High-Performing Culture: What is it and how to create it

Research and advisory firm Gartner defines a high-performance workplace as, ‘a physical or virtual environment designed to make workers as effective as possible in supporting business goals and providing value…[It] results from continually balancing investment in people, processes, physical environment, and technology to measurably enhance the ability of workers to learn, discover, innovate, team, and lead, and to achieve efficiency and financial benefit.’ 

Companies with high-performing cultures tend to be excellent places to work. Your organisation’s culture is more than the values and purposes of your company. Culture can determine employee engagement and productivity, agility, and innovation. It has been proven that a strong workplace culture results in success, as proven by: 

• Spotify: Through building a strong company culture, Spotify’s growth accelerated. Spotify has embraced a test-and-learn and mistake-tolerance culture where employees share one purpose and can discover how they can reach the purpose. Spotify employees are encouraged to break the rules – if something works, they can keep it; otherwise, it goes in the bin. Spotify’s culture embraces: ‘what works well in most places, may not work in your environment.’ 
  
  
• Hubspot: Transparency and trust are key components of Hubspot’s culture. Employees are considered insiders – Hubspot informs their employees of everything that affects the company before the press and investors do, reinforcing the message that power is gained by sharing knowledge, not hoarding.  

There are many companies where the culture drives the success, such as Google and Microsoft. However, the purpose of these examples is not for you to copy them. As Spotify emphasises: every culture is different, and what works for some may not work for you. However, you can compare cultures as a form of reflection. Analysing an organisation’s workplace culture may allow you to explore possibilities that may benefit your culture. 

While creating a high-performance culture may sound difficult, it’s not. It is possible, but leaders are required to be strategic and patient. 

Communication is a must between leaders and employees. When expectations are clearly articulated, employees can work towards a goal individually or in a team. Through communication, leaders can understand their employees’ career and development goals, and employees can understand their leaders' business goals. Through strategic communication, both can be attained together through a development plan. Furthermore, leaders can emphasise the company’s dedication to employee growth by developing their employees. Actionable feedback can motivate employees, which improves retention.  

MiM has helped many organisations improve their culture; if there is anything that you need support with, reach out. Our experienced consultants and facilitators are always available to advise.  

Follow us on LinkedIn for more content.