Do we think it is a good thing that in this credit crunch era we are experiencing with the economy people may be too worried about the possibilities of not having a job to feel able to say anything about what they might see is going wrong in their organisations?
While those of us who are constantly dealing with employees “with issues” during this time may think this is a welcome respite from those whose paperwork fill our in-trays to brimming and make us wish Saturdays would last forever, should not forget the importance of having a workforce which can speak out when things are going wrong. Not least because employees can be essential in identifying the unnecessary obstacles we sometime put in the way of our businesses accessing customers.
Managers, while providing oversight can sometimes miss the impact of introducing a new system of operation or process that may seem like a good idea at the time but which primarily serves to add another layer of bureaucracy and form filling for those the business we work for claim to be in existence to serve. Staff fully focused on whether their job will still be here at Christmas are in no position to keep their eye on how things work at the “coal face” to be able to report back at the weekly meeting if nothing else, that it doesn’t work.
Not only this, the credit crunch and its impacts seem to be fueling issues like bullying in the workplace, with bad behaviour being seen as initiative in employees who brow beat colleagues (and in some cases their managers) into action they favour and rise of “strong management” used by managers who feel able to make unreasonable demands.
Cultures of collaborative teamwork and even handed diversity have been hard fought for and won and it would truly be a shame if the current air of seeping fear were to be allowed to erode hard won freedoms that have brought benefits to business in happier customers and better internal working environments.
In fact it is exactly in such times as the present credit fiasco that organisations should be bolstering their evolved collaborative cultures, enabling employees to voice their views on how the business should address the difficult issues it may be facing. People will welcome and deserve a chance to address the realities of their situation and to be able to make informed rather than grapevine fueled decision about the of the organisations they work in and their own.
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