The Three C's

Delivering to Commercial, Customer and Culture for Sustainable High Performance.

  • Commercial

    Because every organisation needs to be commercially responsible now and in the future!

  • Customer

    Because sustainable performance requires continuous improvement of value to the customer!

  • Culture

    Because delivering to commercial and customer outcomes requires safe, secure and satisfied employees!

Introduction

High Performance Organisations

“We are in the middle of one of the most profound shifts in human history, where the primary work of mankind is moving from the Industrial Age of “control” to the Knowledge Worker Age of “release.” - Stephen R Covey

For centuries people have organised themselves into collective groups. We all know that when we work together, it is possible to achieve more security and satisfaction than we can alone as individuals.

But, somewhere in our pursuit of higher-performing organisations, this intuition got lost in favour of a focus on cost and efficiency. Multiple business and economic failures led to a new drive toward consumer satisfaction. A focus on creating more consumer value has proven to be somewhat successful. However, many implementations of approaches like Six Sigma, TQM, Quality Circles, Lean, TOC and Agile have failed to deliver the expected results.

As we move out of the ‘Industrial Age’ and into the ‘Knowledge Age’ there is a slowly emerging understanding that we need to listen to our intuition. We need to create environments where we can work together, learn from each other, bring our contribution to the table and achieve greater collective satisfaction.

Sustainable High Performance is achieved by creating a synergy between increasing Consumer Value, providing a Culture that is safe, secure and satisfying for employees, and maintaining Commercial Responsibility.

High Performance through Engagement

Engagement is when the people closest to the consumer, and sometimes the consumer themselves, are directly and actively involved in solving problems that hinder the performance of delivery to that consumer.

High Performance through Engagement is when those people who are closest to the consumer use, as a matter of habit, analytical problem solving tools and structured processes to identify the root cause of problems, find solutions to those problems and then implement quickly to increase value to consumers.

High Performance through Engagement is a strategy for developing a work system that: 

  • is consumer-focused
  • uses analytical problem solving processes like Interest Based Problem Solving, the Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes and design thinking
  • meets the interests of all stakeholders
  • has open and real-time information systems
  • is performance-driven with continuous improvement metrics
  • is employee-based and relies on the discretionary effort of employees
  • has a management system that facilitates and releases intuition, knowledge and experience from employees
  • is focused on building constructive thinking, behaviour and cultures
  • has an emphasis on training, developing and growing people
  • is innovative, dynamic and flexible


There are multiple ways to build this work system. 

Your organisation is unique because the people in it are unique. A high-performance work system must be customised and designed for your organisation by the people in your organisation. In most cases, it can be funded within the existing resources of the organisation.

High Performance through Engagement is not for everyone. It requires “courageous leadership” (think Brené Brown – Dare to Lead) and a willingness to embrace a new way of operating.

The benefits of High Performance through Engagement are increased customer loyalty, increased financial performance and a culture of innovation and growth. There are numerous case studies published by both the private and public sectors as well as multiple University studies of the impact of adopting a High Performance through Engagement approach. The evidence is overwhelming that the improvement in performance that comes from a culture of engagement substantially improves the overall operating performance of an organisation.

What does the HPtE Strategy® fix?

There is a tension between Commercial Responsibility, Consumer Value and Culture

Take a deep look at the tension between Finance, Operations and People.

The tension causes conflict, silos and work in progress. That causes poor performance.

If you acknowledge the tension and act on it you can create collaboration, flow and more throughput.

That creates harmony, higher performance and prosperity.

The Strategy

A people centric organisational strategy

An HPtE Strategy® is an organisation strategy that finds the synergy between commercial responsibility, consumer value and culture to create sustainable high performance. It deliberately creates a culture of collaboration, innovation, confidence and achievement. This cultural change is needed more than ever in a fast-changing, complex, variable and global work environment.

Some of the key methodologies include:

  • Systems thinking (e.g. Interest-Based Problem-Solving and Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes),
  • Continuous improvement practices (e.g. Agile, Lean and Six-Sigma),
  • Collaborative budgeting,
  • Culture and behavioural assessments (e.g. Organisational Culture Inventory®, Organisational Effectiveness Inventory®, Group Styles Inventory™, Leadership Impact® and Life Styles Inventory™).


An HPtE Strategy® goes beyond the traditionally separated commercially driven, continuous improvement or culture-based initiatives. Companies that pursuit an HPtE Strategy® do one thing significantly differently than other companies. They leverage the power of collective problem solving to deliver the needs of shareholders, consumers and employees.

