To manage change successfully, a company must mobilize its total internal resources, human and material, in pursuit of carefully defined objectives-which should obviously include human resource objectives.
An organization can be thought of as having a personality of its own. That is to say, it possesses a certain combination of characteristics which make it healthy or sick, growing or stagnant, vibrant or tired, autocratic or democratic, motivational or stifling. Therefore, it is important to examine those internal factors which contribute to positive or negative climate, to a stimulating or a depressing environment.
One such factor is the nature of the leadership processes used by the executives and managers, starting with the chief decision makers. It might be interesting to rate all these factors as they are discussed on a one-to-three scale to assess the organization climate in your company:
(1) Excellent;
(2) Reasonably satisfactory;
(3) Poor or marginal and in need of major improvement.
The first characteristic in the leadership process is the degree to which managers demonstrate trust and confidence in their subordinates by delegating to them full authority, control, and accountability for making decisions on matters of importance.
The values in this characteristic range from:
(1) Complete trust and confidence
(2) To limited trust with reservation
(3) To a lack of trust and confidence
A closely related characteristic is the subordinate willingness to come in of their own accord and freely discuss job-related matters with their managers. In many situations the so-called open-door policy is given only lip service.
The manager attitude, behavior, and receptivity actually discourage all comers from entering his theoretically open door. The best situation is one in which there is a regular flow of traffic to the manager’s office initiated by subordinates to review matters of importance and communicate problems and opportunities (rated 1). In a different situation a subordinate does come in occasionally, but speaks guardedly because of his concern for the boss reaction (this is rated 2). In yet another situation subordinates deliberately sweep problems under the rug, screen out information, and impede the flow of communication (this is rated 3). The last of these situations means that the manager past behavior and attitude have been such that the subordinates fear a punitive or negative reaction so much that they prefer to take their chances by withholding information.
On the other hand, it is equally important to evaluate the manager’s success in getting from his subordinates new, constructive, innovative ideas for improving operations. The best manager (rated 1) easily obtains ideas and generally makes constructive use of them-or at least tries to.
2. The manager who rarely gets voluntarily submitted ideas for improvement and seldom uses them when he does get them receives a value of 3.
The leadership process has a direct effect on the attitudes people develop toward the organization and toward its goals. If most of the ratings fall in the first category, people’s attitudes can be expected to be highly favorable, and consequently their behavior will be directed toward implementing organizational goals. If the ratings come closer to an average of 3, it can be expected that hostile attitudes exist or are developing, and people’s behavior will run counter to the goals of the organization.
The nature of the communication process is also a highly significant factor in influencing organizational climate. For example, if the information flow is upward, downward, and across, and if the information itself is generally accepted in all directions or at least openly and candidly reviewed and discussed, a value of 1 should be assigned. If part is accepted and part is viewed with suspicion (up or down), or if the boss gets only good news or filtered news, a value of 2 should be assigned. If information at most levels is viewed with great suspicion and tends to be inaccurate, a value of 3 should be assigned.
Teamwork is another factor with a great deal of influence on organizational climate. If there is obviously a substantial amount of cooperation throughout the organization, even among people at different levels who are not in a direct reporting relationship, this interaction should be rated i-excellent. If, however, there is limited interaction among individuals and groups at different levels, and group interaction is approached with caution, a value of 2 should be assigned. If there is very little interaction among organization levels, a distinct lack of teamwork, and an aura of fear and distrust, a value of 3 should be assigned.
Who makes the decisions, and where, is another significant variable affecting organizational climate for better or for worse. If decision-making is characterized by group participation, involvement, and usually consensus, and if the people are generally aware of the problems (particularly at the lower levels), a value of 1 should be assigned. If the superiors usually make the decisions, but discuss the problems with their people and know of the problems within the groups, a value of 2 should be assigned. When a superior makes his own decisions without discussing them with or involving his people and is often only partially aware of lower-level problems, a value of 3 should be assigned.
Decision-making can contribute little or nothing toward motivating people to implement the decisions, or it can make a substantial contribution toward motivating people to accept and act on decisions. The goals have an excellent chance of being accepted if people participate in setting them. But if a manager merely issues orders (usually in memo form with little explanation) goals will be resisted even though acceptance may be indicated.
The manner in which performance is controlled is another characteristic with a high degree of impact on organizational climate. If the concern for control permeates the entire organization, if there is control and review at lower as well as higher levels, and if controls are not used as restraints but as management tools for self-guidance and coordinated problem solving, a 1 rating should be assigned.
If there is some downward delegation of review and control, and if lower and higher levels of management use controls for some policing with emphasis on reward more than on punishment, a value of 2 should be assigned. Where controls are highly concentrated at the top management level for the most part and are used primarily for policing and primarily for meting out punishment for failure to meet performance standards, a value of 3 should be assigned.
The foregoing scale of ratings can be used in a variety of ways by the manager who seeks to improve his organizational climate. He can, for example, analyze and rate his own operation as he sees it. Then he can ask all his subordinates to do likewise, promising them immunity and insuring anonymity. The comparison of the manager ratings with those of his people may be revealing. In an event, some areas for improvement will be identified. Just as in the attitude survey these should be communicated, and definite plans for improvement should be developed and implemented. It would be ideal if all managers and all subordinates participated in this evaluation of organization climate and the results were identified by organization level and by work group within each level.
