Pathology in the structure of an organization is a whole range of common problems that any company owner faces at one time or another. Such an element destroys the very structure of the organization, so it should be immediately disposed of. This can be done using various techniques and methods, a description of which can be found in our article. Also here you will find information about the concept and main types of organizational pathologies. Such knowledge will help build a powerful and disciplined organization.
The Essence of Organizational Pathology
Experts two definitions of pathologies in the structure of organizations. First, pathology is a deviation from the norm. Adhering to some rules while doing business can be quite difficult due to its various features. As a result, various organizational pathologies arise, the essence and types of which will be described in the following sections. For example, one can speak with a certain degree of certainty about staff turnover rates. ATin some cases it should be intense, and in others rather low. If an enterprise goes beyond such norms, a certain pathology arises, which has to be de alt with by various methods.
The second concept of the pathology of organizations lies in organizational dysfunction - the inability to achieve the goals set by the means and methods that are used during the work process. When organizational failures of this kind are discovered, the owner of the company must immediately review the production strategy or set more realistic goals for his employees. Otherwise, a number of issues may arise that will have to be resolved using more serious methods. For example, if a factory sets a monthly plan that is too high, managers will be forced to call in additional employees who will end up loitering around. This will lead to a decrease in overall productivity.
So what are organizational pathologies, or growing pains? These are persistent dysfunctions that are found in business organizations that contribute to a decrease in labor productivity and the overall productivity of the enterprise. It is also worth mentioning that such dysfunctions are divided into two types: managerial and construction. It is not difficult to guess that the former arise due to incorrect setting of goals and objectives, and the latter due to an incorrectly drawn up business plan.
Bureaucracy
One of the most obvious types of organizational pathologies is bureaucracy. Unfortunately, this term is covereda mass of stereotypes in the minds of most people, and only a handful of specialists understand what this phenomenon means. Routine, confusion, the cult of unnecessary procedures - these are the basic principles of bureaucracy. Therefore, you should not think that this phenomenon is just a collection of various papers and certificates necessary to obtain some important document. In a business organization, bureaucracy is no less common than in an ordinary public institution.
The source of any bureaucracy is the exploitation of "personal discretion". That is, some employees of the enterprise (managers, deputy directors) can introduce their own production rules, which will bring complete confusion into the established organizational process. The best way to avoid this phenomenon is to establish full transparency of activities and its unification. The owner of the company must draw up a clear schedule of duties for each employee, so that later something like this does not happen: "Semenych says that you need to clean the workplace after the shift, and Mikhalych says that the shift change should do it." Bureaucracy can bring discord into the team and significantly slow down the production process.
Lack of subjectivity
Identification of organizational pathologies is a rather painstaking and complex process, which is of great importance for the productivity of any enterprise. One of the most common dysfunctions is the lack of subjectivity on the part of the average employee. How many people from your state are realbelieve that the future of the company depends on them, that they form a very complex organizational mechanism? If at least one gear falls out, the entire device will cease to function at all. That is why it is important to be able to convey to employees not only the importance of the production process, but also their own significance. Even an ordinary cleaner is indispensable for the team. For example, a dirty environment leads to emotional discomfort and a decrease in overall productivity by 10-20%. What can we say about the negligence of the manager, who did not come to the shift on time and did not have time to accept the work done?
Also, the lack of subjectivity can manifest itself not only in the failure to fulfill certain duties, but also in the lack of initiative. Betting on the performance of each employee is a pretty good strategy that ensures reliable growth. However, in order for employees to responsibly approach the performance of their duties and be able to take the initiative in time, it is necessary to hire several disciplined employees with the psychology of a true leader and with an entrepreneurial flair for a leadership position. It is important to be able not only to give orders, but also to be able to convey the importance of their execution to employees. Only in this case, the production will bring the desired results.
Stagnation
A rather well-known segment of enterprise dysfunctions, which most of the start-up entrepreneurs forget about. Stagnation as a type of organizational pathology is the inability to adapt to technological progress andto use various innovations for the development of the enterprise. Also, this phenomenon often means the inability to take risks in order to make a profit. However, it should be understood that there is an active (relatively safe) and radical (dangerous for the entire business) risk.
