaviour at the workplace.

In my discussion, I will focus on the other aspect of high performance work system which is creating ‘enduring and endearing work place’ as opposed to a plain vanilla efficient work place. My effort is to present before you the story of high performance work place from the individual’s perspective.

1. What is it that people need, 2. What is it that people expect, 3. What is it that people aspire,

when they come to the work place

The classical view of talent in creating high performance work force by putting in efforts to carry entire mass by creating lowest common denominator has undergone a sea change. In today’s world, identifying the high performing high potential

talent and treating them differently through appropriate differentiation methods, is a must. The selection, recognition, development & reward systems of HR need to be geared up to continuously identify and differentiate talent across all levels of organization and nurture them to actualise their potential. Wherever such identification, differentiation and nurturing elements are missing in design basis of the work place, the results are likely to be mediocre. This does not mean that an organization system is to be designed only for top 15-20 per cent and balance are to be neglected. Every organization needs different type of talent and organization should have the ability of dealing with individuals by following principle of n = 1.

Before we move forward, I want to put across some disclaimers which are very important to correctly understand the framework and perspective that I am going to follow:

1. High performance work places & their systems are contextual. There are generic principles which cut across but these principles need to be suitably moderated and adapted to suit the context.

2. High performance work places are not one time affair. They have to be created by careful design and maintained on every day basis.

3. Performance as a synonym for efficiency alone is not likely to be sustainable over the long period of time. Efficiency needs to be over layered by care to make it sustainable.

The society is changing and with society all values, beliefs and assumptions are also changing. More & more democratization of society is pushing the boundaries & putting pressure on the workplaces to adapt to these changes. The causal relationship of values and behaviour is very well known. With large proportion of Gen Y entering into the workforce, there is a change of values and behaviour of people at workplace. Hence the concept of high performance workplace as we understood in the 20th century is no more valid. The aspiration and dreams of this new age workforce are very

different than what it used to be even a decade ago. This has implication in our efforts to build & maintain a performing workplace.

If we really want to create high performance work place engaging the young minds of the 21st century, the solution is not to entice people with carrot and stick approach. Any work system which is designed to be high performing with only productivity, efficiency and ROI, as primary driver will give results till the environmental factors are supportive. When there is a change in the economic environment and the macro economic factors turn adverse or challenging, stress is likely to be experienced on these work systems. A work system designed entirely around carrots and sticks approach -the extrinsic motivators- may have worked in the 20th century. But for 21st century, such mechanistic, reward-and-punishment approach doesn't work. We need a whole new approach.

We need an approach around the desire to do things because they matter, because we like it, because they're interesting, because they are part of something important. Hence the imperative is to leverage these softer elements of human psychology wherein the discretionary efforts are put in by members of work place in challenging environment to overcome and sustain the adversity. Hence, we need an approach built much more around intrinsic motivation. And that new approach for our businesses revolves around three elements: autonomy, mastery and purpose.

The modern research indicates that most important aspects of work life for contemporary generation are:

1. Autonomy2. Mastery3. Purpose

Autonomy is the urge to direct our own lives.

Mastery is the desire to get better and better at something that matters.

Purpose is the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.

Autonomy, mastery and purpose are the building blocks of a new way of doing things.

Now, the engagement of any individual with organisation has two concurrent contracts – Economic Contract & Psychological Contract. The economic contract requires effort of individual in lieu of economic rewards which are given to the individual. This relates to the extrinsic motivators.

The psychological contract between the individual and the organization expands to far bigger horizon beyond economic consideration wherein the individual looks forward for presence of softer elements at work place viz; trust, transparency, fairness, care etc.

In the absence of elements which fulfil the psychological needs of people like the need to belong, need to associate, need to be involved, need to relate to into matters which impact them - the efforts put in by individual at work are sub-optimal. Efforts are limited to the extent of survival as opposed to excel. However when these softer elements are present at work place and people are truly engaged, then the individual’s effort goes beyond the normal degree and discretionary effort is put in by the people. This is a win-win arrangement wherein the organization gets results out of the discretionary effort put in by people and peoples’ holistic needs are fulfilled by doing what they want to do. These psychological needs & fulfillment act as intrinsic motivators. The true challenge in creating high performing work system is to understand and address these changing psychological needs of work force on continuous basis so as to maximise the collective discretionary efforts.

