Management Information |
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Organizational Structure of Our Growing Business
This article relates to the organizational structure competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It shows how structural concerns can affect the typical employee workday, as well as feelings towards your organization's management hierarchy and reporting structure. A healthy organizational structure is one that arranges the activities of the enterprise in such a way that they contribute to the goals of the organization. Specifically, this competency looks to see if your employees clearly understand who they report to, as well as measure their sense of accountability to the organization. Evaluating this competency can be especially useful if your organization has recently experienced an organizational restructuring or might be considering one in the future. This short story, The Organizational Structure of our Growing Business, is part of AlphaMeasure's compilation, Tales From the Corporate Frontlines. It illustrates how business growth affects every employee in the organization and lists some signals that a review and revision of organizational structure is necessary. Anonymous Submission My brother and I own and operate a mid sized manufacturing business that was passed down to us by our elderly uncles. Over the years, the business has experienced significant growth. The workforce alone has doubled since we added four new production lines just a few years ago. At that time, we hired a group of consultants to help us analyze and optimize the flow of work through the facility. The new processes and employees were integrated quite easily, and the production areas of the plant ran smoothly. Looking back, we see now that more attention should have been focused on the fulfillment and shipping areas of the business, as well as the HR and office functions. Several signs have appeared over the past year or so to tell us that we need to seriously consider rearranging our organizational structure: * Morale in the above areas has deteriorated measurably. Although productivity in our shop area remains high, it does appear to be limited by the dysfunctions occurring in other integral areas of the business. We decided that now is the time to conduct a thorough evaluation of our organizational structure and develop a plan to adapt and change it to more closely fit the needs of our growing business. If we need outside help, we'll engage it. But the time has definitely come to address the effects of expansion on our entire organization and act accordingly to preserve and grow the business we've inherited. It's more than just a business to us---it's a family tradition. © 2005 AlphaMeasure, Inc. - All Rights Reserved This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes the author bio information, and all links remain active. Measure. Report. Improve your organization with AlphaMeasure employee satisfaction surveys. Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc. AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention. Launch your employee satisfaction surveys with AlphaMeasure.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Enhancing the Motivational Climate of Your Workplace It has been well documented that employees' productivity and job quality increase when we are made to feel welcome at work. In other words, when the motivational climate is enhanced to meet their needs they produce quality work at the 100% rate. Treat Employees Fairly, Car Wash Entrepreneur sets Industry Standards I believe that whether corporations expense their stock options is besides the point, especially when the stock is worthless. We have studied over the years the rift between employees and employers and we have discovered many great brand names are eventually destroyed from internal strife and friction within the company itself. Employers - Protect Yourself from Custody Battles that Hold Your Company Hostage Child custody? How'd that get to be an employer's concern?When an employee faces child custody litigation, it will effect their ability to do their job. And it often causes legal consequences for their employers as well. The Seven Cs: Partnership Danger Signs - The 5th C: Control Issues A series of articles exploring the seven critical areas that can indicate a partnership is in trouble.The 5th C: Control IssuesWhen control is in the picture it is a lose/lose proposition. Auditing Improves Effective Planning Speak of operations assessment, and we'll hear its significant value. Speak of an audit, and we'll run for the nearest emergency exit. Develop Your Managers and Keep Your Staff Following on from the last edition of The Organised Times where we spoke about developing the people in your business, this week we're focussing on the importance of the continual development of your managers.Leadership comes from the top down. Innovation Management and Brainstorming Management - why people hate to brainstorm! Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Beyond Management Coaching: When Things Are Getting Out of Control Leaders and Managers often ask us, 'What do you do when you have tried to coach and counsel an employee about a performance concern, and the employee has not responded?Unfortunately, we see far too many cases where the leader hasn't, in good faith, tried to coach the employee or to put the leader's concerns into words. Often, leaders look for a quick fix alternative to what is perceived as a difficult and painful confrontation. 5 Steps to Identify Core Processes Part Two of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesNext Week: ImplementationLast week, we raised the question: how do you know where to begin? How can you identify a gap in one of your company's core processes?The answer: follow the money trail?But how do you follow the money trail, and what will that mean for your business? To answer this, let's look at five steps to identify your core processes and any needs for change.Step 1: Define Your Business ModelThe following question might sound very basic, but you should first ask yourself: what business am I in? You'll ask this because you want to follow the money trail: to identify how exactly you earn revenue and from where that revenue comes. Business Innovation - Value versus Quality Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. Learn to Assert Yourself Pinpoint your own blocks to assertiveness: fear of disapproval, need to please others, fear of being too masculine or feminine, or the dread of making mistakes.Visualize yourself dealing effectively with a problem situation by considering alternative responses. To Meet or Not to Meet - What are the Questions? Meetings can be a total waste of time or a powerful and productive communication tool that solve problems, stimulate ideas, promote team spirit and generate action. The results lie totally in how they are run. How To Turn Business Losses Into Cash Flow When the typical new business operator starts a business, they concentrate on making the business succeed. That is necessary but not the only thing that a business operator should concentrate on. 3 Steps You Can Use Developing Leaders In Your Industry With the economy bordering on a recession, every company is looking for ways to increase revenues while decreasing costs. Some companies believe one of the easiest ways to do this is to cut their employee training budget. Supplier Sees 53% Reduction in Out-of-Spec Orders Case Study The goal of perfection is a challenge. It is often viewed as an expensive process requiring large investments. Creativity and Innovation Directors, Consultants and Managers Creativity and Innovation is essential for competitive advantage, yet the role of Creativity and Innovation Manager is often not viewed as essential. Organizations without such a role will simply not perform as competitively as their rivals. If You Build It, Investors Will Come When you begin to write your business plan or a section within it, you probably ask yourself, "What should I talk about? What key points should I bring out that are important to potential investors?" The best way to answer these questions is to put your business plan trial. That's right. Employee Motivation: It's More Than A Paycheck Managers often ask, usually with exasperation, "How can I keep my employees motivated? I pay them decently. What else is there?"Offering competitive salaries is certainly important. What to Ask When You're Invited to a Meeting 1) Where is the agenda? A meeting without an agenda is like a journey without a map; it will always waste your time. Once you have the agenda, make sure that it consists of more than a list of words because this is almost useless. Quality Hiring: Are You Doing It Right? Quality hiring is more than running ads, screening, interviewing and checking references. It is a series of specific procedures that can bring in top candidates or create bottlenecks and inefficiencies. |
home | site map | contact us |