Organizational Health
Monograph - Issue 5 - March 1997
This report presents the findings of a study on organizational health conducted by the Public Service Commission. It describes the items most frequently cited as elements of health, reports opinions on the state of health in some federal government departments, and gives examples of actions that public servants are taking to improve organizational health in their departments.
Prepared and Researched by:
Marcel Brisson, Patricia Hehner, Lorraine Rooney, Ann Sanderson and Réal St-Amand
Proofread by: Gérald Amirault
Graphic Design by: Judy Bisson
Table of Contents
Core Values in the Professional Public Service Canada's federal
Public Service, considered to be one of the finest in the world, is
going through a most difficult time. One aspect of this is an
expressed desire to rethink the role of the public sector and its
methods of operating.
The pace of change in government is just picking up. The emergence
of multiple organizational forms with different needs and purposes
makes it essential to explore the core values of a professional Public
Service and how best to safeguard them for the future.
The professional Public Service must evolve with the times but not
lose sight of the fundamental values on which it rests. The
requirement for excellence in the Public Service will continue. The
challenge is to build vibrant organizations, adapted to modern needs.
... societies get the
public service they expect. If people believe that government is
bumbling and bureaucratic, then that is what it will be. If, in
contrast, they recognize public service for the noble calling it is,
then they will end up with strong government. And no nation today
can afford anything but strong government.
Henry Mintzberg
Managing Government, Governing Management
Harvard Business Review |
The pressures of rapid change and economic restraint often lead to
poor morale among employees and reduced productivity. Overburdened
managers may wonder how to tell if their organization is healthy, and,
if not, how to help it "get better". Our research shows that
the basic, traditional values of trust and respect, in an environment
with effective leadership, are fundamental to organizational health.
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There is much discussion about what constitutes a state of good
health or well-being in an organization. The Public Service Commission
decided it would be useful to explore the issue of organizational
health further. We conducted interviews with 65 middle managers and
human resource specialists in 20 federal departments. We also examined
recent literature on the subject and consulted academics and other
specialists in human resource management. We wanted to find out what
people consider essential to organizational health, what state of
health they think their organization is in, what they are doing to
improve it, and what ways exist to measure and report on it.
The following diagram illustrates those elements of health mentioned
more frequently than others:
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The literature and participants in our interviews with specialists
and academics mentioned a number of elements of health more frequently
than others. All of the elements centre on leadership. While the
definition of leadership may vary slightly in different social
environments, organizations, countries and cultures, publications in
Canada and elsewhere identify effective leadership as one of the main
contributing factors to the health of any organization.
As organizations redefine their corporate purpose and reconfigure
their corporate hierarchy, they must make sure their executives
possess the leadership characteristics that allow them to manage
change effectively.Corporate restructuring affects the people who work
in the organization, and leadership is measured by the leaders'
ability to secure their employees' commitment and motivation and to
develop their employees' skills. Effective leaders think strategically
and communicate organizational values in credible terms. They create a
climate of mutual trust and respect, and encourage their employees'
initiative. They show determination when facing a challenge and skill
in guiding their organization. All of these qualities characterize
them as effective leaders of healthy organizations.
Some of the Public Service managers we interviewed are not confident
that today's executives possess all of the people skills needed to
manage well. They would like to be sure that selection processes put
enough emphasis on such skills to ensure good management in the
future.
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Senior executives who seek positive, long-term results must create a
vision for their organization. They must plan the actions and goals
that describe its future and communicate this vision to all members of
the organization.
Vision must be soundly grounded in the reality of the organization's
social environment, the needs of its clients and stakeholders, and its
own organizational values. Recent studies show that the most
successful firms are those that are concerned with their own corporate
culture.
Corporate culture acts as both a stimulus to action by mobilizing
energies, and a guide by focusing them. Because corporate culture
arises spontaneously, it is not entirely controllable by any given
group of actors. However, managers hold the key to many of the
instruments that condition corporate culture, such as selection
processes, control systems, communications, and so on.
