Removing Roadblocks to a High-Performance Culture

In this tight macro-environment, a high-performance culture can be the difference between success and failure for many growth stage companies, and the responsibility to define the associated behaviors and norms falls largely on people leaders. In a survey of CHRO|Circle members, 80% of respondents said they feel constant and significant pressure from boards, CEOs, and fellow executives to develop a high-performing organization. This leaves many CHROs questioning what truly constitutes a high-performing culture and the most meaningful ways to eliminate barriers to achieving it. 

In a conversation with The Circle, VIPs Brandon Sammut, Chief People Officer at Zapier; Adele Rom, Senior Partner at Evolution; Dave Davies, COO at Force Management; and Edward Sullivan, CEO Coach at Velocity Coaching, shared how people leaders can set the standard of excellence at their companies, overcome the obstacles that inhibit high performance, and cultivate a culture of recognition.

1. Define What “High-Performance Culture” Means For Your Company 

The first step to developing a high-performance culture is to define what the term means for your company so that your entire organization aligns behind it. In a fast-paced startup environment, employees can often get sucked into a productivity trap where they view increased output as a key factor of individual performance. But that is only one part of the equation. The emphasis should be on the output quality and how that impacts the business. 

Brandon shared the framework Zapier uses, which revolves around three easy-to-remember terms: Align, Execute, and Elevate. 

“‘Align’ is about doing the right work. ‘Execute’ is about doing the work right. ‘Elevate’ is about enabling others to do their best work.” –Brandon Sammut, Chief People Officer, Zapier

While a company should clearly articulate its high-performance standards, the definition can always change as the company evolves. Just make sure that any adjustments are transparently communicated throughout the organization. At Zapier, executives’ performance goals are shared publicly within the company. Each executive builds off the company plan and, twice annually, outlines what challenges their department will focus on solving. Each exec also publicly shares a biannual recap on progress toward their goals, wins and misses, and learnings. This helps inspire a culture of learning and accountability across the company.

2. Identify and Unpack Your Biggest Obstacles to High Performance 

Once your employees know what kind of performance is required for your company, product, or service, you can better identify — and then solve for — what gets in the way of a high-performing culture. 

CHRO|Circle members highlighted several common obstacles, notably a fear-based culture and founder blindspots.

Often when we label something as fear, it can actually be guilt or shame.  Adele says it is important to distinguish between a fear-based, guilt-based, and shame-based culture, and understand the interplay of all three emotions. 

“For a fear-based culture, it is important to unpack the feeling to understand what is really going on. Is it a fear of failure? Or a fear of looking bad or incompetent for getting something wrong? We need to identify what kind of fear people are experiencing so that we address the right root cause.” –Adele Rom, Senior Partner, Evolution

For example, an employee feels the need to go back on Slack after dinner because they know their boss and other team members will likely be there. They don’t necessarily fear for their job if they don’t work late hours, but the work culture can make people feel guilty about taking their foot off the gas, or shame that they aren’t pulling their weight compared to their peers. 

Adele also pointed out that a fear-based culture can sometimes stem from a founder’s own fear of failure. In seemingly innocuous or common behaviors like sending Slack messages in the wee hours or never taking time off, founders or CEOs might think they are sacrificing to make the business succeed, when they are inadvertently creating a culture of fear or guilt that cascades down throughout the organization, making the entire team feel like they should work around the clock. 

While having a conversation with leaders about a blindspot like this is never easy, people leaders can help them better understand how they are (potentially unknowingly) influencing the work culture. One of the many roles of the CHRO, noted Adele, is to “be the mirror” to the founder or CEO. Explain to them that there is a reality distortion field around the office that has led to a disconnect between the signals the founder thinks they are sending (I’m working really hard) and how employees view them (I can never stop working, and you shouldn’t either). 

For the barrier of risk aversion, Edward likes to encourage founders and CEOs to foster a culture of exhilaration where the focus is on making team members feel like they are doing the best work of their career, on the best team they have ever been on, and for the best product or mission they have worked on.

