Signs of Poor Organizational Structure at the Individual Level
The structure of an organization has a major impact on the happiness and productivity of its employees. Problems in the daily working lives of these employees can indicate larger problems at the organizational level. When managers lose track of what they are doing, or lack the skills to develop a cohesive and effective organization, the impact of these flaws is felt throughout the company.
Other People Are Reading
-
Duplicated Work
-
Inefficient organizations are sometimes plagued by the problem of employees undertaking the same tasks unnecessarily, each unaware that the other is doing the same thing. This isn't the fault of the employees, but of the management that should be maintaining an overall picture of what's going on in the organization. When higher-ups fail to keep their eye on the ball, when egos get in the way of cooperation and when lack of due diligence leads to poor oversight, the result can be lost employee time and profits as work is needlessly replicated.
Poor Training
-
Poorly run companies sometimes throw unprepared employees into positions because training programs are either insufficient, poorly planned or nonexistent. Any good manager understands that good training, while expensive, almost invariably pays for itself many times over by helping create a knowledgeable, competent and motivated staff. When many employees don't really know what they are doing, this is usually a sign that the company needs restructuring.
-
High Turnover
-
Workplaces that feature incompetent management, employees who are unclear about their assignments and general confusion are breeding grounds for dissatisfaction, and this leads to some, or many, employees giving up and seeking work elsewhere. Well-run organizations, even when they have problems, are generally able to communicate effectively with their employees and to retain most of them through sincere efforts at resolving problems. A company that consistently has large numbers of employees leaving needs to take a hard look at its organizational structure, and take steps to make it more amenable to staff needs.
Poor Communication
-
Poor communication of one kind or another causes many problems. Sometimes a lack of communication is intentional on the part of reticent management and intransigent employees, while in other situations communication breaks down out of incompetence or neglect. Communication is the lifeblood of any competent organization; in order for it to run smoothly, everyone involved needs to have some degree of understanding of the big picture. If large numbers of individuals feel that they are "out of the loop" and spend much of their time trying to find obscure information, this can be a sign that the organization needs a major communications overhaul.
-
References
- Photo Credit Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images
