Home » Org Performance Case Study 1
I want the best people to work for us, to want to come into work each day
and be their best. It’s important to know how I can make that happen.”
– Company Director*
*Many of our clients require confidentiality for security or brand reputation, so we omit identifying features.
Company Info
A new SME with a large public-sector contract. Staff were high-skilled, essentially office-based professionals, who worked on computers throughout the day (some had occasional international travel). Business continuity rested on generating new business and maintaining the current client base.
The Directors’ Motives
- To enable optimal wellbeing and to ensure staff knew they were valued.
- To recruit and retain the best staff.
- To ensure optimal performance at individual, team and organisation levels.
What We Did
All but one company member completed a:
- Detailed, individual interview using our ‘Performance Culture Assessment’.
- A causes of work stress questionnaire as a benchmark for future comparison and for tentative comparison against cross-industry averages.
What We Found
A detailed understanding of how the Company’s culture, strategy and everyday practice affected its staffs’ psychological wellbeing, in-house communication, performance and business security.
- For many, the company was the best they’d worked for. Nearly everyone had good health/psychological wellbeing and daily, work experiences were directly seen to promote psychological wellbeing attributes and performance. In particular, staff felt part of a valued community and aligned to the company’s goals which had personal meaning.
- Management were personally committed to ensuring staff wellbeing. They actively: contributed to a supportive, growth culture; demonstrated and encouraged good personal health behaviour; and managed appropriate work load and work/rest balance.
- Some office physical health and safety requirements had not been met and mental health systems were not in place. Further, concerns were raised in relation to the early signs of a division in the organisation, role and task clarity, two-way communication and the meeting of individual work-support needs.
Outcomes and Moving Forward
The management requested a detailed report to gain full understanding of their staffs’ experience and its effects on wellbeing and performance.
74 recommendations were given to address concerns and to reinforce and improve upon good practice. Each was given a level of risk and urgency to help the managers prioritise. Others were noted as ‘quick wins.’
- Most were to improve everyday practice and systems that would directly enhance specific psychological wellbeing attributes and, in turn, performance.
- Others were to meet basic health and safety requirements, to develop a strong mental-health informed culture, and to promote positive, personal wellbeing.
We met twice with the Director and Head of Operations to discuss the findings and how best to embed the recommendations in cultural practice. These were used to inform decision-making and to guide progress.