The creation of a High Performance Organization

(HPO)

knowledge, dissemination & embodyment

“All organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they get.” Arthur Jones

The sundial The ice box The typewriter

All three used to fill a meaningful role in mainstream society.

Consider, for a moment, what the following have in common:

… and think about your organization

“This sort of thing could severely hurt our business. But if it does, let us be the ones who do it!” Ed Artzt, former P&G CEO

Initial objectives

• Understanding of the Company values• Motivation of the people• Correct communication through the work and

decisional processes• Personal objectives aligned to the bank / upper

management objectives• Nurturing and rising of a teamwork environment• Transfer of specific managerial knowledge

Threats

• The size of the organization• The spread over the entire geography• Current workload, due of aggressive bank

objectives• Recent changes in leadership (especially at the

mid management level)• New departments (retail) with objectives and

ways to work radically different vs. the traditional (corporate) depts.

Symptoms of the wrong cultural behavior

• Overly submissive behaviors (“Do as you’re told”)• Conservative behaviors (“Don’t make a mistake.”)• Shortcut behaviors (“Beat the system”)• Protective behaviors (“Not my responsibility”)• “Not invented here”• Internal Myopia (each part is focused on a narrow, relatively

static set of business parameters)• …

“The fish only knows it lives in water after it is already on the river bank.” Old French Proverb

‘The machine’

• Task specialization• Standardization of

Performance• Centralized decisions• Uniform Policies• No duplication of functions• Job descriptions• Team structures• Reporting relationships• Compensation systems• Hiring Procedures• Information Practices• Decision – making

prerogatives• Norms or habits

HPO

• Individual objectives aligned to the group objectives

• Transparency among groups / information shared freely

• Feel like “owners of the business”

• Business strategy understood and accepted

• Multiskills• Variances / deviations from

the ideal process controlled• Interdependent roles• Support congruence (same

practices, rewards, systems)• Design around human values

and individual talents• Principled driven decisions

The living systems

• They are purposeful and goal directed• They are self regulating (core process) to achieve

their purpose• They require goal clarity, goal commitment, clear

feedback and reasonable autonomy in order to be self regulating

• Those who survive are able to adapt successfully to environmental changes

Examples of today’s Maginot Lines

• SONY reliance to protect it Beta Home VHS• P&G tried-and-true product test market, taking 2-3 years• Upper management’s insistence that annual performance

reviews be conducted even though little has been accomplished

• Failing to question the effectiveness of a new compensation system

• American cars industry proud and protective of its products despite costs and customer satisfaction not competitive to the Japanese ones

Example of team design checklist1. Will it be a real team?

– Will the members be truly interdependent? Will they then cooperate in order to complete their tasks?

– Will each member’s role be differentiated from others, so it makes an unique contribution to the result?

– Will there be enough physical proximity for team identity to be easily observable?

2. Will it be a work team?– Will the team have a whole task (inputs – transformations – outputs)

so that a product or service is produced?3. Will be the right resources on the team?

– Will team members have the necessary knowledge and skills to complete the whole task?

– Will the team have enough people to do the task – but not more than necessary?

4. Will it be a self-sufficient team?– Will the team have the authority to determine who does what by

when for daily activities?– Will the team get accurate and timely information about its results,

operating standards, and new developments that will affect daily priorities?

– Will leadership be shared among team members so that no person is ‘the main boss’?

How it works

Picture of the current situation

(understandhow the system

works today)Definition of the

arrival zone (where we want to be)

Gap to be filled

Two golden rules• To get better results, you need to improve the design of the

organization• If you change the organization, be careful not to disturb what is

working now

“There’s no law that says anybody has to improve. It’s all voluntary. It’s only a matter of survival.”W. Edwards Deming

The Organization Performance ModelBusiness Situation

The needs which must be satisfied and the

pressures which must be managed

1. Hard number requirements

2. Company requirements3. Social, political, legal,

expectations4. Competitive pressures5. Expectations of

employees

Business Results

What the organization delivers now

1. Hard numbers2. Extent to which company

requirements are met3. Social, political, legal

conduct4. Position relative to

competition5. Extent to which employee

expectations are realized

Business Strategy

The organization's reason for being

1. Purpose/mission/vision2. Competitive strategy

(What, Why, When, How)

3. Operating principles4. Objectives and goals5. Underlying values and

assumptions

Culture

How the organization really operates

1. Attitudes toward strategy and goals

2. Actual distribution of power and rewards

3. Actual work people do/don`t do

4. Other norms that explain how things get done (or don't get done)

Decision making

Structure Rewards

People Information

Tasks

Steps

Data collection (organization performance review)• Step 1: Understand the vision• Step 2: (at the strategic level) Interviews with department heads

to identify structural and systemic deficiencies

Analysis• Step 3: (tactic level) Cross – understanding events, at the

department and branch managers

Synthesis & Hypothesis• Step 4: Deployment of the values and principles story, within each

subgroup / department / branch, by its leader

Action plan• Step 5: Consolidate information into one coherent plan• Step 6: Implement and foresee the change

