CIPD's Shaping the Future:
summary of findings in 2011 report 'Sustainable Organisation Performance: what really makes the difference?'
The CIPD research examined what makes the difference in driving sustainable organisation performance, with six case studies from public and private organisations.
8 themes were identified as important for long-term performance, as summarised below:
Alignment: consistency between values and objectives of different stakeholders
Shared purpose: organisational purpose shared by all employees and often beyond, including external stakeholders
Leadership: communication of motivating future-orientated vision by leaders
Locus of engagement: engagement at various levels and in various aspects of the organisation, transactional or emotional
Assessment and evaluation: processes that gather information, assess the impact of actions and inform decision-making
Balancing short- and long-term horizons: active awareness, management and communication of short and longer term issues
Agility: Open to new directions with both leaders and followers proactive and adaptable
Capability-building: teams and people equipped with skills and knowledge needed for present, future and potential challenges.
CIPD then used the evidence they'd collected to develop 10 insights for HR and business leaders to appraise their organisations and identify areas for action.
The full report and executive summary explain these in detail, below is a summary:
1. The organisation change response needs to be truly agile and enduring, not a knee-jerk reaction that quickly dissipates
2. It's a fine balance between alignment and flexibility
3. Shared purpose can only be achieved by finding the human connection beyond profit or short-term efficiency measures
4. Collaborative leadership brings sustainability, so don't default to directive and driven when the going gets tough
5. 'Middle management' have a valuable transforming and translating role but are often bypassed rather than refocused, reskilled and leveraged
6. An over-focus on today's needs is not true talent management; it's talent tunnel vision
7. Truly understanding employees' locus of engagement can avoid the risk of over-attachment and underperformance
8. Perceptions of unfairness undermine employee engagement
9. Process-heavy organisations are often still insight-light
10. Leaders don't always know best about the long-term vision
Read the report in full on CIPD's website and see the CIPD member LinkedIn group if you have a related question.
If you'd like to speak to LCP about business coaching and leadership development to improve performance, call us on 01273 590232 or email enquiries@lcp.org.uk.
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