While best of the best performing work systems can be conceptually designed with work processes and softer human elements taken care of, the taste of success is in the experience that an individual gets in his day to day interaction of organization and work systems.

The response of the organization to individual performance, success, failure and short comings define the character of the organization. While the interaction and decision may be limited to one individual or to a small group of people but the message is received across the organization and behaviour of the people gets moderated accordingly.

One of the key imperative of this in designing high performing work systems is to build people capability among the managers to translate these well meaning human systems into right experience for individual in their day to day interactions.

This capability is very difficult to build through an off-hand training program where content is downloaded without an effort to moderate the belief system of managers. We must understand what fundamentally drives their belief system & channelize the efforts into that direction.

The top-most visible layer of the belief system are the Artefacts. Artefacts are observable phenomena which can be seen in any work unit or work place. It can be tangible or intangible. The tangible artefacts are design of work place. Physical arrangement and the way people transact their business etc. Whereas the intangible artefacts are the socio cultural interactions, interpersonal relations, the collaboaration or competition that exists in the work groups, innovation and innovative thought process that people apply. Artefacts are the physical / visible objects & schemas put in place and being used. These are shaped by the Values & Beliefs being shared by the influential members of the organization.

The artefacts are manifestation of espoused values & beliefs that people have and hold dear to them. Espoused Values & Beliefs that inform a sense of right and wrong are embedded in the way people act in their environment and stem from implicit assumptions about the way world is and how it fits together. These beliefs form a holistic approach to life; they constitute an implicit framework

or philosophical perspective on life and it's various components.

The espoused values again are guided by the Implicit Assumptions that each individual is having and hence while creating a high performance work systems, to my mind, the most important aspect is clear understanding of belief system of collective workforce and the organization belief system and creating a synergy between these two. In sum, the Talent Value Proposition needs to be clearly defined by the organization & work proceses & human systems need to be closely woven around it.

While understanding the belief systems, a careful analysis of cultural differences of society is extremely important in designing and putting work systems which appeal to work force. For example, while western values support very candid, matter of fact work places where people prefer transactional relationships. The eastern societies are different in their expectations and aspirations. Hence considering these societal values and their impact on work process is of great importance in this part of the world.

I firmly believe that People in the organization respond to the cues, that the organization keeps giving on day to day basis through its policies and decisions. The transactional work places which are designed with return on talent invested considerations alone, are likely to get back a transactional response which can be viable in short run but life cycle is likely to be shorter. So, the concept of enduring and endearing organization suggest that work systems which are created by incorporating human values as part of the human architecture of the orgsnization are likely to give higher results as well as remain sustainable in their life cycle. As an example if the organizational work systems are designed on the basis of trust and openness, in all likelihood people will also respond with exhibiting trust and openness with one another as also towards the organization. However, if systems are designed as matter of fact and without trust as an element, people will also respond accordingly. Existence of TATA as a Group for more than 100 years is a standing example of how beliefs can shape

the behaviour of people and how practising human values can ensure long term sustainable success.

To sum it up,1. The approach to create high performance work systems

for the GEN-Y is to move beyond traditional carrot and stick approach to the intrinsic motivators built on Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose.We must understand and address the psychological needs of work force on continuous basis so as to maximise the collective discretionary efforts.

2. To translate well meaning work systems & processes, investment in building people cpabilities among business managers is a must to create right experience to people.

3. To create efficient & sustainable high performance work system, it is a must to shape the values & belief of collective workforce and create a synergy with the organization’s values & belief.

4. To create enduring and endearing organization for long term sustainable performance & results the work systems & practices must incorporate human values and care beyond transactional & ROI considerations.