Does your organisation struggle to remain responsive, flexible and competitive in the current environment? Perhaps you need look no further than the number of layers that have crept into your organisational structure over time (D Worrall, 2013, "Accountability Leadership"). Organisations with deeply hierarchical structures are often weighted down with superfluous layers of bureaucracy and decision making, unable to react quickly to changing demands. The power to make quick decisions is concentrated at a central point rather than being dispersed among frontline employees who have direct influence on customers and clients.
There is a strong argument for flatter structures and cross-functional decision-making arrangements that are more aligned with today's customers who demand quick and effective responses from organisations. Those who are in contact with clients and customers require the tools and authority to make important decisions that directly affect business reputation. The authors Ron Ashkenas, Dave Ulrich, Todd Jick and Steve Kerr, in their book "The Boundaryless Organisation: Breaking the Chains of Organisational Structure" note that most employees in the current era have been raised in a digital age and have constant access to information and tools such as iphones and the internet. They are able to multitask and process an avalanche of incoming information. Communication and decision making today is in real time. Innovation is rapid. Suppliers, clients and consumers require immediate gratification and anything less will result in dissatisfaction, negative reviews and loss of business.
Leadership, while it should originate from a focal point, can and should seek out and respond to information that comes from the frontline employee. Communication should be from the bottom up rather than the top down, responding to market intelligence that can only come from those who see how it really is on a day to day basis.
George Bradt, in "Forbes", April 17, 2013, discusses the efforts of the major brands "IBM", "Ritz-Carlton" and "Yum" to encourage their frontline employees to assume responsibility and accountability. Sales staff who are empowered to respond to customers at point of sale have incredible influence with respect to a company's reputation. The sales person who is given the authority to authorise a free gift to an unhappy customer can quickly turn a disaster into a positive customer service experience. In Bradt's article, a customer was so impressed by a "Ritz-Carlton" hotel maid's concern when she bought him a tube of toothpaste that he immediately tweeted his sentiments over social media channels.
The downside to such a strategy of empowerment is risk; the risk that the company may lose revenue from suboptimal decision making by staff. But the fear of loss of control by management, and a failure to initiate steps to empower frontline employees to provide rapid response to customers and clients, will lead to frustrations and bad reviews that are quickly communicated via social media. And that risk is a much greater one.
Resources:
Di Worrall (2013) Accountability Leadership - #1 Amazon Best Seller
Ron Ashkenas, Dave Ulrich, Todd Jick, and Steve Kerr; The Boundaryless Organisation: Breaking the Chains of Organisational Structure
Forbes: IBM, Ritz-Carlton and Yum! Brands Empower Front Line Employees... Do You?
