This article relates to the organizational structure competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It shows how structural concerns can affect the typical employee workday, as well as feelings towards your organization's management hierarchy and reporting structure. A healthy organizational structure is one that arranges the activities of the enterprise in such a way that they contribute to the goals of the organization. Specifically, this competency looks to see if your employees clearly understand who they report to, as well as measure their sense of accountability to the organization. Evaluating this competency can be especially useful if your organization has recently experienced an organizational restructuring or might be considering one in the future.
This short story, The Importance of Organizational Structure, is part of AlphaMeasure's compilation, Tales From the Corporate Frontlines. It illustrates how upheavals in organizational order interfere with the flow of work and how important it is to address problems immediately.
Anonymous SubmissionMy office neighbor, Chris, slammed a stack of binders onto his desk and grumbled for the third time that day. I 'd kept quiet for the first two, but now I had to know what the problem was.
What's up? I peeked around the corner into his cubicle. Chris rolled his eyes and told me how, three times that day, he had carried his finished report across the huge building to three different people. Every one of them sent him away, claiming that he or she was not the manager responsible for reviewing and acting on Chris' reports.
I crept back to my chair as Chris vented, " There is no organization around here anymore. I used to deliver the finished work to Joe, but he retired. Then it went to Diana, but she was downsized. Now, nobody's sure where it goes!"
As the day progressed, I noticed that this was not an isolated problem. I heard of various employees around the company going through same futile motions. A recent downsizing seemed to have thrown the organizational structure of the company into upheaval. Direct reports changes, managers were assigned to additional departments or transferred to new ones. People were beginning to panic.
Later that afternoon, we all received a memo. It contained a rough outline of the new organizational structure along with information about meetings taking place that would smooth the rough edges. There were a few gaps left by the reorganization, but action was being taken to fill them as soon as possible.
We all felt much more at ease. Chris found out where his reports belonged; he walked off whistling. Things calmed down and work resumed as the sense of accountability of my fellow employees was restored.
When you work for a fairly large company, its organizational structure is like the backbone. Employees get nervous when their chain of command is not clear or even if it's missing a few links, as in the situation I've described here. But it helps to know that those in charge are aware and will take the required actions quickly.
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About the Author
Measure. Report. Improve your organization with AlphaMeasure employee surveys.
Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc.
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