(Natural Human Instinct or Behaviour (9) cont. 6)
6. Hierarchy and Status
Introduction
People are very possessive of status symbols; people chase promotions despite lacking the right skills, eg a technical professional with fewe people skills accepts the position of a manager; powerful people can do strange, unjustifiable things on the basis of flaunting power and status like the CEOs of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler flying separately to Washington in private luxury jets (each jet valued at around $US 40 million) and costing around 70 times more than a commercial flight, then ironically seeking government funds to keep their organisations out of bankruptcy!!!
"...power essential to the functioning of human groups. Human groups function because of hierarchy......there is a pecking order......power is a natural dimension to life for hierarchical social animals......the challenge for leaders is to use power effectively. This means using just the right amount of power that is appropriate for your position..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
Social standing or status in the hierarchy
"...like other social animals, humans are acutely aware of our position in the pecking order and the implications of our position......our standing in our pecking order and how we look in the eyes of others is correlated to how long we live and our quality of life along the way......individuals higher up in the hierarchy experience less stress than individuals below them, and the degree of stress increases at each descending step of the hierarchy. People at the bottom of the hierarchy suffer the most stress, and in the most unequal society stress is greater than in egalitarian societies..."
Rising through the ranks is not necessarily related to merit; it can be through connections, ie it is not what you know, but who you know!
Humans focus on the their social standing in the hierarchy and on progressing up it; this can explain a number of curious behaviours like:
- who keeps who waiting, eg a middle level manager will never keep his boss or senior management waiting, however, staff the same level or below could be kept waiting
- job titles, location of office, the size of individual's offices, type of company car, allocation of car parks, etc play important roles in explaining social standing
NB This is all about contest and display
"...try as we might to remove symbols of position in the pecking order, they will keep popping up..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
"...hierarchy provides a vital function for complex social animals. It provides the means by which social animals can live and function. Human groups are able to coordinate their efforts because of hierarchy..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
"...people work for a manager, the manager in turn works for a boss and on up to the CEO. This reporting hierarchy formalises the pecking order, allowing the organisation to function..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
People in their groups like to have a leader; leaderless groups become dysfunctional; leaders need to realise their obligations They need to address all behaviour so that it is to the benefit of the whole group, and not just individuals:
"...- set the vision and direction for the team so people know their role
- connect the group to the rest of the organisation so that they can see the value they provide
- be an advocate for the team
- provide appropriate resources so people can succeed
- defend the team against unreasonable demands of others
- set goals so people have clarity on their roles
- give feedback to help people learn and grow
- value people's contributions
- provide an environment where people can progress to enhance their social standing
- take care in bringing new members into the team
- set the standards of behaviour and performance
- hold to account those people who don't work to those standards
- minimise rivalries, address any conflict within the team and ensure harmony..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
At all levels of the organisation, leaders need to understand their roles in developing 'family, village, tribe' strategy; in other words, they must:
- guard against behaviours that undermine the cohesion of the organisation
- provide a sense of belonging within their work community
- develop the culture that provides harmony
- understand the distribution of formal and informal power in the organisation
- ensure their staff are valued by senior management.
NB The importance of your immediate boss is critical: manager/supervisor quality. A good boss is more likely to keep and attract staff; while a poor boss will lose staff and find it hard to attract good new staff.
"...80% of people who resign from organisation do so because of an unsatisfactory relationship with their immediate manager..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
An immediate manager
"...need to provide their people with opportunities to grow and impress, to protect and enhance the reputations of individuals on the team and to acknowledge their achievements so confidence is enhanced..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
A good immediate boss will show the following characteristics
"...- knows the names of all the people
- knows the important things that define them as individuals
- know their roles and they must know that the leader values their roles
- is savvy to direction, goals and purpose of the group
- creates an environment where everyone pulls together
- convenes social functions so people have a sense of community
- addresses any community freeloaders who are diminishing the community's efforts and interests..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
There are consequences to those who align themselves with a powerful person/group in the hierarchy; they will rise and/or fall with that individual and/or groups. However, sometimes the powerful individual can be challenged from within the group, eg the protege can challenge the patron.
Matrix structure
The matrix structure can involve reporting to more than 1 boss, like one boss is the business unit or functional and the other boss is location manager.
Our preference for hierarchy, ie reporting to one boss, explains why the matrix structure has problems
"...dual reporting is unnatural for humans......our natural pattern, being an animal where a pecking order is natural, it is that we screen for a single line of reporting based on power......the real line-up. Power is the boss who has control of resources (budgets and headcount) and the primary financial reporting responsibility..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
The other boss will be sidelined as they have little or no formal power.
Managing up or down
Very rarely are people good at both managing up and managing down.
Characteristics of staff who are good at good managing up:
"...- focused most on the needs of their superiors
- spend a disproportionate amount of time grooming their boss and other people higher in the hierarchy
- probably sit close to their boss's office even if that means being further away from their people
- demand outputs from their people with insufficient resources
- are prepared to compromise the team's interest to protect their own
- avoid challenging the system..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
Unfortunately, these behaviours erode loyalty; however, it may increase the chances of promotion as you are well connected with people upstairs.
On the other hand, people who are good at managing down have the following characteristics:
"...- focus most on the needs of their people
- spend a fair amount of time with the team
- sit close to them
- give them resources
- protect them from unreasonable demands
- challenges the system where necessary
- decline to turn a blind eye..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
Unfortunately most people higher up in the organisation will not necessarily have a positive view of person adept at managing downwards..
Power (positive and negative implications)
Positive implications of power
When people are in positions of relative power, they are more likely to
"...- initiate ideas and be more direct in their expression of ideas
- engage group activities
- express approval and affection
- show more gestures and less facial constriction
- display smiles of pleasure
- feel and display positive emotions..."
Stanford and California Universities as quoted by Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
While negative implications of power - the powerful are more likely to
"... - take what they want for themselves and be quicker at detecting material rewards
- treat any situation or person as a means of satisfying their own needs
- talk for, speak out of turn and interrupted more
- ignore what other people say and want
- ignore how less powerful people react to their behaviour
- act rudely and be more aggressive
- invade the social space of others
- tease and be more aggressive in their teasing
- stereotype others
- eat with their mouths open and get crumbs on their face and table..."
Stanford and California Universities as quoted by Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
NB Need to be aware of the deep-seated sense of duty that people have to those in authority and reluctance to not defy the wishes of the boss.
NB Power can be underused or overused; over-use of power encourages compliance, less creativity, etc; under-use of power can drive confusion, ill-discipline, dis-harmony, etc.
Ideally, be friendly but not familiar with your staff and encourage expression of different points of view, ie constructive disagreement with no fear of retribution.
One of the main sources of power is the allocation of valued resources like promotion, appraisal rating, salary reviews, bonuses, sales quotas, territories, projects, budgets, office space, development opportunities, etc.
Summary (hierarchy and status)
"...- hierarchy helps complex social animals function in their communities
- progression in the pecking order is a strong motivator
- leaders should have the most power in their group
- there are positive and negative tendencies associated with power
- the appropriate use of power is a key leadership dimension..."
Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
In addition to the formal hierarchical structure as shown in an organisational chart, there is an informal structure that needs to be understood; at times the informal leaders, who can be opinion leaders, can more powerful and influential than the formal leadership.
(for more details see elsewhere in the Knowledge Base)