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There is a big difference between the conditions that can accompany strong organisational performance in benign economic times or over the short-term, and those that yield the kind of sustained organisational performance, through good times and bad, that all organisations truly strive for. These conclusions form part of the findings of a major two-year action research programme unveiled by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) yesterday.

The programme, Shaping the Future is built on detailed, in-depth tracking of the progress of six organisations* undertaking change programmes over a two-year period, as well as drawing insight from the 11,000 practitioners in the dedicated network through round table events, polls and online discussions. The final report draws out ten key insights from the research to help managers and leaders unlock sustained, long-term performance in their own organisations.

Dr. Jill Miller, research lead on the Shaping the Future programme, CIPD, says: “As the economy lifts itself from the doldrums, organisations are wrestling with the changes necessary to sustain organisational performance through good times and bad. This project reveals the insights we’ve drawn from our detailed research into six very different organisations undergoing change, and translates them into key challenges for any business leader and HR professional wanting to deliver success through excellent management of people.

“Working in detail with our case studies over the past two years, we have identified how sustainable organisation performance can be achieved through differing change programmes. What is striking is the consistency of our findings across the different organisations, and the evidence-based clarity of the lessons the work has delivered for any businesses wanting to deliver successful change. Business leaders can use our findings to help drive change and long-term performance in their own organisations.”

The ten key insights outlined in the research are:

1 The organisation change response needs to be truly agile and enduring, not a knee-jerk reaction that quickly dissipates: Organisations need to ensure change isn’t just a temporary break from the norm, maintained by employees only while the immediate “storm” is passing. Instead, change should manifest itself as a more proactive agility, creating organisations open to new directions, aware of the limitations and risks of not changing, and equipped to keep moving and adapting.

2 It’s a fine balance between alignment and flexibility: While aligning employee, customer and other stakeholders’ values, behaviours and objectives with a wider organisational purpose is important, over-focusing on this alignment can create barriers to the flexibility needed to enable the organisation to change.

3 Shared purpose can only be achieved by finding human connections beyond short-term profit or efficiency targets: By fostering amongst employees a genuine sense of shared purpose and meaning at work, stronger connections, engagement and performance can be delivered.

4 Collaborative leadership brings sustainability, so organisations should avoid defaulting to a directive and driven approach to leadership in tough times: Reinforcing a collaborative problem-sharing approach can drive longer-term, sustainable change, agility and engagement.

5 ‘Middle management’ have a valuable transforming and translating role but are often sidelined, bypassed or cut out in change processes: Suitably skilled middle managers can play a key role as transformers and translators in bringing change to life. As translators they can facilitate two-way communications between leaders and the front line and as transformers they can bring change to life. Much of this can be lost when change involves “delayering” this middle-management tier, rather than refocusing, retraining and drawing on their skills and experiences.

6 An over-focus on today’s needs is not true talent management; it’s talent tunnel vision: Identifying and developing the capabilities individuals will need in the long-term is crucial to meet the organisational imperatives of tomorrow.

7 Truly understanding employees’ locus of engagement can avoid the risk of over-attachment and underperformance: Organisations need to get under the surface of employees’ engagement and better understand whether they are truly engaged with the organisation and its core objectives, or if they are only engaged with some selected parts of their roles, or with individual managers and colleagues. This more selective engagement can undermine sustainable performance.

8 Perceptions of unfairness undermine employee engagement: Perceptions of unfairness or organisational injustice can stifle employee engagement and act as a blocker to performance.

9 Process-heavy organisations are often still insight-light: Overemphasis on backward-looking targets defends existence but doesn’t prove worth. Organisations need to cull data that doesn’t add value and be curious with the remainder to uncover real insight.

10 Leaders don’t always know best about the long-term vision: Effective mechanisms for upwards communication – that filter important signals from the ground from the background noise – can provide real insight and challenge for leaders, and inform longer-term planning.

Stephanie Bird, Director of HR Capability at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, added:
“These findings complement our other longitudinal flagship programme, Next Generation HR, which is more specifically centred on HR and seeks to draw even more future-focused conclusions. Each highlights the importance of agility, getting the balance right between organisational alignment and flexibility to respond to evolving challenges and the vital role that insight can play. In order to drive consistently strong performance, organisations need to use data, make connections and be curious. Our Shaping the Future report finds consistent evidence of that fact, and translates it into practical advice for anyone seeking to lead or manage.”

*The case study organisations are: Standard Chartered, Big Lottery Fund (BIG), Birmingham City Council, Pfizer (Grange Castle), Xerox and NHS Dumfries and Galloway

Over the next few months the CIPD will be developing practical resources and undertaking further research into specific issues that have emerged from the Shaping the Future programme.

• View the report and join the dedicated Shaping the Future network