In the course of diagnosing organizational pathologies, specialists quite often state stagnation to one degree or another. In some cases, it is even necessary to introduce the concept of "passive risk". Some entrepreneurs are so obsessed with the safety of their own business that they are afraid to purchase a few new production machines for fear that they will not pay off or break down. Of course, such an attitude is not only absurd, but also leads to absolute pathology that hinders the development of the organization.
Any aspiring entrepreneur should understand that the mere fact that he is the owner of a private enterprise is already a rather risky undertaking. However, a well-known saying says that only those who know how to take risks drink champagne. Therefore, do not be afraid to make deals with new partners and develop your business by acquiring new outlets in other cities. It is the fear of the unknown that often drives promising businesses to stay where they are.
Unmanageable
The types of organizational pathologies include the loss of control over the control subsystem. Of course, no one has yet managed to create an enterprise with complete control (perhaps for this all employees mustbecome robots), but the owner must be able to manage his business, and not shift this responsibility to third parties.
Most often, uncontrollability occurs in conditions of organizational growth, when managers and administration have to deal with the emergence of branches, an increase in the number of buyers, the emergence of new divisions and rules. Even a professional manager can become seriously overwhelmed in this case, especially if he has a huge number of other people under his supervision, each of whom has to explain new rules and responsibilities.
Also, the cause of uncontrollability can be a weak motivation of employees to achieve their goals. Management will simply not be able to monitor the performance of duties by each subordinate. As a rule, ordinary employees simply pretend that they work efficiently and perform their tasks, but in fact they treat their duties with the utmost negligence. Many will start to blame management in this case, but the fault is the wrong motivational strategy.
So how do you deal with unmanageability in the workplace? The answer to this question will depend on the reason why this pathology arose in the enterprise. In order to motivate employees for good work, it is necessary to introduce a system of cash bonuses for the high-quality performance of tasks. Well, so that the management does not experience overload in the event of a company's development, it shouldpre-appoint more qualified specialists for the positions of managers and administrators. It is best, of course, to choose them from employees worthy of a promotion (another motivation option).
Conflicts
Now you know a little more about the methods of dealing with organizational pathologies. However, in order for the enterprise to have maximum productivity, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with all types of dysfunctions and ways to eliminate them. For example, one of the most common problems within an organization are conflicts between employees. Such phenomena most often arise due to improper distribution of responsibilities. Who wouldn't be offended that their colleague gets the same salary but does a job that is several times easier? To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to assign different employees to perform simple duties every day. By the way, such actions will allow cultivating "universal soldiers" who will be able to cope with any duties. For example, if you train each employee to work at the checkout, then you will never have problems with production if one of the cashiers does not come to work, because you can always appoint a cook or a loader to this position.
It is also worth understanding that conflicts within an organization become pathological at the moment when more than two personalities start to get involved in them, or this directly affects the quality of the work performed. It is worth conveying to employees the fact that individualambitions must not conflict with the principles of the organization. If necessary, threaten rowdies with dismissal or a fine for failing to fulfill their duties. However, do not overdo it. Your task is to extinguish the conflict within the team at the inception stage, and not add fuel to the fire. Otherwise, you run the risk of turning most of the employees against you, after which it will be extremely difficult to return the location of your subordinates. The best option is to warn all members of the team about the possible consequences in general, and not to get personal.
Clique
This term refers to organizational pathology in management, which is characterized by the use of company resources for their own selfish purposes. We are talking about managers and administrators who steal various tools, money or even production products from the enterprise, which cause serious damage to the organization. To prevent this from happening, you need to use the statistical office. You can introduce your agent inside the team, who will report on such misconduct of the staff and occupy the same post as potential thieves.
An interesting hypothesis can be cited as an example. Suppose one of the deputy directors of a large company was always employed in a highly paid position, but did not appear at work at all, although the salary went in an unknown direction. The owner found out about this and fired the director and accountant, since they could not help but be aware of suchfraud. Also, do not forget that such actions are considered theft of company funds and are prosecuted.
