Flat Organization Model

Empowerment 2

Abstract

In this paper I am going to discuss methods for preparing employees at all levels for shifts in individual and group decision making responsibilities. I will also take a look at these changes in the view of a flat organizational model and how empowering employees benefits everyone at the end of the day.

Empowerment 2

In many organizations they have shifts and changes that occur over the years. While it is not something easy, many do begin a successful path once the change has happened. The change must be accepted by the employees primarily because they are the determining factor for the success level the company has. The change has to be understood by everyone so benefits can be seen beforehand.

A concept that comes up in organizations is called a flat organization. This means there are limited barriers between the employees and management to make decisions. (AMA, 2007) It empowers the employees to make executive decisions to successfully go about their day without being bothered.

The organization that I work for has a flat organization type of managing. I work for a bank. Each branch has the power to make their own decisions such as fee refunds, rate adjustments, and even charity sponsorship. This enables us to be confident in our job to make decisions to help our customers. If we had to wait for each answer to do anything our business would not successfully run. While there are limits on our decisions, it allows the employees to feel trusted by their organization to represent them in a large way. So when the customer walks in the bank and is upset at Regions Bank, they are upset with me. I am then empowered to solve the situation while I represent Regions and make a decision of how to make this customer happy with the company again. At the end of the day I am the bank. The company is just a name.

I personally like this type of an organization because I truly feel independent and

Empowerment 4

confident in my job. Instead of having to go to upper management I am able to respond to my client’s needs immediately and ensure them they can trust me with executive decisions. Typically when people can not respond to clients they get frustrated and would

rather just speak to the decision makes rather than dealing with a “middle guy”. This is understandable, because if I went to a company and they kept telling me they would have to get back to me to get a response I would also get frustrated. I would feel as if the staff is incompetent if their organization would not even trust them with simple decisions.

Organizations that may be used to going through hierarchy levels to make decisions will have a tough time making the change. A lot of people do not feel comfortable making large decisions that could cost them their job. They have to be trained on how to break away from relying on someone else to take responsibility for bad decisions. This can be very tough for many to start out doing.

The shift to this type of an organization has to be first embraced by management. They will have to learn how to put responsibility back on their team players so they can learn from it. This means when they need help with something or enter their office with an issue, the manager needs to hand it back and ask how they would handle it instead. This is very difficult for certain employees that have been in the organization for years relying on management to make their decisions. They may first feel hopeless and left out by their company, but after a while they will start to enjoy the freedom the flat organizational model gives them in their work. It allows them to feel free of constant updates and the frustrations