It is common knowledge that employees are a crucial part of the system that runs an organization, disputing this would be shooting oneself in the foot, as no company can really grow beyond the knowledge, experience, and expertise of its workforce. Like in the animal kingdom, where the most successful association between animals or organisms is the symbiotic association, and each party benefits from the other as they work to achieve a common goal, the same is attainable in any organization. Every employer or employee should understand the importance of organizational structure to foster a symbiotic relationship between the upline and the downline for the company’s goals and vision to be achieved. 

At PoweredUp Consulting, we specialize in helping your employees understand the importance of this symbiotic relationship in order to help the company achieve its goals. As you know, every company starts out to solve a problem, then makes money along the way as the value it creates or gives is needed and appreciated. Running an organization can be a daunting task, but with the right tools and information, it will be a walk in the park, and PoweredUp Consulting is your sure plug. One of the key things employees need to understand is the organizational structure of where they work, i.e., who is the leader? Who do they answer directly? Where are they on the company’s organogram? What type of organizational structure is used by their company?

What is an organizational structure and its importance?

Let’s dig further. An organizational structure explains how duties are assigned in a company in terms of who is tasked with what, who reports to who, who runs or manages the entire operation, who makes major decisions, and all other activities to help the company accomplish its vision and mission. At PoweredUp Consulting, we have been privileged to train the staff of several companies on the best practices when it comes to understanding organizational structure and its functions.

Types of organizational structure

There are two main organizational structures:

Centralized organizational structure

Here, decisions are taken by those at the upper echelon of the company’s chain of command, and every staff member must adhere to their decisions. Authority also lies within the upper chambers.

Decentralized organizational structure

Here, teams run the operation and make critical decisions on the company’s behalf. The upper echelon believes that whatever decision is taken will serve the best interests of the organization. This type of structure is expected in the IT/ tech sectors.

Categories of employees based on performance

Every organization should also ensure that each member of staff understands the vision and mission statement of the organization so they can all be on the same page. In addition, the reporting lines should be spelled out so each employee knows which to deploy at any given time.

At PoweredUp Consulting, we help categorize your employees into three categories, based on the information you give us or what we extract from them during a brief meeting to assess their level of professionalism, knowledge, and expertise. The table below shows the types of employees found in any organization.

With the table above, we believe you should be able to place every staff member in your organization in any of the categories stated.

Workplace behavior and etiquette

Now, a crucial point to note is that every gathering has its set of acceptable behaviors, and the workplace is not left out. One of the reasons a lot of people lose their jobs or why organizations don’t thrive is because they fail to set up or imbibe an acceptable workplace culture. By workplace culture, we mean acceptable practices and norms that are expected in a corporate environment, and failure to do so might make the company toxic and unproductive.

The life of every organization hangs on respect, professionalism, and cooperation, if any of these are lacking, then the organization is in for big trouble.  Walk with us please, how would an organization be taken seriously if clients are not respected or see any form of professionalism in how the business is run?

Also, a house divided against itself cannot stand, so if there is no form of cooperation among the workforce, this could spell doom for the organization as well. We at PoweredUp Consulting are advocates of mutual respect, professionalism, and cooperation among staff in an organization, as this would reflect in how clients are treated. The truth is that if an organization lacks any of these, it will be obvious to the clients, no matter how much they try to hide it. We believe you must have experienced this at one point or another.

For company owners, your employees are the ones who relate with your clients, and it will do you a lot of good to ensure that they are treated well by taking every employee through the workplace culture training/workshop once they are done with onboarding. We believe you would not want an employee to misrepresent your organization or what you stand for.

Indicators of good workplace culture

·         Punctuality

·         Respect for clients

·         Respect for colleagues

·         Respect for superiors

·         Decent dressing/mild makeup

·         High productivity

·         Monitoring and evaluation

·         Good language style and tone

·         Diligence in the discharge of duty

·         Prompt response to emails

·         Prompt response to calls

·         Alertness and attentiveness during meetings

·         The right body language

·         Decorum within the office space

·         Innovative staff

·         Courteous staff

Indicators of poor workplace culture

·         Yelling within the office space

·         Making or taking long personal calls

·         Ending official calls abruptly

·         Interrupting colleagues during meetings

·        No penalty for failing to meet a deadline

·         No disciplinary action against erring staff

·         Favoritism

·         Not penalizing unkempt appearance or over-the-top appearance

·         Not recognizing or rewarding productive staff

·         Disrespecting or disregarding the chain of command

The list above is like a two-edged sword, as an employer, where are your lapses, and as an employee, where do you need to do better?

Knowing the importance of organizational structure and etiquette, a diligent overhaul of your organization by PoweredUp Consulting will help restructure your organization and improve overall work ethics and etiquette, placing your company as a top leader in the industry. Book a consultation with us today!