A fascinating NZZ article entitled "Roche promises employees more freedom and autonomy - but not all employees are happy with this" got me thinking today.
Click here for the article: www.nzz.ch
Bill Anderson, head of Roche's pharma division, is introducing a new work organization and thus a new work culture. Back in 2019, he wrote to his employees "We need a new way." You can find it here.
He is referring to acting according to priorities that are driven by a vision. At the same time, he expects every employee to be given the opportunity to constantly learn and change. Anderson is convinced that the secret to success lies in the new work organization. This is linked to a significant increase in the autonomy of each individual employee and it can be assumed that the complex hierarchy will be simplified. He linked these announcements to ambitious targets.
At the same time, it is important to him that his employees experience day after day that they are doing something that fills them with pride. He wants to create an organization in which personal responsibility is a top priority. This is an ambitious plan, which some members of management and employees understandably find difficult.
The fearless organization & corporate culture
The transformation that Roche is striving for can only succeed in a fear-free corporate culture. Whether we call this a learning culture, a learning error culture or a fear-free corporate culture - it doesn't matter. How uncertainty, open questions and objections are dealt with is crucial and makes the difference. And such a cultural change in an established company initially causes uncertainty among employees. The old structures no longer apply and the new ones are not yet fully practiced.
I find it exciting that more and more companies operating in complex business areas are discovering the benefits of a fearless culture. The fact that this can go hand in hand with ambitious goals is not a contradiction in terms. If you don't believe this, I recommend reading the many surveys and studies on the subject. They can be found in the book "The Fear-Free Organization" by Amy C. Edmondson.
The fear-free organization makes it possible to speak up, as is a matter of course in the airline cockpit. Employees should not report what the boss wants to hear, but what corresponds to the facts. Because if the management does not know what is really going on in the company, it will find itself more quickly than it would like in the line of VW, Nokia, TEPCO and other organizations in which the culture of fear prevailed. In this environment, outstanding employees were unable to "pass on" the relevant information - critical knowledge did not reach top management in time. Frontline employees had already recognized many emerging customer & market trends, but also exaggerated unrealistic demands on the engineers and development departments. However, the culture was top-down and not open to ideas and objections from below. Unfortunately, this culture can still be found in many organizations.
Mark Costa expressed this aptly in his keynote speech at Harvard Business School in 2018.
That is why Bill Anderson impresses me with his approach - and at the same time I am convinced that he knows that implementation will only succeed in a fear-free culture. Because a productive learning organization only works without fear of humiliation or loss of face. Employees can only act more independently if they are treated with appreciation for their initiative, the contribution of ideas, but also for justifiable objections and indications of possible mistakes.
More and more companies and managers are recognizing the decisive advantages in a VUCA environment. Implementation is definitely worthwhile in the long term.
Hansjörg Schmid, member of the Executive Board, puts it aptly: "Experience has shown that employees who have a say in decision-making are much happier.". And believe me - with good leadership and ambitious goals - much more productive.
Pilot Impuls supports you in this. We look forward to providing you with more detailed information.
Philippe Ammann, Pilot Impuls
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/wie-kommen-mitarbeiter-mit-mehr-freiheit-und-autonomie-klar-/
