Eliminating Hierarchy in Organizational Leadership
Involvement leads to commitment of the employees
From all sides cries echo in favour of more participatory organizational structures. The premise is that all employees should be empowered. All must actively participate, supported by their respective “expertises”, and assist in the creation of value.
It is not by accident. Changing a competitive logic for collaboration, where interconnected systems cooperate to achieve greater and better results.
A new world and a new consciousness. Thus, hierarchical structures have become skeletons of the past, in that they separate individuals, minds and individual goals, eliminating the possibility of realization of the “total being” in the workplace.
In organizations with hierarchical structures and processes, “individual value” is differentiated. Send the one who has power. Decisions are taken from top to bottom. The “others” below must perform, having no chance of being heard and participating in decision-making as thinking and influential beings in what they help build. There is no opportunity to question the status quo and change – collectively and individually for the better – from this situation.
Effective remedy would be self-management. In organizations without hierarchy or with less organizational levels, it would be the bottom-up processes that would determine decisions. These are always based on the contributions of all who, even with different visions, would reach an eventual consensus.
Self-management is based on the fact that it is the employees who are involved in business processes and who better know the real problems and their possible solutions. The central role of leadership in this context is to create and implement an inspiring culture based on shared values and a noble purpose.
Leaders should “facilitate” and motivate the participation and input of all employees to make the best decision. People are free to explore their individual motivations in order to do the best work possible. There are no organizational goals, in some situations, self-defined by employees, and there is no use of performance indicators or they are only used “partially”.
The business environment is increasingly turbulent, uncertain, complex and challenging. Unquestionable is the need for organizations to innovate in value for customers – designing and delivering products, services, experiences and solutions to consumer problems. The challenge is to create value for customers and achieve profitability consistently and incrementally. In this environment, would “democratic” leadership always be decisive for achieving such results? Would self-managed companies make the right decisions at the required speed? Honestly, and modestly, I do not believe it.
The choice of structure and leadership style is very dependent on the business / industry involved and the level of maturity, experience and knowledge of the people in the organization.
Flexible organizational structures and elimination of hierarchy?
Certainly, it is fundamental to flatten hierarchical levels to accelerate decision-making (based on robust evidence) and to improve processes to facilitate and achieve value innovations.
It is essential to create an inspiring culture that encourages the participation and contribution of employees, respecting them as human beings with their desires and aspirations. The key is appreciation of people and greater decision-making power over processes and activities. How? With training and development of people, systematically and acting with processes developed through groups of projects and multifunctional teams to oil communication and innovation possibilities. Innovation happens in a decentralized way. Greater autonomy with accountability.
Leaders must lead! The necessary and essential transformations for the generation of value innovation, strategic redefinitions, among other actions, must be driven by organizational leadership and in some situations, even with top-down decisions.
For this, yes, it is necessary a strategy and a strategic process adjusted to the new times. Quarterly reviews based on what actually occurs in the markets. It is the primary role of leaders to make things happen and to direct the organization towards a promising future.
It is the leadership that must participate in the design of strategic initiatives and make crucial and audacious decisions, often difficult, balancing short and long term results. Leaders must seek and monitor strategic alignment with their chosen strategy, allocate the right people in the right positions, adjust and improve processes, aim for efficiency that results in innovative products and services aligned with customers’ problems and desires.
Leadership means inspiring others, but leaders need to also plan – strategically build the future in the present – to execute and monitor the achievement of results. What is not measured, is not controlled and thus does not improve.
Organizations without hierarchical structures, self-managed, are not able to generate profit on invested capital and profitable growth in all sectors and markets. In a hyper-competitive and globalized context, it can be seen, for example, that certain organizations that operate in several countries and markets, already face strategic problems related to the difficulties of integration and coordination. Self-management could be an additional problem in this regard.
There is no doubt about the imperative of creating organizational structures that facilitate and enable all people to participate. Culture, structures and processes should stimulate the engagement of all employees. But let’s not forget that people also engage when they trust that leaders in the organization work to achieve effective well-being for all.
Well-being can be won and maintained if the company can achieve the results expected by all its stakeholders. Let us not be naive. The organization needs to systematically design, sell and profit. Customer focus, cash generation and continuous growth. Valorization of the people that make it possible to reach the strategic objectives.
The business continuity depends on the attainment of the planned financial perspective. All for-profit organizations need to make money. The form of achieving profitability can vary and be distinctive. Processes to create value for customers, employees and organization can be diverse. Concentrate on shareholders or stakeholders?
It is pointed out that in self-management the “ultimate goal” is the attainment of purpose, not profit. Profit is a by-product of “job well done”. Profit is the purpose, then it is the fulfilment of business strategy!).