|
|
 |
Research and InformationKey themes - High performance working - DefinitionIn essence the concept of 'high performance working' refers to evidence of what the International Labour Organisation (ILO) describe as 'the achievement of high levels of performance, profitability and customer satisfaction by enhancing skills and engaging the enthusiasm of employees'.
Click here to access the International Labour Office (ILO) website.
In the 'The Partnership Company', the IPA set out a series of benchmarks against which partnership organisations should measure themselves. This was drawn up from evidence gathered from eighty businesses in the UK, and based on a series of structured questionnaires answered by managers and staff representatives.
The survey identified that joint commitment to a series of principles (the success of the enterprise, respect for the legitimate interests of different parties and building trust) and a number of practices (flexible job design, quality-related practices, direct participation in work-related decisions and representative participation on wider policy issues) have a positive link with 'employee attitudes and behaviour, internal organisational performance and external criteria of sales and profits'.
According to Mark Thompson at Templeton College, Oxford, the 'high performance work organisation' (HPWO), 'comprises of complementary sets of practices in human resources and employee relations that have been shown to strengthen employee involvement and encourage the acquisition and development of skills', while David Ashton and Johnny Sung at Leicester University argue that 'there is now evidence of a robust link between HPWOs, productivity and profitability and a range of other performance measures".
Not everyone is convinced by such evidence, which relies ostensibly on the association of a wide range of people management and employee participation practices with performance, itself measured in an almost equally wide-ranging number of ways. While direct causality remains elusive, sceptical observers have sought comfort in less evocative terminology; by referring to 'high commitment management' or 'high involvement management' in order describe these phenomena.
|
|