Robin Maini, discusses the disconnection between leaders' views and that of the workforce
HAVE you ever been told about a decision made by your senior management and asked yourself "How could they be so out of touch?" Well, you're not alone.
It appears management generally makes decisions with a very sheltered view of what's really going on in the organisation; particularly when it comes to understanding the real organisational culture. Given this, it is not that surprising that the quality of management's decisions is severely hampered by mis-conceptions about the organisation that it leads. Not all of management's decisions are flawed. It's just those decisions requiring an accurate understanding of what's actually happening inside the organisation that are the problem.
To its credit, management is often quite tuned in to developments in the external world; the market, the competitive landscape, customer issues.
Furthermore, management is very focused on the financial status of the organisation - some may say too focused. But, when it comes to reading the internal landscape of the company, its culture and climate, management appears to be clueless.
Leadership In Action (LIA) recently completed a three-year study of organisational culture that may shed light on this problem. LIA surveyed hundreds of employees country-wide about their views of their organisation's effectiveness, using an Australian web-based diagnostic.
The respondents were asked to indicate their level in the organisation, and LIA compared the differences between how senior management answered the survey and how all other employees responded. When item level responses were compared, there were, on a consistent basis, dramatic differences.
Management often believes they have kept employees well informed about important decisions and events affecting the organisation.
Perhaps since they feel well informed they assume employees have been kept up-to-date on important developments. However, data indicates employees feel management frequently keeps them in the dark when it comes to decisions and events that could affect their lives.
The danger here is that a lack of information often fuels speculation and can lead to rumours and misunderstandings about the state of the business and important priorities. So, why has this problem become so prevalent?
Formal communication often lags behind growth. In a small organisation employees tend to have a direct view of how the executive team is spending its time, and decisions are passed along through informal networks. However, this becomes inefficient as the company grows and employees are dispersed across multiple floors, buildings or sites.
The 'messaging medium' is changing as well. We rely far more on email these days, which doesn't lend itself to communication about culture or strategy.
Furthermore our experience shows that middle management is often the bottleneck that prevents information from flowing downward. Middle management must understand the message, its importance and its responsibility in the communication process. Senior management needs to ensure employees are informed about developments and rationale for key decisions.
Don't mistake efficiency of communication with effectiveness of communication.
Have you ever been told about a decision made by your senior management and asked yourself "How could they be so out of touch?" Well, you're not alone.
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