In business, it is quite common to see one of the regular employees "take" something home with them - this is quite normal, and such actions, as a rule, do not cause serious harm. Of course, theft should be punishable, but who committed a greater offense: a peasant who stole a bag of potatoes from the field for his family, or a feudal lord who conducts paper machinations and evades taxes? The administration, managers and management are able to steal much more than an ordinary hard worker, so you need to infiltrate your person there.
Incompatibility of functions with personality
Among the types of organizational pathologies, there is also a phenomenon of incompatibility of the personality with the need to perform the functions that are assigned to it. It's one thing when an employee doesn't know how to talk to customers. In this case, it will be enough to send him to work not at the cash register, but in the kitchen. However, the company will suffer much more damage if there are people in leadership positions who understand nothing about management. Of course, this person can be very kind and sociable, and he has been working in the company for a very long time. However, to work as a manager or administrator, you need a certain leadership talent, without which the employee will not be able to manage ordinary workers.
So that your business does not simply fall apart due to the fact that people are in a leadership position,who do not cope with their duties, try to appoint only those personalities in whom you are really confident in helping you. Look closely at each employee and make a certain characteristic about him. If you do not have such an opportunity, let your deputy do it, whose train of thought is very similar to yours. You should always have a few potential candidates on hand to take on a leadership position in case of urgent need.
By the way, distinguishing a good manager can be very problematic, so you should also pay attention to the work experience of a person who is recorded in the work book. It may happen that a former foreman or head of the production department will get a job for you. Such people have leadership experience, so they should be considered as potential candidates for promotion. It will not be difficult to teach such a personnel all the intricacies of your company, but talent and experience in management is a completely different matter.
Invert
Many aspiring entrepreneurs wonder what inversion means as an organizational pathology. We answer: such a dysfunction is the difference between the result of managerial work and the goal that was planned. Most often, pathology occurs against the background of the absence of a motivational program, when the management of your company does not seek to increase the productivity of employees, and the achievement of the set results is constantly complicated by some obstacles that no one wants to solve.
To cope with the inversion, but at the same time not to lower the bar of the set goals, it will be enough to introduce an effective motivational program among senior employees. It is best to use a system of cash bonuses for this, which directly depends on the company's revenue. We made a plan above the norm - 20% of further profits are distributed among all employees in a certain ratio. In this case, you will be able to interest not only managers, but also ordinary staff, although the bonuses for them will be insignificant.
Still don't understand what inversion means as an organizational pathology? Let's take a concrete example. One well-known company faced a rather difficult problem: the management was given the task of earning 30 million in revenue per month, but when calculating, it turned out that the amount of product sales was barely 20 million, although the productivity rate was at its best, and the number of customers was pleasing to the eye. It turned out that the problem lay in management, which did not instruct cashiers to offer customers additional expensive services that could interest buyers with originality. After that, it was decided to revise the motivational policy of the management, so that each administrator and manager was interested in the conscientious performance of their duties.
Duplicate organizational order
The cause of organizational pathology is constant orders to the employee to do the work that he is already obliged to doperform in accordance with the job description or regulation on the service. The management elite must understand that there is no point in constantly annoying employees with stupid orders, because the organizational order is a system of strong interconnection between a subordinate and a leader. If the foreman keeps telling the builders: lay the tiles when that is exactly what they are doing, then sooner or later such connections will break down, and this will lead to the pathology of the organization.
If the management duplicates their instructions and orders, then ordinary employees have a stereotype that they are being treated like little children who do not understand anything the first time. In addition, such actions can lead to the fact that in the mind of the employee all duties are divided into two types: very important and not very important. As a result, he will simply begin to ignore his direct duties and begin to do the work that he has been assigned twenty times already. Therefore, a malignant pathology of this kind should be disposed of.
We hope that our article has helped you understand the types and essence of organizational pathologies. Of course, not all dysfunctions that can occur in an enterprise are listed here, but only the most common of them. In order for the production process to go according to the plan, it is necessary to entrust the leadership to competent leaders who will be interested in fulfilling their tasks. It is also necessary to avoid conflicts within the team by all means. If you are able to competently apply the acquired knowledge in practice, your businesswill bring stable and high profits. Good luck!
