3 simple things you can do today to drive performance culture

A high-performance culture is one where employees feel empowered to grow, contribute new ideas and do their best work, driving stronger outcomes for both individuals and the business. As organisations face ongoing pressure to improve productivity, close skill gaps, and deliver growth, building a high-performing culture has become a priority. Yet, in practice, the conversation around performance can quickly become focused on asking people to do more: complete more training, develop more skills, deliver more output.

The challenge is that sustainable performance rarely comes from simply increasing expectations. It comes from creating an environment where people can continually grow, contribute new ideas, and apply what they learn. When organisations focus as much on the conditions for performance as they do on performance itself, employees are far more likely to thrive and businesses are better positioned to succeed. This distinction matters. O.C. Tanner’s 2027 Global Culture Report gathered data from over 25,000 workers across 23 countries and found that employees in growth cultures are 31x more likely to be engaged and 14x more likely to do great work.

Building this kind of culture does not necessarily require another major change programme. It starts with the everyday signals from leaders about what development, contribution and success look like. Here are three practical ways to begin.

Encourage managers to celebrate ideas, even when they don’t work out

To enable innovation, employees must be given the autonomy to think creatively, the psychological safety to share ideas and the support from leadership to put them into action. To create these conditions however, organisations need to recognise successful outcomes, as well as the efforts, learnings and pursuit of new ideas throughout the process.

Our research found that when employees are not recognised for trying new things, their odds of thinking creatively drop by 93%. Conversely, employees who are recognised throughout each stage of innovation – thinking, sharing, and acting – are 21x more likely to continue putting forward new ideas.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a practical example of this approach in action. Employees are encouraged to pursue ambitious goals, known as BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals), with the understanding that not every idea will succeed. Through its AWSome Awards programme, the company actively recognises employees for pursuing new ideas, even when they fail.

Rather than waiting until a project delivers a successful outcome, managers can acknowledge employees for experimenting, trying new things and sharing what they have learned. Feedback is equally important: the report found that employees are 7x more likely to suggest new ideas when the focus is on learning rather than assigning blame.

Support employees’ individual definitions of growth

Growth looks different for everyone. For some employees, it means a promotion. For others, it might involve exploring a different area of the business or taking on new challenges. HR teams can better support these individual ambitions by making growth a regular part of one-to-one conversations. Asking employees what progression means to them, exploring opportunities beyond their immediate responsibilities and agreeing on development goals together can help ensure that development reflects what individuals actually want to achieve.

Our research found that employees working in growth cultures – defined here as a true partnership that benefits individuals and organisations alike – are 33x more likely to believe their organisation supports their personal definition of growth.

Global advisory and technology services provider ICF offers another practical example. The company empowers its employees to shape their careers through four pathways: Advance, Broaden, Deepen and Expand. Employees can map their own development journeys, supported by mentoring, peer learning and opportunities to apply new skills in their everyday work.

HR teams can adopt a similar approach by making growth a regular part of one-to-one conversations. Ask employees what progression means to them, explore opportunities beyond their immediate responsibilities and agree on development goals together. This should also include recognising progress along the way, whether that’s mastering a skill or taking on a new challenge.

Stop thinking about growth in terms of revenue and profit

For HR leaders, building a high-performance culture is only part of the challenge. They also need to demonstrate its impact. While revenue and profitability are important indicators of success, focusing on these metrics alone risks overlooking the role employee experience plays in sustaining performance.

Our research found that when organisations define growth primarily in financial or economic terms, employees have 75% lower odds of feeling a sense of belonging and 80% lower odds of trusting their organisation.

To build a more sustainable performance culture, HR leaders should take a broader view of growth. Alongside traditional business metrics, they can track indicators such as contributing new ideas, cross-functional collaboration, inclusion, trust and wellbeing. For example, in addition to recognising when employees demonstrate new thinking, organisations could also track the proportion of ideas that are implemented and deliver meaningful improvements. This could include an employee finding a better way to serve a customer, streamline a process or help their team work more effectively.

Employee surveys and regular feedback can also help reveal whether people feel supported and empowered to contribute, while identifying where cultural barriers may be holding performance back.

By measuring how people grow, contribute, and work together, not just what they deliver, organisations can build a more complete picture of performance – and demonstrate how a strong workplace culture contributes to long-term business success.

For further reading, O.C. Tanner’s 2027 Global Culture Report Leader Toolkit offers practical exercises, reflection questions, and a leadership self-assessment to help build stronger workplace cultures.