Access to the whole picture

"The Whole Picture" is a resource for our clients. We help you customise this content for your organisation so that your HPtE Strategy® becomes a reality.

High Performance through Engagement

Learning and Resource Centre

    1. How to use this resource

    2. What do we mean by High Performance through Engagement?

    3. Is a High Performance through Engagement strategy right for your organisation?

    4. Benefits of High Performance Engagement for an Organisation and its People

    5. How to fund High Performance through Engagement

    6. How to deliver a High Performance through Engagement Strategy

    7. What role does an external consultant play?

    8. About the Employment Relations Centre

    1. Sustainable Performance

    2. The 3 C's - A business Strategy

    3. Commercial Responsibility

    4. Customer Value

    5. Culture and Performance

    6. The Challenge - Balancing the 3 C's

    7. The Solution - Balancing the 3 C’s

    1. What is culture?

    2. How to measure culture?

    3. How culture works?

    4. The impact of culture

    5. High Performance thinking and behaviour

    6. Human needs in the organisational context

    7. Deliberately Developmental Organisations

    1. Key concepts in High Performance through Engagement

    2. Governance, Leadership and Infrastructure

    3. The role of Unions

    4. Developing an Improvement Strategy

    5. Setting up Improvement Teams

    6. Group Effectiveness

    7. Decision making

    8. Facilitation

    9. Developing internal capability and protocol

    1. Customer focus

    2. Structures

    3. System Metrics

    4. Analytical problem solving

    5. Information systems

    6. Management systems

    7. Development and growth focus

HPtE Strategy®

  • $12,000.00 / month

Principal Consultant

Your partner in delivering a High Performance through Engagement Strategy

Founder | Leadership Strategy and Development | Coach | Facilitator | Trainer | HPtE Practitioner Karl Perry

Karl helps Leaders and their Organisations be the best they can be. He works across the globe with clients who are seeking higher performance.

Through his proprietary HPtE Strategy® he provides strategic guidance, operational support, facilitation, culture measures, psychometric assessments, coaching and training to implement all aspects of High Performance through Engagement. He works with individuals and teams at an operational level and with whole organisations at a strategic level.

If you want to harness your true potential and the collective intelligence of your people then Karl is the guide you have been looking for.

Client Feedback

A small sample of feedback from satisfied clients

Karl has a unique and extremely valuable skill set within the philosophy and practical implementation of High Performance Engagement ...

Patrick Behrendt - Air New Zealand

I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working alongside Karl as we introduced a more collaborative workplace across Air New Zealand. Karl has a unique and extremely valuable skill set within the philosophy and practical implementation of High Performance Engagement. He has rich and real capabilities in this space to think and engage strategically with internal and external stakeholders, build effective and improved working relationships, and facilitate workshops & training sessions across all levels of complex organisations. His toolbox and methods, combined with his deep understanding of human and organizational psychology, enable him to be a trusted & impartial partner and advisor. I would absolutely recommend Karl to any organisation serious about creating a High Performance Engagement workplace.

Karl makes complex problems simple ...

Lois Cameron - Christchurch Engine Centre

Karl makes complex problems simple, using an Interest Based Problem solving approach. The unique thing about Karl is that he runs a very robust process, without making the process obvious. Instead, he facilitates effective communication between parties that would otherwise be at conflict, and by working through some simple steps, comes up with solutions that everyone can live with. Karl maintains energy, enthusiasm and skill throughout the process. He is nimble in his approach, changing direction to meet the needs of the team. He is also an expert in diffusing emotion so teams can focus on the facts. I would highly recommend Karl as a Facilitator, Coach and business ally.

Our Association has used Karl’s facilitation/problem-solving services with a diverse group of members ...

John Stulen - NZ Forestry Owners Association

Our Association has used Karl’s facilitation/problem-solving services with a diverse group of members from our industry who originally could not see their way to a relatively simple solution. It is a credit to Karl’s expertise and practical experience with the process that we were able to identify the problems and begin work towards better outcomes.

Karl's excellent facilitation skills and ability to see the big picture and keep us on track not only made the numerous sessions we had enjoyable, but extremely valuable ...

