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The new performance culture

Date Posted: Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Author: Doug Soares

The Bermuda Workforce is undergoing a quiet revolution. While employers are redefining what they need and expect from the workforce, many employees are resisting change and are struggling to accept new workplace values. What is becoming painfully obvious for many employees is that loyalty, seniority and hard work are not as highly valued as they used to be. Nowadays it’s what the employee contributes that counts most. Who an employee is and what he or she does matters less than what the employee achieves.

This increasing focus on employee productivity represents a fundamental shift in Bermuda – one that is painfully difficult for a workforce that historically has been recognized and rewarded based on time and effort.The trend is most unsettling for employees that have remained with the same employer for more than 15 years. The employee who was admired in the 1970s and 1980s for their dedication, loyalty and length of service is considered a dinosaur in the 21st century. Conversely, the job hopper of yesteryear is no longer frowned upon. Today, people who frequently change jobs for good reasons are thought to be progressive and career-minded.

This shift in workplace values and the trend towards a more mobile workforce are a direct result of the environment in which we now work. Competition is truly global and the consumer is constantly demanding products and services that are considerably faster, better and cheaper. For a service economy such as Bermuda’s, faster, better and cheaper can mean nothing other than maximizing the productivity of employees.So what exactly is the profile of the employee that Bermuda’s employers seek to hire and retain? There is no empirical research on which to base an answer but few would disagree that the most valued quality in an employer is flexibility.

Now more than ever, Bermuda’s employers need people who readily accept and adapt to change. In order to survive in the global economy they need people who can keep pace with changes in both their environment and their job responsibilities. Above all, employers want employees to strive for continuous improvement and relish the challenges and opportunities afforded by the fast-paced 21st century world of work.

In exchange for requiring employees to be more flexible, employers are likewise offering their employees more flexibility. They are paying more attention to the work/life balance and, consequently, more flexible working arrangements are becoming the norm. Organizations that now measure and hold their employees accountable for performance and results have become less focused on how much time and effort their employees are putting in. Policies requiring employees to “make up the time” are not strictly enforced in workplaces where people are rewarded based results.

Employers are redesigning compensation and benefit plans to provide an incentive for employees to be flexible and results-oriented. Even if time remains a fundamental basis for calculating wages, employers are implementing financial and non-financial reward schemes that pay more to employees who measurably contribute to the organization.Employees that are up for the challenge tend to do well financially and often his or her quality of life improves.

Today’s winners are those who work smart. Arguably, working mothers gain most. Being rewarded based on their contribution rather than their time helps them earn as much or more than those who are less productive but work longer hours. Ironically, the oft-frowned upon nine-to-fiver have a golden opportunity to shine provided they can demonstrate achievements against performance standards.

Of course, flexibility has been and continues to be agonizingly difficult to accomplish for unionized workplaces in Bermuda. Bargaining strategy tends to be short-term rather than long-term. Collective agreements continue to be negotiated on the basis that only minor and incremental changes are required. The challenge for employers, therefore, is to convince union leaders that changing some of the fundamental terms of historical agreements is not simply an employer’s wish; it is an absolute requirement for survival.

Thus long-term job security is at stake. The irony is that for decades we have taken job security for granted in Bermuda. Jobs have been virtually guaranteed. Employers have often retained people that are not producing and have failed to fire people even when they have grounds for dismissal. Likewise, when companies in Bermuda discontinue certain operations or make positions redundant, people are often redeployed rather than terminated. Guarantees that “no one will lose their job” are sometimes promised regardless of whether it is a bad business decision.

The sad consequence of this reluctance to shed staff is that employees develop a false sense of security. They are empowered knowing that despite what they do or fail to do, they will not lose their job. Complacency follows and an entitlement culture becomes entrenched. Not surprisingly, entitlement-minded employees are the least flexible. They’re putting up the greatest resistance to building a performance culture in Bermuda. But employers are working through that resistance. Employees are starting to be held accountable. Some workplaces will take longer than others to make the transition but, eventually, all successful businesses will be forced to focus on employee productivity. So if you’re an employee who is comfortable working in an entitlement culture, beware. The job security that you have taken for granted for so long is evaporating. If it is not, you are working for an organization that may not exist in a few years’ time.

 

First published in UMUM magazine, December 2002

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