• Step 1: Understand the vision– Meeting with the main decision factors of the bank– What you get: vision & issues– What we want to generate: top commitment for the program

• Step 2: (at the strategic level) Interviews with department heads to identify structural and systemic deficiencies– Identifying also the cultural and behavioral issues– What goes well, what doesn’t go well (in their opinion)– Is there a clear strategy, owned by all– Are there correct motivating and compensating systems in

place– We can use, alternatively, a questionnaire based on ‘the

diamond (strategy, work, structure, people, decision making, information, rewards): what is good, bad, why, consequences – for each element

What you get: systemic and structural issuesWhat we want to generate: data

• Step 3: (tactic level) Cross – understanding events, at the department and branch managers

– Team-building or workshop events, with the objectives of measuring the gaps (the differences between declarations and intentions and the current situation / real possibilities)

– ‘Taking the dirt out’– Getting the commitment and generating the empowerment for

the next actions (for change)– May be added a train the trainer course, specifically on the

Bank values and principles– We can use the theme of ‘training needs’– We can make a separate team event, as a catalyst for change

of mindset, better cooperation and energizing– The main objective is to create a mindset ‘out of the ordinary’– With a facilitator that asks question of the kind:

• What is you vision for your company and for your team? • Why do you exist (as a team)? • What is your purpose of coming/ working together?

What you get: vision, intentions, declaration, gaps, threats / obstacles

What we want to generate: interdependence, cross - understanding

• Step 4: Deployment of the values and principles story, within each subgroup / department / branch, by its leader– Discussing the opportunity for change– Discuss specific things, as:

• How we make plans• How we take decisions• How well we communicate• What sort of training we need• How well we measure efficiency / success

– Facilitating communication– Generating a set of initiatives at each group’s level– With a facilitator that asks question of the kind:

• What to we need to better perform the [specific task]• Why we are lagging behind on [specific issue]• What do you feel about [sensitive issue]

What you get: ‘dirt out’ and communicationWhat we want to generate: understanding of the values and

principles, set of initiatives

• Step 5: Consolidate information into one coherent plan• Step 6: Implement and foresee the change

Conclusions

High Performance Organizations are characterized by structures that reinforce the qualities of living systems. Although this should seem natural, it is not.

Centuries of organizing work based on Machine Theory have influence our thinking about how to divide, measure and control work and its outputs.

A principled approach is helpful to the HPOs by allowing them to harness the natural energy of the people against the tasks to be completed.

HPOs have learned to design for results and self sufficiency rather than for form and elaborate supervisory control. Their focus is on getting the work done right in the first place, rather than detecting or controlling errors.

Often is the design process itself that jolts members of the organization into a realization of how much better their performance should be.

Knowledge transfer

knowledge, dissemination & embodyment

Knowledge transfer - proposals

• People management• Time management• Project administration• Efficient communication (in written as well)• Personnel evaluation (maybe interviewing as

well)• Team work (team effectiveness)• Leadership• 1st time Supervisors• Train the trainer• Efficient Presentation• Influence management

Training program - suggestion

• Start with workshops to discuss issues & create solutions and commitment:– Problems, what’s your opinion, you say, give examples,

how can be put in practice, how we measure• Insert a team building – a ‘Businessopoly’• Work together on knowledge transfer & soft skills,

to create strong competencies• Insert some attitude building trainings• For managers – seminars with homework and

applications, close to the real business• Keep a constant rhythm of trainings, over one

year time. Challenge for results simultaneously.• Specialized training sessions for new positions

Training program suggestionEvent Training required / suggested Days WhenWkshop & Facilitation

Workshop: issues & answer; What we have to learn to perform better

2 14& 15 Oct

People management 2People development 2Team effectiveness 2Basic elements of a business 2Trade marketing 2Finance 1Time management 1Communication Skills 2Memo writing 1Better use of Excel & Powerpoint 1

Session / Training 4

Positive thinking – Social Habits 2 16 - 17 Feb

Session / Training 5

Businessopoly - Team building event 2 3 & 4 March

Influence management 2Negotiation (for intermediate users) 1Train the Trainer 2Recruiting & Interviewing 1Team effectiveness 2Leadership 1

Session / Training 9

Project management 220 - 21 October 2006

Session / Training 10

Presentation skills 2 16 & 17 Nov 2006

Session / Training 8

21 - 23 September

Session / Training 3

3& 4 Feb

9-10 J une

Session / Training 6

6-8 April

Session / Training 7

21 Oct, 4 Nov, 2 Dec, 10 Feb, 17 March, 14 April

Session / Training 2

19-21 J an

6 seminars of 1 day each, once /

month, Friday

Businessopoly

• Team event, based on the Monopoly game, played in teams

• With a reward for the winning team• Questions and surprises based on the value and

principles of the Bank• Rules and elements of the game adapted to the

current situation and strategies of the Bank• Has multiple benefits:

– Transfer of corporate knowledge– Team-building event– Mind-set re-orientation– Better understanding of the business