To use a skiing analogy, someone working in a high-performance culture should feel like a confident blue run skier standing atop their first black diamond run. The skier feels on the edge of discomfort as they take a big risk, and yet is ready to lean into growth. Even though the skier knows the black diamond run will be difficult, they also know they are capable of completing it and will feel insanely proud at the bottom for pushing themselves to do something hard. That healthy tension leads to excitement and momentum.

3. Lean Into Recognition and Feedback 

When employees excel, it is important to acknowledge their results. Research has shown that a culture of recognition leads to higher employee performance. According to a 2023 survey of 700,000 people by Great Place to Work, when an employee has the chance to be recognized for their effort, they are 2.2 times more likely to flex their discretionary muscles and go above and beyond their regular duties. 

“We get more of what we reward. The closer the reward comes to the outcome, the more you will see that behavior. Whether monetary or otherwise, you want the reward to be impactful enough that your employee is talking about at their dinner table.” –Edward Sullivan, CEO, Velocity Coaching 

In addition to annual performance reviews, Edward underscored how critical timely and specific positive reinforcement can be throughout the year. He recommends a simple structure to call out the behavior, articulate the impact, and encourage more in the future. For example, he might say something like, “Last week in a meeting I saw you say something about Topic ABC. You took a big risk that led us to rethink how we approach Issue XYZ, and we want you to take more risks like that in our meetings.” Investing in people shapes the individual which, in turn, informs the outcome of the work. 

It’s critical to also apply the same “timely and specific” approach to delivering honest, constructive feedback about performance gaps. This is as important as the kudos, but it is trickier because the popular sentiment is to praise in public and critique in private; this can make it harder for executives and managers to model constructive feedback. At Zapier, execs default to giving each other feedback in public so the broader team can not only see what giving good feedback looks like, but also see examples of how to openly receive and act on feedback. 

Feedback isn’t only a 1:1 endeavor. Regular, structured team “retros” to reflect after the end of a major program or product launch are a powerful way to systematically solicit thoughts on what did and didn’t go well from across the group, and tie those back to your definitions and goals for high performance. Because it is a group conversation with the expectation of feedback, no one person feels singled out, which leads everyone to focus on the collective wins and pain points. This helps teams build and strengthen important feedback muscles that are critical in high-performing cultures. 

4. Understand What Employees Value Most

Beyond peer and manager verbal recognition, there are ways to provide more tangible rewards for high performance. This comes with a few important caveats: It can’t be something that someone already receives as part of their compensation package, i.e. a sales commission, which they earned. It also shouldn’t be something the team already does regularly as a team-building activity. 

What makes recognition powerful is that it is unexpected by the employee and makes them feel seen. Giving an employee a spot bonus is a nice way to reward them outside of an annual bonus. However, the recognition doesn’t always have to be monetary. For instance, you can encourage managers to learn about their direct reports’ favorite hobbies. Then, the managers could give them a small but meaningful gift related to the hobby. 

Regardless of the type of reward, it is important to ensure you’re recognizing  something that the person has control over and can influence again in the future. 

“If we create incentives around things that are three or four derivatives away from what an employee has actual control over, they will just feel like they are at the mercy of what the broader organization is doing.” –Dave Davies, COO @ Force Management

The easiest way to know what employees value is to ask them. One member noted that their company surveys new employees during onboarding about what they value the most (with options like public or private recognition, monetary rewards, and time off). This information is then shared with that person’s manager. 

When someone receives recognition for a job well done, it is an ideal time to privately AND publicly reinforce the company’s definition of high performance by noting how that person demonstrated leadership, elevated the team, and positively impacted the business. 

The Takeaway:

People leaders are under pressure to develop high-performing cultures at their growth-stage companies. This presents an opportunity to align the entire organization around the company’s standard of excellence, identify and solve the company’s biggest obstacles in the way of high performance, and develop a culture and cadence of recognition. High performance is a natural byproduct of a place where people feel like they can thrive and grow.

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