There has been much focus over the years on individual pressure management and what are now commonly known as “Resilience Programmes” to help individuals cope and indeed perform better under pressure. We know from well established research that life without any pressures can lead to boredom, under performance and lack of engagement.
Pressure management relates to our normal day to day lives and does not take stock of how the organisation is affected by unplanned events, such as the Flu pandemic. Events which impact everyone everywhere within the organisation will have a disproportionate affect on what business can do now from a prospective of capability, capacity and its quality outputs with regards to performance.
We will explore the phases we see organisations go through during what some may call ‘crisis management’ and what recovery looks like.
There is a parallel between organisation and individual pressure which can be articulated by the ‘stretch and strain curve’ seen below.
High performing businesses bounce between comfort and stretch zone which normally is inline with their budgetary cycle/finical performance. Low performing businesses will sit within the boredom zone, productivity levels will be low but it would not be untypical to see good staff retention rates for junior unskilled staff and poor attract and retain rates for management. Then there are businesses which deliberately bounce between stretch and strain. They enjoy high performance at the expense of staff turnover, however their model of delivery embraces that and they typically operate in a niche market and retail where staff turnover can be as much as 140%.
Looking at this for an organisational context we see very different behaviours between departments, management and if applicable front and back room staff at different times. The question is how do you assess where you are as a business? And perhaps more importantly are you moving up or down the level of pressure scale?
The ability to assess this lies with the capability to have an outside in view of what is going on. What are the business outputs, how are your people coping and what concessions do you have to make in order to achieve your daily, maybe hourly commitments. One would argue that this is virtually impossible to do from within, as internal resources will be subject to the same affects and thus their view clouded. To explore this further lets look at organisational behaviours when a business which normally operates between the comfort and stretch zone is in the stretch to strain zone for a protracted period of time.
What is the impact of heightened organisational pressure on business operations and people?
We see departments, teams and management become focused on what they need to do on a day by day basis, thinking becomes very short term, communication stops other than broad announcements about performance and what is coming next. A common spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and maybe devotion develops initially which leads to an enduring commit. Many staff will thrive but as time goes on their ability to endure wanes. Staff will have different endurance levels, for some they will fall quickly, for the most they will just get on with the job but the enjoyment they once associated with their role will be under question, for the few they will continue to thrive, they will grow in their abilities and stretch themselves in rising to meet the challenge.
Most companies look for stability and growth in their organisation. They want to be highly performing and productive all the time. Achieving this takes many years, strong quality leadership, a focused recruitment and retention strategy and robust business processes. What can take years to hone can easily be destroyed if during a period of heightened crisis management the business fails to keep it together. The 5th zone of the level pressure model, panic, is more a description of the end state, venturing into this zone is deadly and is a result of total breakdown. Recovery from panic is not the norm, businesses can be avoid getting in to the panic zone if they can maintain command and control, keep a landscape view of what is going on across the businesses and support staff and management from an emotional and psychological prospective. Right Corecare provides its clients with this support, from both organisational consulting through to individual support with our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
When the fire is out, what next?
The recovery phase is very interesting. There will be those whom performed well, not so well and for the most it will have been an experience they would not like to repeat but they held their own. The post crisis phase is a good time to really look at both your people and organisational design.
You will also find your emerging talent, the people that both met and exceed your expectations. They are the ones who remained focused, creative and energised throughout the campaign. There is an interesting dynamic with these people. Returning back to business as usual will not satisfy nor retain them. They have been exposed to new experiences and demonstrated heightened competencies under pressure. Self worth is elevated and they need more stimulation to remain engaged. The question is does their current role permit this? Are there opportunities for role progression? The answer to both may be no now, yes in the future. So how else can you further develop, stimulate and retain them? You could consider implementing an emerging talent programme designed to shape and influence your talent for jobs and roles that will exist in the future. Aligned to your strategic growth plan imagine the ability to already have your ‘talent’ in the business. Contrast this against your competitors who work on the basis of agreeing their strategy and then looking for the right people to execute it, you will already have these people in your grasp.
In summary organisational pressure is a collective view of how the business is operating and whether it is in a position to plan its workload versus being responsive to needs as and when. As business leaders we need to recognise the impact of heightened levels of organisational pressure and what we can do to both survive and develop as a result of tough times.