Surviving the Workday

A while back, I wrote about a re-org going on at my company. Now that we are several months into it, with no end in sight, I have come up with a list of things that have been universally perceived as, shall we say, less than positive, by the employees. I might add that my layer of management is equally feeling their frustration, it’s just the nebulous Powers That Be who are excited and satisfied by the changes.

If you were by some stupid brain malfunction to decide to do a re-org, do not:

1. Separate a well-functioning group into two groups, each taking on parts of a task that used to belong in the one group as a whole. This inevitably creates an artificial dichotomy wherein one group is perceived as more favored than the other. It also means that the employees will automatically apportion blame to whichever group “dropped the ball” because they have no idea what their new job entails.

2. Call the work done by one group “interchangeable” and “unskilled.” Especially when that group has spent years amassing the knowledge it takes to do that job.

3. Communicate one thing to one group and something else to the other group.

4. Decide something in a meeting with the managers and then reinterpret it to the benefit of your own group at a later time.

5. Decide not to tell any of the workers anything because they “don’t need to know and it might change.” More information, even if it is changing, is better than none. People really, really hate feeling like no one is telling them anything. If you talk to them, and treat them with respect, they will help you, not hinder you.

6. Decide to re-org the re-org. One change at a time, people.

7. Make the change because you want to create a one-size-fits all method of doing things. There is no such thing, especially when you have such diverse businesses as apparel, software, and automotive parts. Standardization only breeds contempt. It’s arbitrary and condescending.

8. Make people feel as though they have no choice in what they do or where they go. That’s a real morale killer, right there. Square pegs stuck in round holes only gum up the works for the rest of the pegs.

All of these things are guaranteed to make your workers bitter, hostile, and stressed.