‘Creating a performance culture in your business’ Part One

Posted on 13th April 2016 | Interviews

‘Creating a performance culture in your business’ Part One

Interview with Paul Blanchard, Chief Executive of Commonwealth Games England.

During over nearly 17 years in recruitment and executive search, I’ve become increasingly intrigued with how certain organisations seem to develop an energy in the business that you just don’t see in other companies. How is it that certain businesses seem to be a magnet for fresh, sparky high-performing talent when others constantly struggle to recruit good people and hold on to them.

I walk into the boardrooms of many a business as part of my role and during the long walk down the corridors and through the open-plan offices, you pickup an immediate sense of the culture of the organisation. You become tuned into the expressions on faces, the level of eye contact, the tones underpinning the babble of banter across the office and the pace at which people march or in some cases stroll around. Maybe it’s years of experience or a sixth sense, but I get an instant picture of what’s going on in the business.

Then in spending more time in the business as I begin to consult, usually with the Chief Exec or board but often with other tiers of management, I quickly begin to understand whether the business is performing and more importantly whether the business has achieved a ‘culture of performance’.

So why do some companies manage it when others fail so miserably? One thing is certain. The answers are virtually always the same. Trust, communal self-belief and a common sense of shared purpose are the fundamental components, but how does a business acquire such assets? I spoke to Paul Blanchard, Chief Executive of Commonwealth Games England and the driving force behind England’s Commonwealth Athletics Team, about how he is creating a performance culture amongst our nation’s top athletes and Team England.

Rob:  Thanks so much for talking with us Paul. In your words, what exactly is a performance culture and why is it so important for businesses just as it is in a team sports environment?

Paul:   A performance culture is an organisational mindset that focuses on clear goals and objectives. It is an environment where everyone knows their job, understands how that role benefits the organisational targets and equally importantly how the individual “non achievement of objects” impacts the business as a whole. It doesn’t matter whether you are in a sports team, a business, a shared interest group or any other body/organisation, you will be more successful and generally more satisfied and happier if the culture is performance focussed and clearly understood by everyone involved.

Rob:  After a truly incredible performance by England Athletes in 2014 where England led the medal table for the first time since 1986, coming into the role of Chief Executive in August last year must have been fabulous for you, but how are you going about maintaining that culture of performance for another four years and indeed beyond?

Paul:  As you said, Team England topped the medal table and so I took over a very successful organisation operating a very strong model. One of the challenges I face is ensuring that this very effective performance culture is replicated away from the athlete focus “core” job for the organisation and into off field, particularly commercial activity. You will appreciate that sending a party of 600 to the Gold Coast in 2018 is significantly more expensive than the cost of The Glasgow Games. Funding is also critical in creating and maintaining the excellence that CGE has created and with athlete expectation at an (understandable) all time high, the organisation must perform to similar levels in attracting and servicing partners. We have a great group of sponsors already including CGI, STA Travel, Shakespeare Martineau, Kukri, National Express and Grange Hotels. Plus, of course strong support from Sport England. So we need to translate the culture into supporting the drive to recruit and work with more like minded partners – our sponsors really enjoy being involved in that culture of performance and use it in their own ways to help their business develop.

Rob:  What were the first things you recognised about the culture in coming into the new role?

Paul:  It was very positive, very focussed on competition success and really enjoying the fact that Glasgow had been a major success and the planning, preparation and delivery model had clearly worked. Definitely not complacent and understanding that the relationship with our member sports, athletes, coaches etc were very important and needed to continue to be cultivated despite the fact the next Games was nearly 3 years away. There was a real understanding about what needed to be happening at this stage of the process and what was to come and when in planning programme.

Rob:  With the recent scandals in world athletics, it can’t have been a year without challenge for you. How have you gone about keeping the focus on performance in a global environment with such negative external pressures?

Paul:  One of the areas that we focus on is controlling the controllable and if it is outside your direct field of vision, as in this case, concentrate and maximise the areas that you can influence. That said, you can’t ignore it and you have to understand what sort of impact it may have, now, in future preparation time or at The Games and you do have scenario plan to make sure you can respond. In the case of Athletics, that is one of 18 sports we will be taking to The Games so it’s important that you don’t lose sight of the importance of the portfolio of sports. We view each sport as equally important.

Rob:  Why do you think that business leaders in 2016 struggle to create cultures of performance in their organisation?

Paul:  It could be a range of reasons – lack of clarity, historical work practices, reluctance to change, an over/under reliance on technology. Possibly all of the above and more. But fundamentally if you don’t have the right team of personnel in place who are clear about their roles, there will always be an underperforming organisation.

Rob:  If you could give one piece of advice for leaders striving to develop a culture of performance in their organisations, what would it be?

Paul:  Be crystal clear about the organisation’s objectives and priorities and ensure clarity of expectation for each member of staff.

Thanks Paul. Fascinating stuff from a man who’s got some high expectations to live up to but seems to be doing all the right things to make sure England continue to enjoy a performance culture in the run up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Queensland. Good luck Paul. The nation is behind you!

Our tips for developing a performance culture in your business…

  1. Create organisational clarity – like Paul explains, make sure everyone understands the end destination and the direction of travel. Even more importantly than the ‘where’ and the ‘which way’ is the ‘why’. If people understand ‘why’ we’re all doing something, then their individual tasks become massively more meaningful, leading to more clarity around their place in the organisation and the value of their contribution.
  2. Be brave enough to reflect – sometimes you just need to take a good hard look at yourself and recognise what needs work. Having the guts to reflect, ask difficult questions and finding time to do it regularly can be challenging, but regular reflection can diagnose problems early and reel back inefficient practices. Businesses that value time to reflect gain huge mileage by allowing employees to think, question and validate what they’re doing.
  3. Appoint champions –  identify charismatic ‘performance champions’ to lead by example and champion initiatives and drag others along with them. The most likely candidates are high-performers themselves on an upward trajectory in their careers but who are genuinely motivated by the cause. Well-liked amongst peers, they’ll create energy in the business through their own achievements attracting interest and intrigue as they go. If you’re struggling to find them in your business, you probably need to think about recruiting some and quick.
  4. Create trust – If everyone believes the ‘behind closed doors’ reaction to the suggestion box from senior management is really not too interested, then the suggestion box is pretty pointless. Nobody likes to feel like they’re being paid lip service, but when they genuinely feel like they’re being heard then that’s a step towards real trust. Where there’s trust comes positive idea sharing, plus you’ll avoid ridiculous ‘emperor’s new clothes’ scenarios where you’re driving something that nobody else gets despite what they’re saying.
  5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – If managing culture change is new ground, don’t be afraid to bring in others for support. Whether it’s a seasoned Non-Executive with a history of driving performance by creating fantastic ‘winning’ cultures, or one of the team who’s worked through this before, then use them to your advantage. Every leader needs a sounding board and sometimes the best source of advice is sitting right in front of you, untapped but primed to help. If not, then go out and find it.

For Parts 2 and 3 of our ‘Creating a Performance Culture’ story where we talk to other leaders of high-performance organisations, stay tuned to our social media channels…