Another group has finally presented the
topic about Passive-Aggressive Organization. They presented different traits
that a company possesses when it has the identity of being a passive-aggressive
organization.
With the experiences I discussed in my
previous blogs , that company could be considered as a passive-aggressive
organization. Harvard Business Review describes a passive – aggressive
organization to have possessed these characteristics: a)Unclear Scope of
Authority b) Agreement Without
Cooperation c) Misleading Goals d)
Ineffective Motivators e) Unclear Decision Rights.
In this type of organization, lines of
authority are unclear, merit is not rewarded, and people have learned to smile,
nod, and do just enough to get by.
At the organization where I am currently
connected, I can say that they acquire some of the traits that a
passive-aggressive organization possesses.
Unclear
Scope of Authority
Based on my experience with this type of
organization, indeed, there was an unclear scope of authority. Some managers
were given authorities to make some decisions which at any time can be
interrupted by the President, the owner itself or by any personnel close to the
owner. The scope of authorities was not well-defined. Quality Control
Department decides on some standards which are at any time can be altered by
anybody from the top management.
And my experience before the BOT (referred
as the owners of the organization) appointed an executive director to be
in-charge of the whole organization. Therefore, all the activities within the
organization will be implemented or rejected based on the executive director’s
approval. Their agreement is that the executive director will present the
updates of how he handles things at work during their monthly meeting (The
executive director and the BOT meeting). Whenever we have activities or
problems encountered within the organization, we always refer it to the
executive director since he has the authority to make the appropriate action.
It
so happened that there were some activities in the organization that should
undergo approval from the executive director were no longer carried out.
Instead, the approval of the authority came out from the BOT directly without
going through the executive director. We as employees wondered why. This was
not the picture we used to see in the big screen. We learned later on that the
BOT intervened with the executive director’s duties and responsibilities.
The executive director was quite upset and
disappointed with what happened. He thought that the BOT doubted his
performance and this was not seen and noticed by the BOT. But since they (the
BOT) were the owner of the organization, the executive director just continued
to pretend in control.
Agreement
without Cooperation
With
unclear scope of authority, subsequently, it led to agreement without
cooperation. People tend to become passive of some implementations of the
management. Being confused of the different standards implemented,
Quality Control Department where I belong became indecisive on some matters
which later made the Quality Control Inspectors became passive of the some new
quality standards created.
This is because when a quality standard was
imposed, at any time, such standard is altered by a “somebody” in the
management.
With these, the first two characteristics
of a passive-aggressive organization are evident.
Misleading
Goals
I have gone through the employment of these
misleading goals on the same company. At one time, Quality Control
Inspectors were tasked to inspect a certain number of products in a day to cope
up with the delivery target. Consequently, some inspectors were not
concentrating on the quality but on the quantity of products they can inspect.
As a result, there were a lot of customer complaints on the products.
Ineffective
Motivators
On my blog, “Organizing for Empowerment”, I
have stated my experience on that passive-aggressive organization. A passive-
aggressive organization is poor at judging and rewarding individuals according
to their business value to the organization. Many of my colleagues who were
promoted were not given raise on their salaries, which includes me. While
some people in the senior positions who were doing less were given an
ample raise.
They spent a lot on meetings neglecting to
include those high performers who have valuable insights but with no authority.
Soon these employees’ healthy impulses to learn, to achieve and share which
are not encouraged led them to develop gradually adaptive conduct. And
when they became burnout, they soon ran away.
Every 24 months, the representatives from
TESDA will conduct an inspection from every vocational school if it still meets
the requirements they set in opening the courses they offered. This is not an
easy task for us since the preparation for the inspection needs ample time. The
representatives’ decision will be based on how we comply to the requirements
and standards they set. If it is not complied, then the programs or courses
that the school is offering will be closed. During those days, we were new to
the responsibilities given to us since the company had just undergone a
re-organization (hiring new employees, replacing several old employees who
resigned).
We became very busy and had to stay late in
the school and come early in the morning preparing all the necessary documents
required by TESDA including the CBLM (learning material), canvassing for new equipment
and replacing those equipment that has been damaged or lost. We were very
pressured since the decision will be based on how we respond to TESDA’s
standards. After a month of preparation, the TESDA representatives came and
started the inspection. Since we did our best and were able to meet the
requirements and standards set by them, the courses offered remains open.
It was tiring yet a very challenging
experience for us but we got discouraged when the BOT disapproved our overtime
fees and did not even recognized how much effort we put into just to comply all
those requirements. They did not even talk nor congratulate us for the job well
done.
Since the organization posses all these
traits, I can say that it belongs to a Passive-aggressive organization but it
doesn’t mean that those are the only qualities that the organization possesses.
The organization also possesses some of the traits of being a resilient
organization and those traits were the reason that the organization had bloomed
and grown. With regards to myself as an instructor, I admit that I am 50%
passive-aggressive and 50% resilient.
Why? I am passive-aggressive because there
are times that I compare myself to other instructors and thought that I am not
good enough as an instructor. Resilient because I was able to handle things
well and realized that I need not to compare myself with others because each of
us has its own way of teaching students. In addition, I am able to motivate my
students to study harder (and I do hope that motivation is enough..Hehehe...) 
Unclear
Decision Rights
.
Every Eighth month of the year, we usually
celebrate the school’s foundation day. Two months before the event, the faculty
and administrative officers were having their meeting to discuss the line up of
activities, preparations and possible expenses for the event. The faculty and
the administrative officers were divided into groups and were assigned to their
respective duties for the foundation day preparations.
The decision made from the meeting was
approved by the executive director and the BOT. Everything went well few months
before the said event. Unfortunately, just three weeks before the foundation
day, the BOT suddenly changed their decision and canceled some of the
activities that was originally lined up explaining that it would be costly if
all those activities will be implemented for the upcoming event. It was a
disappointment on our part, since we have to revise and cancel some of the
activities that were originally planned.
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