To find out what any organisation can do to increase productivity, performance and profitability, author and business strategist Nicholas Barnett, decided to find out what high performance organisations do that low performance organisations don’t do. Then, all the organisations need to do to improve their performance is to do more of what the high performers are doing. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
By surveying 100,000 employees from around 200 organisations over a five-year period, including interviewing ten CEOs of high performance organisations, what Nicholas’ extensive research uncovered was that sustainable high performance was not fuelled by downsizing, outsourcing, cost-cutting or re-structuring – even in uncertain times. Instead, it was about adopting 7 interrelated and indispensable habits across the whole company, on consistent basis.
In particular, 7 habits were identified that drive high performances:
• Habit 1: Live an inspiring vision
• Habit 2: Communicate clear strategies and goals
• Habit 3: Develop your people
• Habit 4: Go out of your way to recognise your people
• Habit 5: Genuinely care for your people
• Habit 6: Listen and adapt to your customers’ needs
• Habit 7: Continually improve your systems.
But habits, by their very nature, are repetitive and enacted almost unconsciously. How can they become so deeply engrained into the culture and DNA of an organisation that they become its way of life? This is what this fascinating book sets out to answer.
