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Workers Turn to Each Other for Help
An organization's informal network is where employees seek help and information with work-related issues, according to a recent survey. The finding was no surprise to other experts, who say HR professionals must do a better job of taking advantage of such networks.
When employees in big companies look to solve problems, they typically don't turn to management for help. At least that's according to a recent survey from New York-based consulting firm Katzenbach Partners LLC, which found, among other things, that about two-thirds (65 percent) of workers in large companies rely on themselves or other employees, a.k.a. the "informal organization," for help when they need it. Only three in 10 (30 percent) say they rely on managers for solutions and problem solving. "The 'informal organization' is also what keeps people upbeat about work," says Zia Kahn, a principal with Katzenbach Partners and co-author of a major report on the informal organization. She says the findings, while dramatic, are not too surprising. "The lesson from this research is that the informal organization -- the way work gets done outside formal organizational charts and processes -- is real, and employees recognize it and value it." The question is, Does management also value it? she asks. "Our research shows that the informal organization is a strategic asset executives need to actively manage instead of leaving to chance." Other key findings from the study, which polled 510 American workers at firms employing 1,000 or more employees, include: * More than one-third (37 percent) of survey respondents say they sometimes ignore company rules because they've developed better ways of getting work done. * A majority of workers (57 percent) believe that the best ideas for making the company more successful come from "all levels" of employees (Just 8 percent believe the best ideas come mainly from the CEO or president, and only 7 percent believe they come mainly from senior managers). * Nearly four in 10 (39 percent) employees say the biggest barrier to getting things done is "too much bureaucracy." "One thing to think about in the context of understanding informal relationships is that in the workplace, 'formal' relationships typically mean hierarchical ones," says Donna Flagg, a workplace consultant and president of The Krysalis Group, a New York-based human resource and management consulting firm. "When it comes to people preferring co-workers to bosses, it's very simple: If someone has power over you, you are much less apt to feel free, which cascades into impeded performance and less-then-effective communications," she says. "Power, particularly when it is not used for good, is the most stifling 'tool' corporate America has at its fingertips." Kahn says the underlying message of the survey is that companies undermine productivity, motivation, organizational effectiveness and the ability to implement significant change when they fail to mobilize their informal organizations. "When people are frustrated about their work and ability to get things done, it's often because managers aren't incorporating an awareness of how informal networks work in their planning and decision-making," he says. Elaine Berke, president and founder of EBI Consulting Inc., a Westport, Mass., firm that specializes in customized leadership training and tools to improve employee engagement and performance, says informal networks have always existed, most borne out of a desire to find trusting and safe communications among peers. "A lack of leadership can create a power vacuum, forcing people to turn to each other for emotional trust, to solve problems and improve performance," says Berke, who counts Harvard Business School Executive Education, the Meridien and Langham hotels, and Dunkin Donuts-Baskin Robbins among her clients. "Yet," she says, "these networks can be managed and utilized as an opportunity for leadership." Mainly, that can be done by engaging employees in ways that matter to them. For example, she says, organizations need to learn how to manage employees who are informal opinion leaders; engage employees through team problem-solving; get buy-in for an upcoming changes or unpopular transitions; and retain top performers who are often outside these networks. "Managers who build the relationship, apologize for problems and take ownership will have greater success and utilize the informal network effectively," she says. "But those who don't will have countless trust issues, turnover, [and] morale and performance problems." HR professionals need to provide managers with the right tools and management training to act in such ways, she says. "We've long believed that the informal organization is a significant institutional asset that drives innovation, cross-functional collaboration, constant improvement and customer service," says Katzenbach's Kahn. She says HR executives can actually "map" the information organization as a way of using its power. "Ignoring it is a significant missed opportunity. HR professionals, who want to help their companies benefit from it, need to understand it and mobilize it by helping to facilitate connections and drawing clearer links back to major strategic imperatives. "With management support, the informal organization can be an engine for driving employee satisfaction and bottom-line results," she says.
August 13, 2007 Copyright 2007© LRP Publications |
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