Balancing Workplace Control

Leadership and the positive work environment

Author Mike Ridpath

Control systems in the workplace are necessary tools to monitor, forecast or diagnose performance and performance deviations. Some control systems like Six Sigma have reportedly saved organizations millions of dollars. There are numerous mechanisms available to help detect operational performance issues. However, control systems may seem to run an organization rather than the other way around. When this occurs, workplace culture can become negative and inefficient. The role of management and leadership is to find the balance between control and maintaining a positive work environment.

Too much workplace control

The dangers of management maintaining too much control over plans and projects can create friction throughout an organization. Employees can become dissatisfied when they are not allowed to express their opinion or use their creativity and experience to make decisions. They may begin to feel unappreciated. When a supervisor exercises too much control, power, and authority, employees may respond with resistance. For example, new managers may have difficulty adjusting, because they are trying to become comfortable in their position and they want to relay a message to everyone that they are in charge. Some inexperienced managers simply cannot handle the responsibility of instructing people and become intimidated when the people they are instructing are older or have been on the job longer. As a result, the manager wanting to appear “in control” may come off as overbearing.

Too much control can create a hostile work environment and adversely affect employee morale. Moreover, excessive control may bring about a downturn in employee productivity.

When a supervisor exercises too much control, power, and authority, employees may respond with resistance.

Neglecting workplace control

On the other hand, a different imbalance in the workplace can occur when management’s focus is solely on workplace culture. Companies focus on creating a good work environment for several reasons, one of them being to avoid employee burnout. However, with too much emphasis in this direction, tasks may not get completed, and creative freedom may be centred on extracurricular activities that are not goal-oriented.

Prioritizing maintenance of a good work environment over control can result in an undisciplined, unmanageable workforce. In this instance, the workforce seems to dictate what happens operationally.

Balance is the key when creating a sustaining business in today’s marketplace. When organizational improvement falters, so does the business. With proper balance, a good workplace can become great.

Strategies for a healthy workplace balance

A healthy balance is critical to an organization’s ability to achieve specific goals. Control strategies and mechanisms must be in place to ensure that plans stay on track and sustain quality. There are three broad strategies for achieving organizational control:

1. Bureaucratic control covers how we use rules, regulations, and formal authority to guide employee performances. As we need to regulate behaviour and results, this includes such things as budgets, statistical reports, and performance appraisals.
2. Market control covers how we use pricing mechanisms to regulate activities in organizations. Profit and loss scenarios form the evaluating basis for managers.
3. Clan control covers areas in which an organization’s employees may share values, expectations and goals and thus act in accordance with them.

Management must review the nature and culture of its workforce, together with the organization’s objectives, to determine the best mechanism to select.

There are definite advantages to implementing control mechanisms within an organization. Greater cost savings, increased efficiency, better product quality, enhanced customer service, and a more cohesive workforce are just a few positive results of utilizing control strategies and mechanisms. Leadership’s role is to find a balance between control and maintaining a positive work environment where both the employees and the organization can contribute and grow.

Mike Ridpath of Evergreen Team Concepts, Bellingham, Washington, USA. Evergreen Team Concepts provides leadership, Lean and other workplace training and consulting solutions. He may be reached at www.etcwa.com.