"For an organization
to survive, it must have a strategic purpose and a clientele. Over
the long term, the organization will be able to give satisfaction to
its clients only if its employees are satisfied in the working
environment. If it does not treat its employees as it treats its
clients, there will eventually be an impact on the services it
provides."
Otto Brodtrick
Partner, Centre for Public Management
|
In healthy organizations, employees are strongly committed to their
organization's mandate and to the delivery of their organization's
products and services. They believe that their managers set priorities
based on what is truly important to accomplish, and do work that they
consider meaningful and in accord with their personal values. They see
a role for themselves in the future envisioned by the organization and
buy into it. They feel that they are making a significant
contribution. According to one public servant, "Employees need to
feel that what they are doing is useful, constructive, positive."
Organizations are unhealthy when employees do not understand or
agree with the approach that their organization is
taking.Organizational instability and administrative frustrations such
as false deadlines can reduce the degree to which employees accept the
organization's mission.
"What is key is not so
much the form of the structures themselves but the fact that people
are drawn together by a purpose that they can commit to, clear goals
that are linked to the strategic direction and objectives of the
organization and a common working approach"
Carolyn r. Farquhar & John A Longair
Creating High-Performance
Organizations with People |
The situation is even more troubling when managers who do not
believe in a revised vision of the organization have to promote it to
their staff. As one of the public servants we interviewed stated, "Managers
can't help employees accept a change or new approach if the managers
are faking acceptance themselves."
If the organization tries to do too many things or head in too many
directions at once, its mandate becomes clouded. Managers and
employees become confused about their roles and responsibilities and
the organization's health suffers.
Toward better health
One manager we interviewed told us that he holds a staff meeting
every six months to assess what is going well and what needs improving
in his unit.
The staff then translate these items into goals for the manager and
the group to work towards over the next six months. This keeps the
unit focused on its vision for the future, and helps it achieve its
goals one step at a time.
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Effective corporate executives know that to succeed, they need their
employees' commitment.
It is important for managers and staff to share the same values.
When employees understand the organization's mission, mandate and
goals, and when they support its strategic orientation and leadership
style, they are proud to identify with the company. They feel involved
in operations and work as a team towards the success of the
organization. This is no less true in the Public Service than it is in
the private sector. A public servant we interviewed stated, "Are
you proud to say you work for the department? We need pride and
ownership in what we do."
This level of employee commitment and sense of belonging occurs
naturally when there is mutual trust at all levels of the
organization, when employees feel they are respected as individuals
and when management acknowledges their skills. Commitment and loyalty
become positive forces that enable employees to achieve the intended
results while improving their personal performance.
High levels of trust increase employee morale, promote innovation
and risk-taking, and help the organization manage change effectively.
Trust is built on a corporate culture of shared values, and a
commitment to building interpersonal relationships based on honesty,
professional competence, integrity and concern for others.
|
"Employees need to
trust that managers will walk the talk"
Federal public servant
|
Our interviews revealed that one of the challenges is to try to
build a culture of trust in all directions in the organization: up,
down and sideways. Managers who support their employees demonstrate
their trust in and loyalty to them. In turn, employees tend to trust
those with whom they work most closely. They find it more difficult to
extend this trust to managers and staff two layers away from them in
the hierarchy or in a different part of the organization.
Respect for the competence and professional ethics of colleagues
helps to inspire trust. True respect implies that management and
employees respect each other's visions, whether or not they coincide.
Respect is not tied to hierarchical status in any way. Leaders,
managers and employees must earn each other's respect. Respect is
reflected in attitude and choice of words. It has a bearing on many
aspects of day-to-day work.
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Employees at all levels want to feel appreciated, whether formally
or informally. A word of thanks or praise makes them feel valued and
improves organizational health.
Unfortunately, the formal systems of recognition and rewards in the
Public Service do not always prove effective. Some managers we
interviewed expressed frustration and cynicism about the limited means
available to them to reward employees. They also disliked the idea
that rewards tend to be given only to high flyers or the most visible
people, rather than to the hard workers who are just doing a good job
in a difficult environment. The sometimes conflicting needs to reward
good performance and to increase efficiency can lead to the
elimination of some employee incentives. As one public servant pointed
out, "We've had to remove the option of flexible hours to extend
customer service, thereby removing one of the few rewards available."
