Engaging Employees Through Operationalizing Good Power, Starving Bad Power, and Disallowing No Power
By Michelle Malay Carter on December 21, 2009
I was struck by a message on Good Power Versus Bad Power?at my house of worship last week.? It occurred to me that this is what PeopleFit endeavors to do within Managerial Hierarchies.
Throwing The Baby Out with the Bathwater – Egalitarianism
We are kidding ourselves to believe?managerial hierarchies can be?egalitarian.? Power must be exercised.? We can “nice up” the word power by calling?it leadership or authority, but?it is power just the same.
So then the question becomes,?if power must be?excised, how can we set up a managerial leadership system to channel power to every one’s advantage??
Designing for Good Power
Elliott Jaques’ Requisite Organization Model outlines just a system.? Here is how it addresses power to create an environment of trust and fairness.? Without trust and fairness, employees disengage.
Operationalizing Good Power
- Granting managers the authority they need to hire their people, refuse unacceptable candidates and remove non-performing employees.
- Pairing the aforementioned authority with managerial accountability for the output of their employees.? No more scapegoating.? Employees are accountable to do their best.??
- Employees are?judged by their EFFECTIVENESS, not solely their output so no employee has to resort to cheating or short sightedness to “make their goals”.
- Offering a science-based means to ensure that employees have managers who are cognitively more capable than themselves.
- Offering a science-based means to ensure that employees are hired and/or promoted into roles that suit their capability.
Starving Bad Power
- Clearly defining accountabilities, authorities and escalations procedures so no employee has to resort to manipulation to get his work done.
- Making sure there are not redundant layers in the organization that bog down work or leadership vacuums (too few layers.)
Making sure that at least two sets of eyes are on each employee by:
- Making managers-once-removed accountable for the fair treatment of their subordinates-once-removed.
- Making managers-once-removed accountable for the career development of subordinate-once-removed.
Disallowing No Power
- Making all managers accountable to exercise managerial leadership, not just to contribute on the technical part of their role.
- Making all employees accountable to give their best advice and speak their minds.??When managers are accountable for the output of their employees,?managers actually want to hear the truth?so they can make changes.? Scapegoating is no longer an option.
- Making all managers accountable to listen to the advice of employees, but pairing this with the ultimate authority to decide.
What kind of power do you experience in your organization?
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.
Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management, Work Levels
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3 Responses to “Engaging Employees Through Operationalizing Good Power, Starving Bad Power, and Disallowing No Power”
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I like the idea of having 2 sets of eyes and extending responsibility to those who are one step removed. Interesting notion.
I’ve always thought that the greatest lesson of Brown at Glacier Metal was that power is not restricted to management or the corporation. Ignoring the real power of employees and other “stakeholders” (for lack of a better term) is often a tragically risky choice.
Hi Jason and Forrest,
Thank you for stopping by and for your comments. It’s all about design, not fixing people.
Michelle