Four Strengths of a High Performance Organisation Date:   Tuesday , June 14, 2016 Headquartered in Cambridge, ARM Holdings is the global leader in semiconductor intellectual property (IP) and development of digital electronic products. Employing over 2000 people, ARM has offices around the world, including design centers in France, India, Sweden, and the U.S. Workplaces of today need to attract and retain three generations of working population. It has hence become imperative to evolve and arrive at a strategy, which balances the needs of such a diverse workforce. However, there isn\'t one, which fits all. Since any such strategy needs to be based firmly on the specific organization\'s culture, values and core beliefs. At a strategic level, four key areas of focus come to mind. An Effective Recruitment Strategy An effective recruitment strategy plays a key role in preserving an organization\'s culture. This area has undergone a paradigm shift the past decade. Several companies now employ non-traditional, highly innovative ways of hiring. Social media has clearly emerged as one such critical channel. This is followed closely by employee referrals. Collectively, besides becoming pivotal to a company\'s recruitment strategy, these two channels can also considerably bring down the cost of talent acquisition. Additionally, increased industry-academia collaboration, over the past decade, has also enhanced the way in which companies undertake recruitment of younger workforces. Unlike earlier, where one got to experience an organization only after being hired, students today get to witness this much earlier through campus outreach programs. These programs continue to strengthen engagement with faculty and universities and provide a platform for students to work on industry relevant projects even in their university years. Ability To Retail The Good The next area of focus is in retaining good talent. The critical question today is centered on what an individual values; and high performing organizations have truly made an attempt to understand this. Organizations are moving away from the traditional approach of \'Cost to Company\' pay packages, and instead providing a basket of options for the employee to chose from. Similarly, the aspect of a reward has now moved away from just being a paycheck, into something much more holistic. These are now often custom designed to suit an individuals needs. Engagement surveys and a vocal, younger workforce have been instrumental in facilitating some of these changes in many an organization. An Engaged Workforce Engaging employees of different generations involves facilitating a work environment which accommodates diverse view points and work styles. And several organizations now have implemented innovative, unique and attractive engagement initiatives. An organization which is focused towards employee engagement, designs and executes its key process areas to reflect this focus on an ongoing basis. So much so, that it eventually ceases to be an initiative and becomes a way of everyday work life. Organizations need to appeal to both the \'Head\' (Mental rationale) and \'Heart\' (Emotional rationale) of an employee for sustainable engagement. While it is necessary for every individual to understand the organization and the value which the company brings to its customers and partners, it is equally important for them to understand the value their role brings in the organization\'s success story. Organizations that engage individuals, value their feedback & ideas and even enable some to lead those ideas would witness benefits almost immediately. Quality Leadership Last but not the least, an organizations success rests heavily on leadership. And organizations today invest in building their next line of leaders. The key here is the ability to be able to identify the difference between a manager and a leader. One tends to overlook this critical aspect. But a conventional strategy to develop managers may not work well for fostering leaders. Leadership is clearly not about charisma, a few exotic traits and is certainly not a province of a chosen few. High performing organizations use a planned approach to identify potential leaders and expose them to career experiences designed to develop that potential. Organizations need to look at a fine balance of both managerial and leadership pipeline. As the ones, which embrace both with equal priority, will be able to thrive in this ever-changing business environment.