The current compensation system further undermines morale. Pay and
increment freezes, combined with the fact that Public Service salaries
and other rewards tend to lag behind those of the private sector, are
seen as contributing to poor organizational health in many government
departments.
"One team took the
money they were given as an appreciation reward and put it back into
the project they were doing to offset the cuts a bit, they believed
so strongly in the project."
Federal public servant
|
Organizations are searching for innovative ways to motivate and
reward staff. A reward many employees consider one of the few things
of value is a day off.
Toward better health
In some units, initiatives such as instant awards are working well.
In others, involving employees in the award designation process is the
key. One manager we interviewed told us that the members of his unit
nominate and vote on who deserves an award. This team recognition is
proving to be a meaningful and effective way to reward employees for
their contribution.
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Without good communication, no organization can survive.
Communication must be transparent, timely and complete. It must be
present at all levels of the organization so that information is
shared from top to bottom and vice versa.
"At Kodak Black and
White Film, Bill Wallace, believes in sharing information with
employees, helping them to understand the impacts of the actions
that the teams and employees take, and working with them to develop
successful strategies. In his view, ensuring transparency in
information sharing is a key ingredient in creating trust."
Carolyn R. Farquhar & John A Longair
Creating High-Performance
Organizations with People |
When information is transmitted only on a need-to-know basis,
employees do not feel that they are part of the loop or that they are
seen to share an interest in the success of the organization. When
information is incomplete or delayed, there is a danger that
speculation, rumour and the grapevine will usurp the true message.
Employees need to feel free to discuss matters and make suggestions.
Some organizations have fora for them to express their views. However,
several of the middle managers we interviewed expressed the concern
that senior managers may not be listening or that they do not
understand the real message.
Regardless of their level in the organization, people need to take
responsibility for their errors. The fact that employees and managers
feel comfortable owning up to their mistakes is a sign that their
organization is in good health. A public servant we interviewed put it
this way, "You need to be able to trust that the communication
given will be acted on, and that if there are digressions, reasons
will be given."
Toward better health
One department we visited organizes "brown-bag sessions"
so that groups of employees have the chance to chat informally with
their Deputy Minister or Assistant Deputy Minister over lunch.
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The literature and our interviews affirmed the importance of a
skilled labour force.
Organizations acquire skilled workers through skill-specific
recruitment programs and in-house training. Staff renewal must be an
ongoing concern as skill requirements change continuously. Studies
have shown that organizations that have successfully managed
large-scale adjustment programs invest substantially in recruitment,
training and skill development at all levels.
"In the future, successful firms will be
those that have leaders concerned with providing ongoing training
to workers committed to work"
Paul A. Lennox
Watson Wyatt Worldwide |
A healthy organization takes steps to renew itself by obtaining new
blood from the private sector, other Public Service organizations, or
other areas within the organization. To keep up with the competition
and with technological advances, managers provide opportunities for
ongoing training and more diversified career paths for employees. For
their part, employees follow scientific and technological developments
to improve their performance.
Problems can arise for managers when they attempt to respond to
multiple pressure points. Our interviews revealed a sense of
frustration among some managers.They felt that there was little
opportunity to deal with employees' training and development, given
the everyday pressures of downsizing and managing change. A lack of
training and skills upgrading can have negative effects, as a public
servant we interviewed asserted: "Those who are most capable get
most of the work, since there's no time to bring the others up to
scratch. It's a nasty spiral".
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The tradition of the lone hero who saves the organization from
disaster and single-handedly ensures its future has become obsolete.
Today, the development of a management style based on teamwork is
imperative.
Teamwork means that the organization recognizes the importance of
its human resources, that it practises strategic and participatory
human resource management, and that it promotes team leadership and
teamwork as important skills.
Decision-making needs to be shared at the lowest possible level of
the organization. With teamwork and distributed decision-making,
employees feel that they are making a meaningful contribution to the
organization.
