The Importance of a Performance Culture Within the Workplace

Whether it’s at the end of the week, quarter, or year: We all want to see results. In fact, many business leaders and companies everywhere are obsessed with finding the best outcomes and approaches to achieve success.

As a business leader, this addiction can be somewhat unhealthy, especially if your team doesn’t have the same drive, purpose, or passion. The ongoing obsession can come off as off-putting and create a culture that lacks communication and the desire to succeed. 

To see results, your passion for success must create a high-performance workplace culture. What exactly does this mean? Simply put, you can’t just say you’re about it. You need to be about it. And we’re not just talking to upper management or leadership. Your employees need to have the same attitude and drive for success as you do.

We’re here to walk you through the importance of building a performance culture and give you some guidance to help you make adjustments today. 

Let’s take a closer look at how to create a performance-based culture:

What is performance culture?

To put it simply: High-achieving employees help fuel your passion for results. They work hard to achieve their goals, appreciate the company’s values, and are fully engaged in the workplace in almost every way. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. 

Performance culture is when a business operates at a high level. Your team has developed beneficial behaviors that help them meet and exceed expectations. Their continuous drive and desire to do more and be more provide next-level results for your business. 

By building a performance culture, you can reach your business goals and help your team develop the key characteristics needed to thrive in the workplace.

Benefits of high-performance cultures

Profitability 

A high-performance culture has the power to inspire and motivate employees. It helps increase productivity levels which can positively impact your bottom line. If everyone comes to work ready to give 100% to the projects they work on and the client calls they have scheduled that day, you’ll see an improvement in revenue and profitability. 

If your employees perform at a high level, you’ll also get to produce more at a lower cost. This is because manager-level employees won’t need to step in to finish a job or work on a project that’s been put on the back burner for months. Everyone comes to work motivated and ready to take on whatever comes their way. 

Innovation

Put yourself in your employee’s shoes… If you start your work day ready to connect and learn from your coworkers and team members, you’re more likely to come to the table with fresh, new ideas.

When your employees are engaged, it inspires them to contribute to the decision-making process and share their ideas. The communication that’s found in a high-performance culture is inspiring. 

Less Turnover

Did you know that only 36% of employees are engaged in their workplace? Low engagement is the number one reason for a high employee turnover rate. One of the best ways to improve your company’s success and build a thriving workplace culture is by creating opportunities for employee development, growth, and financial benefit.

If your employees are happy, they are less likely to look for new opportunities. This will improve turnover and help you retain top talent. If your employees are happy and come to work feeling challenged and inspired, you can ensure your employees will stay with you for years. The more talent you’re able to retain, the more money you’re able to save. 

How to build a high-performance culture

How exactly is this possible? Is it the talent I find or the people I hire? No. While you should still strive to hire top talent and look for individuals with the skills they need to thrive in a position, high-performance cultures are structurally built into the company culture. 

It’s about setting expectations, reinforcing positive behavior, and rewarding individuals for continuous improvement.

Here’s how you can achieve that:

Open Communication

Communication is key to building a high-performing culture. Without effective communication between managers, departments, and teams: Your team will never feel supported. With open communication and employee engagement, you can keep your team connected and keep core values top of mind. Consider planning town hall-style meetings and finding ways to improve communication between team members.

Positive reinforcement 

Everyone loves feeling recognized for their contributions to the workplace. With positive reinforcement, you can improve performance and encourage repeat behavior. This will help you create a corporate culture full of engaged employees that want to succeed and do more. 

Positive reinforcement can come in different shapes and sizes, whether verbal communication, an incentive program, or improving company benefits. To build a high-performance culture, you need to consider looking into different loyalty or reward programs. Provide your employees with something to work towards and give them the tools they need to reach their goals. 

Empowerment

Employees need to feel passionate about what they do. They need to own projects and have support from senior leadership, direct reports, or upper management to take on new projects or seal the deal with clients with confidence. 

Gamification

Workplace gamification is all about using game-like techniques in a non-game context. With the help of gamification, you can inspire friendly competition and push your employees to do more throughout the workweek. 

Think outside of the box. Consider incorporating a leaderboard for the sales team, creating a point system for a company assessment, or rewarding a certificate for high performers who complete an online course.

Establish company values

Your company values are a driving force throughout the work week. Every day your team clocks in to start their day, your values will be top of mind. This will help them align their professional goals with the company’s success and give them the tools they need to push forward.

Find your company culture

Company culture is an integral aspect of every business. Over 46% of job seekers cite company culture as the most important aspect when applying for and accepting a job.

With that in mind, every business needs a company culture to see success and bring in high performers. Company culture helps you unite your employees and help them feel connected toward a common goal. If a growth mindset

Challenge your team

A high-performance culture needs to be challenged. When you aren’t challenged every day, your productivity levels decline, and it’s easy to make mistakes. To see results, you need to find a way to make even the mundane tasks between 9-5 fun and enjoyable. 

By challenging your team to pick up new skills, take on new tasks, provide new development opportunities, and look at projects from a different angle, you can create a high-performance work culture that thrives on performance management.

Always be open to feedback

Feedback is an invaluable tool to help you restructure your business and company culture. With surveys and feedback given during reviews, your upper management can ensure everything they do and plan to do aligns with the culture you’ve established.

Conduct regular performance reviews 

In a study done by Mind Gym, performance reviews have the power to increase employee engagement by 40% and decrease turnover by 25%. Performance reviews ensure your team is recognized for their hard work and know what they need to do if they want to land a raise or get a promotion. Scheduling annual or quarterly reviews ensure everyone is on track to meet their goals, and they always have feedback to give them a roadmap to help them meet their goals. 

Grow a high-performance organizational culture with Spinify

Look, we get it. You have a lot on your plate. It can be challenging to grow your company while looking for innovative ways to add gamification elements to your company’s culture. We’re here to help inspire your team members to succeed and to work efficiently in their work environment. You can train your team to become high-performing employees with the right tools and resources. Book a demo today to learn how we can help you increase employee engagement.