Being an effective and efficient organization is critical – as it always has been.  However, the operational environment where both businesses and public sector organizations work is shifting constantly and quickly.  ‘Clients’ move and expect different or improved services.  Competition emerges from surprising sources.  New technologies shrink the distances between people and simplify data issues while creating the need for better analysis and security measures.  Budgets contract at the same time that expectations and responsibilities grow.  To serve well and appropriately, organizations need to constantly examine that environment and their relationship to it.  To get their work done, organizations need to be efficient, have clear vision, be organized, use resources well, and foster employee engagement.

Sounds simple enough: Do what you were designed to do and do it well.

But it is not simple.  It is challenging, multi-faceted, often highly nuanced, and time consuming.

So, how do leaders go about breaking down effectiveness and efficiency into bite-sized pieces so that they can improve their organizations’ performance?  How do we become high performance organizations (HPOs)?

In a series of entries here, we will introduce a model of high performance organizations (HPOs) that we based on 50 years of seminal organizational research and that we developed over 30 years of working primarily with government sector organizations like your own.  Like the idea of ‘doing what you are supposed to do and doing it well’, the change model looks simple at first glance.  And it is.  Yet the real benefit of the model, the real benefits of becoming an HPO, come in wrestling with the bite-sized pieces.  Over the next few weeks and months we’ll present the various pieces of the change model, help you pose questions of your own organization and leadership role, and share research results and suggestions to help you become a High Performance Organization.

The HPO model:

  

The HPO model starts with the environment and, through feedback, returns to the environment.  A high-performance organization will change the operational environment.  The goal for any organization is to become higher performing (to become an HPO).  The process of change is through six levers of change:  Leadership, Vision/mission and Values, and Strategy/ Systems/ Structure.  One ‘L’, two ‘Vs’, and three ‘Ss’.  Change any one of these levers in the right way, at the right time, at the right level, in the right direction – and the result will be a step closer to higher performance.  Work on more than one – and the changes will be greater.  They are levers, after all: change a little, move a lot.

The next entry will present 7 diagnostic questions that give leaders a snapshot of their organizations – and with the snapshot, they are able to decide if they want to change and if so, in what directions.

Please note:  We offer an introductory seminar to the HPO model through various ICMA mechanisms.  CMS can also help you get long-term assistance in applying the model and the principles to your organization.  Be on the look out for notices or contact Cheryl Hilvert if you would like to host an Open Enrollment session or for further information.