In many organisations today, there has been an unnecessary misconception about who plays the least or most important role in organisations. This misconception does not have anything to do with hierarchies that exist in organisations, where we have different categories of levels.
This misconception is predicated on the fact that a senior person in an organisation is assumed to have an important role to play while a junior officer has the least role. That should not be the case. Every executive has a role to play; the senior managers have their roles to play and same with the middle managers and others in the organisation. Remember, in all these categories of levels or positions no one has been authorized to perform less.
Come to think of a situation where an organisation has no customer service officers. Imagine a bank where there are no account opening officers to open accounts for customers and also ensure that the right documents are provided. Obviously, that bank would is unprepared for business – despite the impact of technology.
The truth is, the junior or middle level officers who contribute their quotas to ensure organisational success are not less (in terms of the value they bring to the table) than the senior officers who hold strategic sessions probably in a five-star hotel. For organisations to achieve higher results, every individual role in the entire organisation must be seen as unique and highly needed.
Years back, during a programme I did for one of the leading hotels in Lagos, I had an experienced how lower officers in organisation view their roles and responsibilities. They tend to downplay their organisation’s expectation and think that they are nowhere in the scheme of things – meanwhile they are needed. The danger of seeing your role as unimportant is that you never give your best. You will continually assume that others should give their.
The training I gave was titled, “Running the hotel as your own business”. I listed all the departments in the hotel and made each participant to name the least important department in the hotel. The maintenance officer humbly raised his hand and named his own. I was shocked and taken aback. It seemed like someone voting against himself.
He might have said that he is not in marketing, customer service or the bar section where everyone sees him, where things are happening. At the end of day, I was able to make him realise that the strategic and highly invaluable role of his job to the others and the hotel. Who brings the guest to the hotel is not more important than the maintenance officer who works round the rooms fixing problems. No one has a more respected job – they all have equal and different responsibilities.
The equality in our individual responsibilities should be viewed from the standpoint of our employers expecting more results from us – no employee has been told to perform less. Then, different responsibilities mean that we have different (but unique) roles to play in the team. The CEO has to ensure every unit, department, the entire workforce hold their roles in high esteem. The CEO or the executives should not attach more importance to some units or departments or individuals.
The new slogan of the CEOs should be “everyone has something to contribute”, especially when given a little nudge. In most of my strategic thinking executive workshops, I normally mention how a back-office bank staff (a non-marketing staff) was able to win a major account that even his CEO was unable to win. Why did you think that happened? The man in question got to a point where he started seeing his role as very crucial to the bank – despite being a back-office staff.
It is high time we stopped looking down on people and their roles. Regardless of the position, everyone has what it takes to pull his or her company out of the woods. But your people can never go the extra mile if their contributions are seen as inconsequential, or if they start sensing that no matter what they do, the CEO will only value a particular group of people.
Employees need to remember they are employed to add value. They have to justify their pay. They should be able to provide the right answer when asked, “Who pays your salary”? The old belief that employers pay your salaries should be debunked. Assuming salaries will be paid regardless of their performance is recipe for failure – failed organisations, institutions, agencies cannot pay salaries.
Business leaders, do you know that when you favour some departments more than the others, you are simply stifling the innovative and creativity of those that fell less appreciated? Your role as a leader is to make everyone feel special and to get them to bring something to the table.
We need to give our best to our organisations before we are justified to expect the best in return. Simply expecting the best from anything when we have not carried out our roles or responsibilities is synonymous with expecting to pass an exam when you have not even opened your books.
An organisation is like a football team. No team member has a less important role. Everyone has a unique and complementary role to play. In summary, each role is needed to grow the business and no role is inferior or superior to another. Whenever I organise an induction training on running the business as your own business for new hires, I always tell them work like a CEO would. In order words, everyone should take ownership and work as a CEO, that way better results are delivered.
‘UJU ONWUZULIKE