Steve Worsley - Coachio Group

I worked with Karl whilst at the Department of Labour. We used his skills to facilitate some developmental workshops in respect of how we could apply our services to SME's and how we could contribute to improving productivity within the businesses we worked with. Karl's excellent facilitation skills and ability to see the big picture and keep us on track not only made the numerous sessions we had enjoyable, but extremely valuable. He had the ability to quickly grasp the needs of our organisation as well as gain a good understanding of our role. This enabled him to facilitate in a very effective and professional manner and we all benefitted from his expertise. I would look forward to working with Karl again.

Having worked with Karl now on several different projects ...

Ian Gower - Air New Zealand

Having worked with Karl now on several different projects, I can highly recomend him when methodical unbiased problem solving, team development coaching or Collective Agreement Negotiations are required. The experience, methods and tools Karl uses, help break down the issues into a clear and concise picture, without the conflict we have had in the past. The time spent "Setting the Scene" with Karl, will greatly reduce the overall time it would normally take to work through problem solving or negotiation. Once again, I highly recommend Karl as your next business mentor, coach or facilitator.

Air New Zealand is empowering employees through collaborating to resolve problems ...

Kym Amiatu - Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand is empowering employees through collaborating to resolve problems or identify opportunities with those who are closest to the problem/opportunity. As part of this change a number of working groups have been put in place with multiple (union/employee/employer) team members. I have used Karl to facilitate problem solving sessions and collective agreement negotiations. Karl has used interest based problem solving and interest based negotiation techniques during these sessions. Karl has an energising facilitation style, he quickly judges the mood of the participants and their abilities and adjusts his facilitation style accordingly. Karl has a range of frameworks and methodologies he uses to manage the inputs and interests of the stakeholders, resulting in a successful outcome. I continue to engage Karl for his facilitation abilities and feel confident in recommending him to others.

Karl is able to remain a neutral and impartial facilitator while guiding the parties through sometimes complex and emotive problem solving...

Dawn Handforth - NZALPA

Karl has been consulting to NZALPA since July of 2013. NZALPA recommended Karl to Air New Zealand when they were seeking external High Performance Engagement facilitators in late 2014. He was the highest scoring candidate and has successfully facilitated a number of challenging issues using the HPE approach including the establishment of a HPE Jet Pilot Steering Committee, a base closure (involving multiple union parties) and a number of complex contractual issues. Moving from a traditional combative and conflict-based relationship toward a more collaborative approach is not an easy task. Karl is able to remain a neutral and impartial facilitator while guiding the parties through sometimes complex and emotive problem solving.

There are a limited number of facilitators endorsed to provide assistance with collaborative problem solving within Air New Zealand ...

Sarah Williamson - Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand is working towards being a more collaborative workplace. As part of this change a number of steering groups have been put in place with multiple (union/employee/employer) team members, and a number of new ways to problem solve issues have been introduced. One of these is an interest based problem solving technique. Karl was engaged to provide facilitation to enable stakeholders to work through an employment issue that had been around for some time. There are a limited number of facilitators endorsed to provide assistance with collaborative problem solving within Air New Zealand. Karl brought to the table a range of frameworks and methodologies to tussle with the issue, managed the inputs and interests of the stakeholders, resulting in a successful outcome. I would confidently re-engage Karl in the future for his facilitation abilities.

Karl is a results oriented, dynamic business leader and coach ...

Alexandre Medarov - University of Auckland

Karl is a results oriented, dynamic business leader and coach to his team and the cross functional teams he supports. Karl is incredibly professional in all of his interactions internally and with customers and partners. Karl is engaged, close to the business and conducts business with a unique blend of technical and business savvy. Karl is the ultimate team player and skillful at balancing the needs of the customer with the needs of the business to find mutually acceptable solutions. Everyone who interacts with Karl finds value in the interaction.

He is - literally - an astonishingly good thinking coach ...

Clarke Ching - "The Bottleneck Guy"

I don’t know if he was born this way, or he somehow learned it, but Karl is IMHO astonishingly clever about how people work. He uses this skill, combined with Eli Goldratt’s ToC Thinking Processes, to help individuals and groups gain unique insights into what they need to change, what they need to change to and, how to implement change in order to achieve sustainable high performance. He uses his approach - called High Performance through Engagement Strategy (HPtE Strategy®) - to help clients across the globe, providing strategic guidance, operational support, facilitation, mediation, culture measures, psychometric assessments, coaching and training. He is - literally - an astonishingly good thinking coach.

People, People, People

He aha te mea nui o te ao? What is the most important thing in the world? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.

Please note:

This is an evolving resource that is constantly in development as our Community of Practice discovers new and improved ways of doing things. That is the key to High Peformance through Engagement.