Going beyond a high-performance culture towards a Championship culture

In conversation with Prisila, Correspondent, Asia Business Outlook Magazine. Ramon discusses how organisations can secure congruity between their values and actions to cultivate a desired culture and the methods they employ to ensure employee adherence and accountability towards these principles

Ramon Chelva, with extensive experience in leading HR transformations and championing a new school HR approach. He held executive roles at PWC and played a key role in significant bank mergers. His expertise lies in fostering a championship culture and maximizing HR's impact on organizational profitability. He has a successful background in financial institutions and banking mergers across 13 countries.

Building a Strong Organizational Culture: Aligning Values with Actions and Ensuring Employee Accountability

A thriving organizational culture is the cornerstone of success, and it all begins with a clear definition of core values that resonate with each and every employee. These values, often overlooked, play a vital role in shaping the company's identity and guiding its path to greatness. Once the values are clear, they must be translated into everyday behaviours and language, underscoring their importance. Training should follow, but the initial focus should be on hiring individuals aligned with the value system. A culture assessment tool, for instance, can be employed to evaluate candidates based on these values. Regular communication and lead-by-example management are crucial in reinforcing the value-driven culture. Evaluating employees on their adherence to the value system should be integrated into performance management, using tools like employee engagement scores and assessment methodologies. Rewards and penalties tied to values further emphasize their significance. In conclusion, fostering a strong culture starts with defining and embodying core values throughout the organization, ensuring alignment from the hiring process to performance evaluations.

Overcoming Obstacles to Foster a High-Performing Culture: Strategies for Success

Creating a high-performance culture is a goal that many organizations aspire to, yet it often eludes them due to the oversight of a critical step - clearly defining its essence within their unique context. To truly cultivate a culture of excellence, articulating the required traits, such as resilience, a positive mindset, and unwavering enthusiasm, becomes fundamental. Recruitment plays a pivotal role; hiring individuals based on both skills and behavior is essential, with behavior holding greater weightage. Clear differentiation between performers and non-performers is imperative, moving beyond outdated bell curves to embrace performance curves that reward high achievers significantly more. Management sets the tone by exemplifying and emphasizing the significance of a high-performance culture, fostering a strong value system and communication. Embracing difficult decisions, including upskilling, transferring, or releasing employees to align with the culture, is the responsibility of senior leaders. Ultimately, a thriving high-performance culture is nurtured through clarity, strategic recruitment, recognition, leadership, and resolute decision-making.

Tactics may be used to foster cross-functional cooperation inside an organization in order to foster a collaborative and team-oriented environment

In cultivating a collaborative culture, the key to success lies in effective performance management. Organizations striving for excellence adopt a balanced approach, allocating approximately 50 to 60% of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to HR-related focus and the remaining 40 to 50% to business-oriented goals. Such a non-siloed mix of performance metrics encompasses productivity, cost management, stakeholder management, client satisfaction, innovation, and error reduction. When hiring, flexibility becomes paramount. While technical skills matter, assessing emotional intelligence, collaboration, and leadership qualities is equally crucial. Leaders who exhibit both technical prowess and broad leadership abilities thrive in this environment. Additionally, addressing behavioral misalignments with the desired culture through performance improvement plans promotes positive behaviors that yield favorable business outcomes. Sustained organizational success in a collaborative culture requires taking appropriate action against those who resist or undermine the collaborative ethos. While nurturing and supporting employees is essential, it is equally important to address persistent non-adherence. This ensures that the values and principles of collaboration remain at the core of the organization, maintaining a healthy and productive work environment for all.

"Assessments encompass both technical skills and cultural fit, utilising a dedicated tool or interviews for the purpose."

Organizations effectively attracts and retain individuals who align with its desired culture.

Once the culture is clearly defined, the recruitment team collaborates closely with the culture team to devise culture-focused questions and establish an appropriate scoring system. Assessments encompass both technical skills and cultural fit, utilizing a dedicated tool or interviews for the purpose. Becoming an employer of choice hinges on promoting the organization's unique values and practices through internal branding. Flaunting accolades like low attrition rates and high performance, coupled with global recognition, helps attract like-minded individuals who can enhance the organisation's capabilities. A well-defined game plan is crucial, providing clarity on the organisation's future direction for the next one to three years. Sharing this vision with potential employees instils excitement about joining the journey of achievement and aligning their personal goals with the organisation's mission, creating a compelling reason to be part of the company.

Strategies can be employed to foster the development and nurturing of talent within the organisation.

To achieve successful development, the primary focus should be on behaviour. Continuously nurturing individuals to embody championship behaviour is crucial. This involves encouraging the pursuit of personal growth and pushing them to surpass their limits by embracing new technologies, honing technical skills, and striving for excellence. Investing in cutting-edge leadership is paramount, emphasising practical experiences over purely academic approaches. Learning from accomplished champions who have achieved unparalleled feats, such as conquering Mount Everest or excelling in sports like F1 racing and the Olympics, provides valuable insights. Experiential learning is key, immersing individuals in challenges that test their resilience and push them beyond their comfort zones. From the onset, induction processes are essential, while consistently updating teams on emerging technologies and practices ensures relevance. Empowering every employee with opportunities for personal development through platforms like LinkedIn learning and internet resources is vital, with a recommended daily investment of 30 to 60 minutes in self-improvement. Embracing these principles propels companies to become championship contenders on a global scale.