THE EIGHT PILLARS FOR CREATING HUMANIZED HIGH PERFORMING ORGANIZATIONS

Creating humanized, high performing organizations is essential but a not well understood concept. Studies and surveys on engagement show that a majority of the global workforce is disengaged and dissatisfied with their work, resulting in challenges to creating high performing organizations. This article presents findings from qualitative research conducted with 58 leaders worldwide on how to create high performing organizations that leverage the potential and power of their employees. Based on qualitative data analysis of interview transcripts using NVivo software, eight key pillars for leveraging ‘humane capital’ are identified and presented using examples from interviews. Material is adapted from the author's books Humane Capital: How to Create a Management Shift to Transform Performance and Profit, and The Management Shift – How to Harness the Power of People and Transform Your Organization for Sustainable Success. Factors are explored for how individuals and organizations can move within five levels of leadership in the emergent leadership model. For instance, individuals in Level 4 are enthusiastic, and organizations at the same level are collaborative. Implications for research and practice are discussed and conclusions are drawn, including that organizations that become more people–centric outperform those that are more focused on numbers and processes.