Feature

Seniority comes second to talent

Tanu Talwar analyses the seniority issues that often create problems in a flat organisational structure.

Breaking the conventional norms of the employer-employee relation, the IT and the ITeS sector initiated and promoted a friendly and flat structure in corporate India. The system that geared up the industry for a much-relaxed corporate environment gave a whole new turn to the traditional corporate work culture by introducing the trend of first name basis, direct e-mails and performance driven packages. Though the system has several merits to its credit, it can sometimes negatively impact the working environment as seniority comes second to talent due to which there are chances of overlooking corporate decorum.

Though a strict hierarchy is still prevalent in the old economy sectors such as manufacturing, services and finance, seniority in sectors like IT and BPO depends on performance. Consequently, maintaining a formal decorum will be one of the chief causes of concern for the industry in the near future. The main factor that differentiates the two structures depends upon the layers of authority present between the top management and the operative staff. A company that observes a hierarchical system incorporates several levels of management consisting of middle and lower level managers who have clear-cut duties and responsibilities to perform that reduces complications and ensures higher efficiency.

Besides clearly demarcating the role and responsibility, a formal structure recognises brilliance and acknowledges outstanding performance. On the other hand a flat layout contains fewer layers of management that expands the individual’s span of control, which in turn merges different job roles. “Maintaining a disciplined and formal work environment will become a key issue for the IT sector in the near future. Though a flat organisational structure exists in many of these companies, following a strict hierarchical pattern will prove to be more productive in the longer run as it chalks out a clear reporting structure, ensures discipline and accountability,” says Amit Azad, Head of Operations and Finance, Finesse PR.

Following the footsteps of the industrial sector, initially the IT industry in India adopted a traditional work culture but they had to change with the entry of American IT multinationals which brought in the concept of an open culture. Indian IT companies knew that to attract and retain the best talent they had to offer a work culture that could match one offered by the MNCs.

Pros and cons

While the flat structure has its own merits such as greater communication, transparency, objectivity, visible fairness in the operation, better team spirit and easier decision-making, the system contains loopholes like blurred functions, enhanced competition, informal work conduct, etc. According to Azad the work culture in the IT industry is very loosely defined, “The chief problem that arises in the industry due to this system is that employees are not bothered about hierarchy as the criteria for promotion in an open work environment is the result achieved than the etiquette followed while dealing with superiors.” Moreover, as the seniors and subordinates are on the same platform competition increases and individuals become more performance-oriented and in the process neglect the formal conduct expected out of them. This results in seniority issues which leads to problems in teams and hampers organisational productivity.

Seniority issues

Organisations need to be sensitive to seniority issues. “Many times the problem occurs due to factors such as uncooperative attitude of both subordinates and superiors, extremely informal work environment, lack of shared vision and expectations and peer pressure within the same organisation,” says Vipin Tyagi, President and CEO, Network Programs India.

At times it becomes a problem if employee expectations with regards to the structure and norms to follow are not clearly detailed. Praveen Kankariya, CEO, Impetus Technologies, explains, “A proper induction phase briefs the new employee about the do’s and don’ts of the company and the conduct to be followed in terms of dress code, punctuality and other norms. It is the absence of a planned induction programme that gives new employees the flexibility to assume whatever they wish to.” In order a overcome such issues, Azad advises, “To ensure a disciplined work culture, an organisation can put in place certain practices such as calling of seniors as ‘Sir’, asking permission and then entering in the seniors’ presence and not using the cell phone while in a meeting with the boss. One cannot call this practice as observing strict rules but merely encouraging correct social behaviour.”

" An employee may address his senior by his name and can still be respectful. Then again a formal conduct should be upheld in areas of punctuality and effective time management" - Rohit Verma VP-People Development TechSpan

There are however certain people in the sector who feel on the contrary. Rohit Verma, VP-People Development, TechSpan, asserts, “Following work decorum does not necessarily imply addressing one’s superior as Sir. An employee may address his senior by his name and can still be respectful. Then again a formal conduct should be upheld in areas of punctuality and effective time management. Moreover, though many of the IT companies observe an open door policy the term ‘open door’ does not imply that anyone may walk inside one’s cabin at any hour, it simply denotes that the senior officers are easily assessable and are much more open to discussions through informal interactions.”

A matter of decorum

Pointing out the drawbacks of an open environment, Sandra Vijayendran, Corporate Head HR, InfrasoftTech, says, “Two of the key disadvantages of observing this system is that it dilutes accountability and adds work pressure. Due to lesser layers of management, two or more employees may be assigned a single project, which hinders scalability and makes it difficult to fix responsibility in the event of incompletion. Then again, as the chain of command is compact, a single person may be loaded with several portfolios with no or lesser bandwidth to execute them.” Yet it’s the flexibility of the system that makes it a success with IT players. The more flexible approach the top management adopts in terms of interaction the more probability the company has of success. However this flexibility should not be arbitrary, as it would take a negative toll on the corporate culture.

Thus, there are two schools of thought, while certain industry experts believe in maintaining strict office decorum not only in terms of how one dresses to work but also how an employee talks and conducts himself with his colleagues. The other stand by a friendly work culture that makes it easier for an employee to adapt to a foreign environment faster.

Anil Bakht, Chairman and Managing Director, Eastern Software System, explains, “The industry is such that one needs to earn respect and designation has little to do in that sphere. As per following a planned working model, there are certain norms that are considered to be important irrespective of the company structure such as reporting on time, well-groomed personality, personal hygiene, etc.” Discarding the option of switching to a hierarchical structure, he points out that earlier companies offered satisfaction through designation, however this trend is changing. “Today, people are more package oriented and that is why we find more IT professionals negotiating their salaries than their designation. It is true that seniority issue does arise in this system as the job profile of the worker is not clearly articulated but switching to another pattern is not the solution. The main purpose of the pattern is to bring down walls which the system does effectively,” adds Bakht.

Finding a balance

The ideal way to approach the issue is to find a balance between a tall organisational structure and a flat one. Besides promoting a friendly and open work environment, it is necessary to retain an element of formality. Though “a boss is always right” approach does not hold ground any longer, a senior has to be respected.

The fact remains that seniors in any organisation do not forcibly demand respect; rather they deserve it—by virtue of their position, maturity and experience in the organisation. Thus, irrespective of the structures, one needs to understand that no boss will tolerate indiscipline, careless behaviour and one-upmanship. Should an issue related to seniority arise, the organisation should keep the channels of communication open. It is best to address individual issues openly and in a judicious fashion to send out the right signal rather than let the issue snowball into a huge controversy. Openness and transparency are the tools that work best in these cases.

“The way to deal with these issues in the organisation is not by changing the structure but to fill in the gaps. To ensure better accountability companies need to clearly demarcate roles and responsibilities of various designations so as to avoid overlapping,” states Tyagi.

Furthermore, a proper induction procedure should be given more weightage, the organisation needs to clearly lay down the expectation it has from its employees, and the behaviour it considers completely unacceptable. Talking about the importance of the induction phase Praveen Kankariya explains, “Clearly laying down the company values and philosophy makes it easy for employees to know what principles really count. Similarly do defining management guidelines on things like usage of company property, code of conduct, association with external stakeholders, etc. Articulating such values and principles and reiterating them through company mailers, newsletters, dashboards, information dockets, etc., is the most prudent way of ensuring that employee behaviour conforms to the company norms.”

ec@expresscomputeronline.com