PEOPLE FOCUS - CIPD

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RESEARCH PEOPLE FOCUS Shaping the future A major new CIPD research project, with two leading Irish-based manufacturing firms participating, is exploring how organisations can achieve sustainable high performance Given the current economic climate, launching a research programme on sustainable high performance organisations may not seem best timed but it is part of the foundation for success post-2010. However, it is precisely because of the challenges organisations are facing that the CIPD research team has initiated this new strategic research and engagement programme, ‘Shaping the Future’, investigating sustainable high performance in fast-changing contexts, received such an enthusiastic response from business leaders when it was launched at the CIPD annual conference in Yorkshire, last October. It is being led by the CIPD’s director of research, Linda Holbeche and by Christina Evans, a specialist on organisational performance, with the participation of the CIPD office in Dublin. “Until recently financial performance, measured in terms of outperforming one’s peer group, has been used as the key indicator of high performance. But this one dimensional view of high performance is one that is being questioned, as more and more stakeholders expect organisations to adopt a much broader perspective on high performance,” Christina Evans explained. Pursuing short-term financial gains at the expense of developing organisational capabilities to thrive in the future, or overlooking employee well-being, is not consistent with current thinking on sustainable high performance. How does Shaping the Future work? 1. Shaping the Future will take our understanding of sustainable high performance forward using a three dimensional strategy. 2. In-depth research into leading edge case study organisations. 3. Think-tanks studying high performance through action research. 4. A mass movement of engaged practitioners debating the issues and sharing insights. The CIPD working model of sustainable high performance is based around a number of key elements drawn from existing research on high performance, including the CIPD’s earlier research on people and performance 1 . These elements include: • agile team and project structures; • effective systems and practices; • enabling workplace culture where employees are treated as individuals Understandably many business leaders are currently preoccupied with the question of ‘What do we need to do to remain in business?’ Yet the decisions that organisations take during these uncertain times, together with the way those decisions are implemented and communicated to different stakeholders, will have a significant impact on future performance. Organisational reputation has emerged as a key aspect of sustainability in the conversations that we have already had with leaders about our research: many are mindful of the importance of considering reputational capital when making difficult decisions. Our working assumptions about sustainable high performance One of the difficulties with the term ‘sustainable high performance’ is that different stakeholders will undoubtedly have different views on what this means in practice. 14 Driving practice – wider engagement Action In-Company action research learning sector/theme sets Research © Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2008 into high performance themes and topics References: 1. PURCELL, J., KINNIE, N. and HUTCHINSON, S. (2003) Understanding the people and performance link: unlocking the black box. London: CIPD.
PEOPLE FOCUS RESEARCH whose well-being is integral to the financial health of the organisation. The research will also cover the importance of effective leadership at all levels and the extent to which there are processes to ensure that innovation occurs in all parts of the organisation, not just in research and development teams. Two Irish-based organisations, both at the leading edge of knowledge-based production and product development, are participating in the ‘Shaping the Future’ programme. But what is it that binds all these different elements together? At the heart of our working model we have included the concept of shared core purpose: an area that we want to explore in more depth in the research. We know that in knowledge - and service-intensive businesses, having a strong line of sight to customer needs and expectations is crucial to future business success. But what is less clear is how organisations ensure that all employees feel a sense of connection to the organisation’s core purpose. A recent feature in People Management 2 , suggests that employee contribution, which he defines as individuals having meaning and purpose in their work, is an overlooked aspect of the current debate on talent management. This is an area that we will want to explore further in the research through the question of how organisations build sustainable talent pipelines. To build a sustainable high-performance organisation, leaders – and this includes HR leaders – will need to question old ways of working, as well as take some brave decisions if they are to create an organisational culture that delivers on its employee promise. After all, employers can’t expect employees to continue going that extra mile to ‘delight customers’ if they aren’t responsive to the changing needs of their staff too. Over the next three years we will be conducting in-depth case study research, developing learning communities, as well as hosting larger engagement events. Each of these activities is designed to bring business leaders and HR practitioners together with the explicit aim of improving practice ■ Christina Evans For more details on the CIPD research project Shaping the Future, log on to the research webpage www.cipd.co.uk/ shapingthefuture References: 2. ULRICH, D. (2008) Not-so-standard deviation. People Management. 7 August, 2008.
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PEOPLE FOCUS - CIPD

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