How to Avoid Scapegoat Syndrome – Understand Work Levels
By Michelle Malay Carter on August 14, 2009
Scenario:? A safety violation occurs at work on the front line.? Who is accountable? ?Understanding work levels can answer this question.
Bye Bye Employee Engagement
Holding the wrong person accountable reduces trust and fairness, and these are two precursors to engagement.
Work Level 1 Accountability – The Front Line Employee
Work to procedures and training.? To produce an output or deliver a service to specification.
Therefore, if a front line employee knowingly and willingly chooses not to follow a safety procedure, the accountability lies with him or her.
Work Level 2 Accountability – The Front Line Manager
Ensure all employees under their leadership are fully trained and capable to perform their duties.
Therefore, if a front line employee was not trained in safety procedures, the accountability lies with the Front Line Manager.
Work Level 3 Accountability – Manager of Front Line Managers (Department Manager, District Manager, etc.)
Best practices, contingency planning, serial processes and methods
Therefore, if the safety training lacked the necessary scenario planning and it did not include training on the various “what ifs” surrounding the situation, the accountability lies with the Level 3 manager.
Work Level 4 Accountability – Functional Manager
Systems design and development that provide comprehensive leadership and coverage of a function to include organization design, role specification, talent management, physical resources, equipment, facilities, training, budget, etc.
Therefore, if the functional manager did not call for safety training and/or not fully specify the varying levels of role accountability related to the safety training, the accountability lies with the Level 4 manager.
Executives are Not Being Held Accountable for Executive Level Work – Systems Design
It has been my experience that fully specifying accountabilities and effective system design is not occurring at the L4+ (executive) levels.? But how often do you see an executive getting canned due to a front line safety violation?? It’s easier just to fire the front line employee.? Shame on the system.
I’m OK. You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.
Have you ever been a victim of scapegoat syndrome?? Baa-aa-aa
Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Work Levels
Comments
5 Responses to “How to Avoid Scapegoat Syndrome – Understand Work Levels”
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It is a lot easier to blame the front-line employees. They have less power and sometimes (wrongly) not considered to be as important to the company’s success as management.
With safety as the example, I don’t think that my supervisor (Level 3) should have had to walk me through every situation and every back-up plan. They have trusted me to use my knowledge and experience to make good decisions. It would seem a little like passing the buck the other way if I blamed my supervisor.
Regarding my team, though, if they use bad judgment, I do take responsibility. If I can take credit for zero injuries, I definitely will take the blame when there is an injury.
Hi Rodney,
Thanks for the comment. Yes, it would be impossible for anyone to plan for every situation, but is the accountability of L3 to think through and plan for the most likely ones. L2 would certainly imput into that process, but the accountability lies at L3.
Please stop by again.
Regards,
Michelle
Rodney, regarding your point you can delegate a task, but you can’t delegate accountability. Your manager may not have to clearly spell out everything, but they must set clear expectations and understand if you are meeting those expectations.
In general, I think lack of accountability is a huge issue. I see many organizations that have poor accountability and the front line employees to take the brunt.
I agree with you on setting clear expectations. I recently got a new team of employees to work with. The first thing I did on our first day together was to hold a meeting so they would know exactly what I expected of them and what they could expect from me.
I also understand your point about managers giving feedback to employees who are not meeting standards. If a supervisor doesn’t say anything about a problem until it is a big one, then it is the supervisor’s fault for not dealing with it with the employee when it was a smaller issue.
I do think, however, that as people go up the line (L2, L3, etc.) that it is more of a shared responsibility since there is more knowledge on how to do things properly.
But if a person in a lower position doesn’t have the authority to make the right choice, then accountability should fall with the person’s supervisor. I know it doesn’t always happen that way, and it’s not right.
Hi David and Rodney,
You’ve hit on some good points. In order for a work environment to be fair and trust inducing (two items which are precursors to engagement), then accountability must match authority. Sorting this out is a delicate dance, but absoutely necessary. No one will engage in an unfair, arbitrary environment. This is why current engagement figures sit at about 20% because organizations inconsistent, arbitrary and downright unfair in many instances. Thank you for your comments.
Regards,
Michelle