In any company, there are managers as well as subordinates, and they all strive to achieve the common goals of the company. Sometimes managers may be dissatisfied with the work of assistants, but there are cases when decisions made by management do not satisfy employees of lower rank, which can undermine the working environment. In my practice, there have been cases when certain strategic decisions were made through communication between colleagues, the results of which satisfied most of the company’s employees. At the last moment, the management made more risky decisions, which led to an error and significantly undermined employees’ morale.
A problematic situation occurred during the negative period of coronavirus for many when many decisions were made remotely from the company’s main office. During the pandemic, many employers quickly switched to a remote work format, established feedback with employees, wrote supportive letters, and conducted webinars. Meetings between the company’s employees were also held remotely, and then the heads of departments worked with partners in person. So, one of the problems was communication with partners who asked for significant discounts, which would directly affect employees’ income. Another option was not to give discounts, but the risk was that partners could find other suppliers. The collegial decision was to refuse to provide discounts, but later, without meetings, the managers decided not to take risks and, to the detriment of employees, offered low prices to partners.
Naturally, this decision-making method turned out to be incorrect and unpleasant for employees since one decision was made by a collegial decision and the managers acted in their way. I was also among the employees, and this situation significantly impacted all of us. For some time, the company’s productivity decreased because employees did not perform their work as efficiently as before. This situation hurt my impression of the organization since it was due to the efforts of employees that the company achieved success. On the part of the management, this step was wrong and unfair, leading to a decrease in income and the dismissal of valuable employees.