Finding the path to success in the maze of hierarchy
“There is this caste system, you know,” she said, as she breathed a heavy sigh before changing the subject. It, somehow, did make sense. It was a former colleague this time but this is not the first time I had heard something like this. Just a few months ago, my cousin who works at a very popular pharmaceuticals company, had said something similar. It's prevalent across sectors, albeit in different forms. Sometimes it’s the department you work in or your position in the organizational food chain that determines your intangible power to dominate (or not).
“Hierarchy can be a double-edged sword. Too much of freedom could border on anarchy. Too little is stifling,” said Abhijit Bhaduri, Executive Coach & Author of the upcoming book Dreamers & Unicorns who has been a Human Resources Director at multiple companies, including Pepsico and Microsoft.
A Stanford study has found that effective teamwork requires an egalitarian structure, rather than a hierarchical one. It is not surprising if you look closely. In an egalitarian system, all members of a team believe that they have a common fate while in a hierarchical structure, the survival instinct kicks in during tough times and members don’t mind throwing each other under the bus if that means they would be safe. Every company’s organizational design mandates power to be distributed in a certain way.
“This is often because of differences in their operating model. An ‘operating model’ — i.e., how a company organizes and manages its resources to achieve its goals/ambition – is the bridge between strategy and execution,” says Nikita Singh, a seasoned organizational psychologist.
But regardless of the type of structure, an “essential” trait of good organizational design remains ignored -- constructive conflict. She added that good organizational structures embed this creative/constructive conflict into their design, which also means that leaders adopt styles that allow for constructive conflict and effective decision-making. A lack of a secure -- psychologically so -- environment can easily give rise to cognitive biases, such as authority bias, confirmation bias and status-quo bias.
So how can the expression of hierarchy be moderated? Abhijit has a couple of suggestions:
- Hierarchy has to be thought of like salt in the food. It has to be appropriate. To build speed, levels of approval have to be minimised.
- The people in direct touch with the users/consumers need to be given a voice with the C-Suite. When the frontline person is brought in to the Board Room, the person must have the psychological safety to speak his/her mind. Telling the leaders what they want to hear has been the cause of the demise of many businesses. (in line with Nikita’s elaboration on constructive conflict and cognitive biases)
What's your take on the topic? Join the conversation by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below.
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3 年Hierarchical structure is helpful in maintaining the equilibrium and for the smooth functioning of the organisation where teams come together to accomplish a task. There is a need for coordination and communication which is inculcated by having a system for flow of communication to increase efficiency. The hierarchy structures ensures that optimization of resources is achieved by ensuring adherence to procedures and standards. But the structure should be healthy and efficient by encouraging transparency in communication, flexibility, satisfaction, innovations and motivation to foster trust and long - term productive teams. There is also a distinct line of authority (CEO and managers have powers to assign work to their juniors, for instance) in such an organisational structure. The employees have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and they also have the opportunity to enhance and grow in their field of expertise. The incentives are given to the employees for keeping them motivated and to push them to work harder and optimize their skills.
Social Media Marketer
3 年In my opinion, An open culture can be encouraged where every person can speak, express and come up with creative ideas. It is very important to have a defined structure for work but then it should be dynamic to let people think out of the box. When employees are free to express they are more committed towards the organisation and most likely to invest in the company for a long time due to an emotional level. It increases their confidence and employees feel challenged which allow them to think to the best of their abilities. Hierarchy should be such that every person working in the organisation loves to get back to work every morning. The focus now has been shifted to empowering employees to set their own goals rather than promoting overachieving cultures that might restrict their creativity.
Talent Advisor
3 年According to my opinion, If the task are given to both senior and junior they become competitors of each other .But the hierarchy says that the junior should listen to their superior and learn from them. Due to this superior do not train the junior because they think if junior will get training they will get more success from them. Hierarchy should only be there where it is needed. So before opting hierarchy system the proper training should be to the employees.
Looking for a remote opportunity into IT Recruitment.
3 年My take on this is that Origanizational Structure is not something which has to be specific or stringent but flexible. The organizational structure needs to adapt with the circumstances it deals. There should be a perfect balance between power and responsibility. Organizational structure should give you the freedom to inovate but at the same time there must be a chain of command to ensure the clarity of roles. Having a hierarchy is not bad but having a stifling hierachy is. Similarly, egalitarian structure might work in start-ups but in case of large businesses it will create chaos. So I'll conclude by saying that?their must be blend of freedom and responsibility which means that the employees should excercise their freedom but within the strategic priorities. In other words there must be freedom within framework.
I am a Training Counselor and Training Mgmt
4 年Hello, I am Organisation Development Consultant, I have just started my Consultancy, For more information please view our website and email. www.hrmlectures.in; [email protected]