Apr
21
Written by:
host
4/21/2010 6:22 PM
We strongly believe that the Function based Organisations (FBO) are killing great minds of their employees and hence killing the creativity, innovation and any great idea that may crop up otherwise. Let’s take the example of an average person who is a CEO at home and very much behaves like one. For instance, much like a CEO this person manages the money, looks after the operations of home, does financial forecasting, strategizes for the growth of the household and the family members etc.
Sadly as soon as this person enters into the professional domain he is labelled as an employee. To make things worse this person (who is an employee now) is subjected to a treatment which he is not used to. He is asked to behave, operate and function in a manner conducive to the function he is looking after. The company essentially wouldn’t trust a typical employee with the money, important decisions and looks at him very suspiciously. This is very different to what this employee’s natural state of mind is. In his natural state of mind he is a CEO of his world, makes his own decisions and contributes towards his well being and of the people around him.
This controlling mechanism of the organisations further restricts an employee’s free spirit and his ability to think by making them operate within a function. An employee typically feels he has been caged. Ideally people would need liberty to be able to contribute towards the strategic objectives of an organisation or towards the value addition for the clients.
IS there a solution in place to deal with this very depressing phenomenon?
Yes there is indeed. Much like the solution to most great problems the solution to this problem is rather simple as well. The structure of an organisation should be transitioned from Function based to Process based. This will ensure that an employee thinks and operates across various functions and takes ownership of his own output. This also ensures a best-fit solution for the organisation whereby they provide a happier and a liberated working environment, design best-fit processes and ensuring best-fit people own these processes.
Another question that a FBO should ask itself is whether an employee would ideally like to work hard and deliver the results ? OR Would rather like to bludge and get scolded by the managers? An answer to this question itself will essentially determine whether an organisation is on the right track and if they are ready to take the next step of turning in to a PBO. A question most companies in India have started asking and something they will have to look for pretty soon if they are to compete globally.