Democracy or Autocracy in the Workplace?

Lately, there has been a great deal of attention paid to democracy. With most people spending a large portion of their adult life at work, I would like to discuss democracy in the workplace. 

The 21st century vision of the ‘modern workplace’ seems to be one where operations are decentralized and decisions are made by majority vote. I would argue that a true democracy is an ideology that would not be successful, in the political arena or in the workplace. My personal leadership philosophy falls in between democratic and autocratic. 

I am well in favor of hearing from all employees, having an open door policy myself and seeing every day that good ideas can come from anywhere, in a company as well as from customers and other stakeholders. I also like to maintain a relatively flat organization; at BlackBerry there is a maximum organizational depth that must be adhered to across all teams.

If business decisions needed the input of every employee and a majority vote, disaster would likely ensue. The decision-making system fosters speed of execution, a characteristic that is becoming increasingly important for businesses to be competitive. One of the tools I use is a Management Approval Process (MAP); a document that outlines the key decisions that need to be made across the company on a day-to-day basis and the approval parameters each employee has for those decisions. It delivers a clear set of guidelines that keeps the business moving fast, the best interests of customers and shareholders front-of-mind and allows employees to be empowered and work autonomously at the same time. It also stops the leadership team, including me, from becoming a bottleneck, while maintaining the right controls. 

The stage a company is at in its lifecycle should also be given due consideration. When BlackBerry was in its turnaround phase, for example, the MAP was four times the size it is now, until the financial foundation and the company strategy were set. 

I question whether a democracy is really what employees are looking for or whether what they want is to be heard and have autonomy over their own deliverables. Concurrently, most employees want a strong leader, with a clear vision, good values and accountability. These are ideals that are well achievable in the middle ground of democracy and autocracy. 

Many of history’s most successful business leaders have shared a similar philosophy, perhaps even more weighted towards centralized operations, including Henry Ford and Walt Disney.

What has evolved in the modern world of work is, as the world becomes increasingly connected, we are spending an increasing amount of our adult life at work. Thus, it is important that the work environment be a pleasant and stimulating one. To add to that, in today’s world, businesses and business leaders have an increasing amount of influence over societal issues making it even more crucial that businesses set the example framework.

So, democracy or autocracy in the workplace? I say we can have the best of both of worlds.

John