"My best jobs were
personally satisfying, working on teams with interesting people,
working on projects with decision-making authority, responsibility
and independence... the support and interest of top management
contributed to our feeling that the project was important."
Federal public servant
|
When an organization succeeds in harmonizing all the efforts of its
employees, it has the best insurance policy for achieving success.
Toward better health
One department we visited has a program called "partner for a
day." This program matches two employees or a manager and an
employee as partners. Not only does this help the participants to see
things from each other's perspective, but it also leads to many
creative suggestions for improvement.
Another department uses a similar buddy system to pair two employees
with fairly different functions. This provides basic back-up where
none had existed, reduces the sense of isolation that employees in
unique positions may have, increases each person's awareness of the
scope of the unit's functions, and is a form of on-the-job training
that promotes skill development and mobility.
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Management has to agree to fundamentally rethink what it does, learn
how to change, and take the initiative to implement changes before
circumstances force it to do so. Today, the organization that resists
change or that waits for a Royal Commission on change risks being
forced to close its doors before the Commission's recommendations are
known.
"If you do not agree
to redefine fundamentally what you are doing, you are wasting your
time."
Ole Ingstrup
Senior Advisor &
Skelton-Clark Research Fellow at Queen's University |
An open, participatory management style supports the people who are
affected by the changes. The organization needs to have all
stakeholders participating in the change process, either by agreeing
to change or by helping to implement change. This is the only way it
can remain competitive in today's world. Managers must involve all
employees in developing strategies that make it possible to achieve
corporate objectives. They should also consider the union's
contribution.
A healthy organization provides its employees with the tools they
need to adapt to complex and difficult situations. It gives them
enough leeway and autonomy to deal with unusual demands and unforeseen
circumstances. Employees want to be able to give satisfaction to
clients without having to seek permission to do something different.
As one public servant said, "My best jobs were on the leading
edge, diversified, intellectually challenging, dealing with issues of
interest and importance to the Public Service...where you have an
ability to influence what's happening in the organization...with
autonomy, room to be creative, not quashed, not micro-managed."
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The health of an organization is no easier to measure than the
health of a family or a marriage. Some models for measuring
organizational health have been developed. For example, the Framework
for Good Human Resource Management in the Public Service,
developed by Treasury Board Secretariat, holds promise as a tool to
assess several aspects of sound human resource management practices.
"When an organization is healthy, problems
are only irritants; when it's unhealthy, the problems dominate."
Federal public servant
|
However, such models and the use of climate surveys do not in
themselves create healthy organizations; they only serve to help
situate the components of health on some quantitative or evaluative
scale. It then remains for the individual members of the organization,
managers and employees alike, to use this information to bring about
the changes needed to increase or sustain the health of their working
environment. One manager we interviewed made the point that, in the
end, it is our everyday actions in the workplace that count the most:
"We can still do a lot since one of the most important things is
to give a lot of ourselves, make ourselves available, deal with
employees on a personal level, pay attention to them. This is still in
the control of the individual manager."
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- 65 middle managers and human resource specialists
in 20 federal government departments/agencies
- Dr. Peter Aucoin, Professor, Dalhousie University
- Otto Brodtrick, Partner, Centre for Public
Management
- Connie Freeman, Consultant, Hay Management
Consultants
- Colette Gélinas, Professor in human
resources, Université du Québec à Hull
- Jacques Goyer, Principal, Office of the Auditor
General
- Ole Ingstrup, Senior Advisor and Skelton-Clark
Research Fellow, Queen's University
- Nathalie Lamb, Professor, Faculty of Business
Administration, University of Ottawa
- Peter Larson, Executive Vice President, Public
Policy Forum
- Judith L. MacBride-King, Senior Research
Associate, Human Resources Research, Conference Board of Canada
- Ken Sheppard, PIID, Principal with the Canadian
Centre for Leadership and Strategy
- David G. Sissons, Director Research Services, Hay
Management Consultants
- Christine L. Taylor, Research Associate, Human
Resources Research, Conference Board of Canada
Table of Contents
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