> Markdown version of [/videos/1051-creating-healthy-high-performing-organizations-the-missing-link?t=1495](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1051-creating-healthy-high-performing-organizations-the-missing-link?t=1495). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

---

# Creating healthy high performing organizations - the missing link

Functional skills can be taught, but toxic high-performers destroy team psychological safety. Discover how measuring cultural competencies like trust drives record revenue and single-digit churn.

- **Speakers:** [Eva-Maria Weidner](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@eva-maria-weidner)
- **Event:** World Congress 2024
- **Published:** August 20, 2024
- **Duration:** 28:24
- **URL:** https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1051-creating-healthy-high-performing-organizations-the-missing-link

## Summary

To navigate a 250% post-pandemic scale-up, Eurowings Digital recognized that traditional retention strategies were insufficient to build a sustainable workforce. Relying exclusively on competitive compensation often attracts opportunistic talent, while focusing solely on individual professional growth can leave employees lacking holistic appreciation. The organization identified intentionally managed workplace culture as the critical third pillar to sustain rapid expansion without sacrificing employee well-being or business outcomes.

Moving beyond vague corporate values, leadership formalized culture into six measurable competencies: teamwork, adaptability, ownership, resilience, diversity of thought, and communication. These behavioral metrics are integrated into 360-degree feedback and annual career development frameworks, ensuring cultural alignment holds equal weight to functional expertise. Drawing on Simon Sinek’s Navy SEALs matrix of performance versus trust, the company fundamentally redefined its talent profiles. Rather than tolerating toxic high-performers who erode team psychological safety, the organization prioritizes candidates exhibiting high trust and cultural adaptability, recognizing that functional skills can be trained while core attitudes are intrinsic.

This structured approach to organizational health has yielded tangible success, driving a stable employee net promoter score of 8.4, maintaining churn rates beneath 10%, and supporting record top-line digital revenue. Promoting transparent, values-based hiring inherently prevents the advancement of brilliant but abrasive employees, thereby safeguarding team morale. Furthermore, cultivating a high-trust environment removes the need for mandatory return-to-office mandates, proving that psychological safety and intentional relationship-building are far more effective at sustaining hybrid collaboration. By prioritizing human-centric evaluation criteria, HR and people operations can successfully engineer environments where employees bring their whole selves to work while driving exceptional business performance.

**Keywords:** organizational culture measurement, trust vs performance matrix, psychological safety in teams, 360-degree feedback frameworks, cultural competencies assessment, high-performing healthy organizations, employee retention strategies, hybrid workplace culture, performance management systems, toxic high-performer management, talent acquisition frameworks, values-based hiring practices, employee net promoter score, hr metrics and kpis, remote-first team collaboration

## Chapters

1. **Scaling a digital organization and navigating post-pandemic growth** (00:01) — The journey of rapidly expanding an airline's digital workforce while maintaining organizational health.
1. **Balancing compensation, growth, and culture for employee retention** (03:04) — How combining fair pay, personal development frameworks, and culture prevents opportunistic job-hopping and stagnation.
1. **Defining and evaluating cultural competencies in performance management** (06:57) — Integrating core behaviors like adaptability, proactivity, and communication into structured annual evaluations.
1. **Applying an individual performance and trust matrix for staffing** (15:34) — Prioritizing high trust and psychological safety over pure functional performance when evaluating technical employees.
1. **Managing high performers with low trust and cultural fit** (18:34) — Addressing the negative organizational impact of an employee who excels functionally but fails to collaborate.
1. **Measuring the business impact of a culture-first organizational approach** (21:45) — How emphasizing cultural metrics directly correlates with high employee morale, retention, and record revenue.
1. **Fostering flexibility, remote work, and personal wellbeing in tech** (24:55) — Overcoming toxic performance standards by integrating personal wellbeing, flexible limits, and healthy employee offboarding.

## Related Moments

- [Balancing high performance with a deep human focus](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100051-fireside-chat-why-the-future-is-built-on-and) (from "Fireside Chat - Why the future is built on “AND”")
- [Engaging hyper-personalized talent in the modern operational workforce](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1484-from-uncertainty-to-empowerment-personalizing-the-human-experience-with-ai) (from "From Uncertainty to Empowerment: Personalizing the Human Experience with AI")
- [Distinguishing top talent and maintaining psychological wellbeing](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1840-ai-risk-and-the-future-ready-workforce-how-enterprises-win-the-next-decade) (from "AI, Risk, and the Future-Ready Workforce: How Enterprises Win the Next Decade")
- [Managing toxic behaviors from high-performing employees](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1852-a-players-what-it-really-takes-to-attract-them-and-keep-them) (from "A-Players: What It Really Takes to Attract Them and Keep Them")
- [Cultivating sustainable corporate cultures through ongoing self-reinvention](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1842-the-climate-of-talent-from-microtrends-to-macro-forces) (from "The Climate of Talent: From Microtrends to Macro Forces")
- [Transitioning from corporate burnout to sustainable high performance](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1780-sustainable-high-performance-build-it-or-pay-the-price) (from "Sustainable High Performance: Build It or Pay the Price")

## Related Articles

- [Remote, Hybrid, or In-Office: What’s Really Best for Developers?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/638-remote-hybrid-or-in-office-what-s-really-best-for-developers)
- [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift)
- [Women in Tech: Navigating Career Transitions and Breaking Barriers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/491-women-in-tech-navigating-career-transitions-and-breaking-barriers)
- [Panel Discussion: Responsible AI in Practice - Real-World Examples and Challenges](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/488-panel-discussion-responsible-ai-in-practice-real-world-examples-and-challenges)

## Related Jobs

- [Tribe Lead - ( Software) Engineering Centre of Excllence](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1475530-tribe-lead-software-engineering-centre-of-excllence) at **SD Worx**
- [Head of AI Applications](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1231536-head-of-ai-applications) at **ZEISS Group**
- [Head of AI Applications](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1456210-head-of-ai-applications) at **ZEISS Group**
- [Lead Software Engineer (f/m/d)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/48296-lead-software-engineer-f-m-d) at **Personio SE & Co. KG**
- [AI Operations Manager (all genders)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/48263-ai-operations-manager-all-genders) at **envelio**
- [Staff Frontend Engineer (Expert+/Lead equivalent) - Hybrid working model, 100%, Ho Chi Minh City](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/48314-staff-frontend-engineer-expert-lead-equivalent-hybrid-working-model-100-ho-chi-minh-city) at **SMG Swiss Marketplace Group**