Organizational Performance is dependent on many variables, one of which is Individual Performance. If all individuals are able to reach their full potential and perform at their peak consistently then the organization can said to be a high performance organization. This ability to reach and maintain continuous high levels of performance is directly correlated with Employee Productivity. If an organization can enable its employees to be productive, they can sustain high levels of performance over time. The organization can only achieve this by keeping the employees engaged year on year, despite challenging targets and tough competition. Employee Engagement therefore plays an ever increasingly important role in today’s business environment.
Employees can be said to be engaged if they are able to consistently apply their ‘discretionary effort’ to achieve organization’s goals/targets vis-à-vis their individual goals/targets over and beyond the call of duty. The percentage of employees who show engagement with the organization can very well determine the rate of success of an organization’s ability to set and achieve its targets regardless of how challenging they may be.
The organization’s leadership which includes all line mangers at all levels and above all the top leadership team, need first to be able to understand what drives high levels of Performance and Engagement in their organization.
Once they have been able to identify it, they then need to measure where they stand against some internal/external benchmark. This guides them towards identifying areas where they need to focus on and improve, as well as identify areas where they need to continue doing what they are doing right.
The model of High Performance & Engagement helps organizations determine where they stand and where they need to go.
Job Satisfaction
The organization’s ability vis-à-vis leaders’ ability to recognize the efforts and contributions of individuals and provide them with appropriate recognition for all they do is the critical factor in how satisfied employees feel. It is about the reward strategy & structure of the organization and how far the employees believe that they are being compensated according to their perceived value of self.
Organizational Relationships
This is about how one relates to the organization. This includes relationship with one’s line manager(s), with their peers and subordinates, and with the senior management team. This is determined through the perception people hold of how the organization is treating them through its various policies and what resources are being made available to them to do their jobs as per the expectations of their line managers. Employees’ perceptions of whether the right amount of input is being given to them to make them capable and whether they feel respected and valued by their line managers as much as they think they should be. Is there free flow of information top to bottom and bottom to top and the extent of openness and candidness among the team members as well as cross functionally.
Self-Worth
Employees generally have this innate desire to contribute because it gives them a sense of accomplishment which when adequately recognized improves their confidence in themselves and that makes them feel good. If they get this feeling from the organization that their contributions are not being valued or vice versa that has a direct impact on how much more they want to contribute further.
Sense of Achievement
Do employees general feel successful in their endeavors? Do they have or feel a sense of accomplishment when they complete their tasks and assignments? This area explores the extent to which the employees are able to produce excellent results and whether the organization and team structure allows and the leadership behavior supports them to shine.
Learning, Development & Growth
Higher levels of productivity are seen when employees consistently go through development processes aimed at improving their skills and abilities as well as grooming them for future challenges. This coupled with fair and transparent processes for providing opportunities for growth and vertical movement improves the employees’ confidence in the organization and makes them do more, increases the excitement levels at work place and serves as impetus to get ahead.
Closely linked to the concept of growth is the remuneration and compensation factor which also has a direct correlation with Job Satisfaction, which implies that a productive employee will also be a satisfied employee.
Trust
Do the employees trust their leaders and vice versa? A high level of trust would indicate that the expectations are based on a mutual and honest understanding of each other’s needs and requirements. This means that a team that trusts each other would be able to sustainably perform at its peak and induce a higher sense of camaraderie and teamwork in turn enabling the individual within it to perform at a higher level.
Empowerment
This is about feeling powerful and autonomous in one’s role regardless of the level in the hierarchy. This denotes an organizational governance framework which is based on a systematic approach to people development (based on organizational needs) through an established set of processes and a built in system for ensuring accountability. This is about both the freedom granted to employees and the acceptance of responsibility at all levels.
Sense of Purpose (Clarity of Direction)
This area explores the extent to which the employees across the organization are familiar with the organization’s vision, mission, values and the general direction. Their understanding of the importance of such statements and how far have they internalized it. This also relates to the extent of communication (and the number and types of communication mediums used) to reach the entire organization to communicate the goals as well as methods used to translate the strategic goals into functional objectives and individual goals/KPIs.
Managerial Ability
A manager’s prime responsibility is to manage his/her team. A good people manager can send positive messages through actions and providing timely feedback to the team that provides employees with the needed push (sometimes through coaching and sometimes through punishment) to perform up to the standards set by the management. An individual employee performance therefore has a direct correlation with the quality of management by the line manager.
Work Environment
This area explores to what extent employees feel safe, secure, and comfortable at their place of work. Is the overall work environment one which inspires confidence or one that induces stress in individuals and teams. It is about the extent to which the employees can personalize their work area and call it their own. It is also about the ambience at work, the underlying norms of how people engage with one another and what behaviors are explicitly encouraged or discouraged.
Engagement
Employees can be said to be engaged if they are able to consistently apply their ‘discretionary effort’ to achieve organization’s goals/targets vis-à-vis their individual goals/targets over and beyond the call of duty
Productivity
Productive workplaces are built on teamwork and a shared vision of where a business is heading. There's a willingness at all levels to keep learning and investing in skills. In a productive workplace everyone's role is valued and all staff are encouraged to contribute ideas.
Performance
Job performance is an individual output in terms of quality and quantity expected from every employee in a particular job. Individual performance is most of the time determined by motivation and the will and ability to do the job.
Organization Performance
Organizational Performance is dependent on many variables, one of which is Individual Performance. If all individuals are able to reach their full potential and perform at their peak consistently then the organization can said to be a high performance organization.