High-performance workforces are characterized by these accomplishments:

1. Personnel are hired via a process that maximizes physical, intellectual, educational, and temperamental fit with the job and cultural fit the organization.
2. Employees are trained in order to maximize productivity, expand job responsibilities, increase workforce flexibility, increase promotion opportunities, and generate positive morale.
3. Training programs are evaluated to determine changes in learners and organizational payoffs.
4. Employee engagement is assessed and acted upon in order to maximize the attainment of organizational goals.
5. Individual performance is frequently managed in order to maximize results, rather than to merely assign annual rewards or punishments.
6. Organizational culture is consciously designed in order to strengthen organizational capability to achieve organizational goals.

Building and maintaining any of the characteristics of a high-performance workforce requires managerial expertise, skills, tools, planning, and effort. Ultimately, the reason to go to the effort of building and maintaining a high-performance workforce is to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Often, building a high-performance workforce provides more opportunity to build competitive advantage than environmental opportunities. For instance, Porter, Harvard’s famed strategy guru, notes that industry profitability is shaped largely by forces outside of an organization’s control. Building competitive advantage through sound management techniques offers organizations the opportunity to build and maintain competitive advantage through internal discipline.

So, one of my goals for this blog is to provide managers with tools and thoughts about how building a high-performance workforce can benefit their organization. Another is to end the status of corporate HR as the Rodney (“I can’t get no respect”) Dangerfield of the executive level. Managers who build and maintain a high-performance workforce create sustainable competitive advantage for their organization. Building such a disciplined, highly-functioning organization simultaneously builds respect in the executive suite.

Update [DS, June 8 11:29AM]: In case you are unfamiliar with Creative Commons, you might check out these sources of information about CC and education.