subject: A Reputational Crisis Will Never Happen To Us! [print this page] Does your company, organization, leader, ever say the following?
- We do not need to do things like a business. We are a nonprofit serving poor people.
- No one would investigate us, sue us, or arrest any of our people for embezzlement, workplace violence or some other action.
- We are a university - we do not have to do all of the things that corporations are expected to do.
- We work too long and hard as it is. We are not going to do more work.
- Our staff is not paid very well. I can not be expected to require high performance from them. - I am the founder and chief decision maker. I started this company and we will do it my way. I know these clients better than anyone.
If so, is your organization dysfunctional?
Baseball great Yogi Berra was once quoted as saying, It is amazing what you can see when you look. Most of the time dysfunction is not something that can be readily identified. A dysfunctional belief system is often at the root of organizational dysfunction.
Dysfunctional belief systems within an organization can also be detected in the quality and quantity of output whether that is measured in terms of sales, manufactured products, enrollments or fundraising.
How productive are staff members?
Are reports and other deliverables produced on time?
Are deadlines routinely missed?
Performance issues relate to interpersonal interactions as well as to preparation of documents.
How are clients and/or visitors treated when they enter the organization?
Have clients or visitors complained that they were either ignored or treated in a callous manner?
These types of complaints are not nuisance issues - take them seriously.
Appearance of Dysfunctional Organizations
The old adage you can not judge a book by its cover does not necessarily apply to work settings and the individuals who work there.
Regardless of the individuals status within the hierarchy, the organizations credibility is diminished by the presence of individuals whose hygiene and mode of dress suggest that they do not understand that they are working professionals.
Similarly, the appearance of the organizations interior and exterior sets the tone for clients and visitors alike. The office housekeeping routine or lack there of can signal serious dysfunction within an organization. If papers are piled high on desks and clutter abounds, that indicates a highly stressed organizational culture and undoubtedly a significant number of errors based on the inability to manage documents.
Interpersonal Behavior and Organizational Dysfunction
How do people in the organization treat each other?
Body language and other nonverbal cues can provide clues to the source of organizational dysfunction.
How do people speak to each other in the organization?
In dysfunctional organizations, there may be more overt displays of friction, such as staff shouting at each other or management shouting at employees. Tone of voice, use of profanity and demeaning language are obvious clues of organizational difficulty.
More often than not, those who staff a dysfunctional organization will employ the default position of why they can not provide the deliverable rather than engage in meaningful discussion to develop a strategy which can deliver the goods. The more excuses, the more dysfunction.
Organizational Dysfunction and the Lack Of Internal Controls
Many organization executives and board members believe that the concept of internal controls applies exclusively to finance and financial operations.
Internal controls are necessary for the effective functioning of the board, human resources, IT, operations, and administration. The absence of internal controls is evidence not only of sloppy methods, it is also emblematic of a culture which does not have standards, or accountability. Not surprisingly, such a culture has a high probability of dysfunction if for no other reason than that of lack of accountability.
