Just who is running the business?

We all have stories of struggles with bureaucracy gone crazy; where common sense appears to have flown totally out of the window and we have been left feeling completely powerless and with a sense of burning indignation and even injustice. 

The popular expression, “You can’t fight City Hall” epitomises the resignation such situations cause. But they do not occur only in the public sector: they can be a hazard for any organisation. I encountered a classic this last week that truly had me wondering who is really responsible for such events?

Our local school suddenly found itself without any phone service at two of its campuses. While following up, the school received a call from the service provider at their primary campus (which had a different supplier), telling them phone service had been cut off “for non-payment of the account.” Inevitably this caused consternation and a flurry of activity which showed that the account had indeed been paid – on time and in the usual manner – and the mistake was on the supplier’s side. This was happily pointed out to the supplier, who was further embarrassed to inform the school that it would take 3 days before service could be restored!   

This was a real lose-lose situation, for not only was the school deprived of an essential service, but the phone company actually lost revenue for the entire time the service was disconnected! So clearly there is no commercial justification for such decisions. However, the situation is even worse than that, for, apart from the negative customer experience – which completely undermines the entire customer service effort – it is also unlikely there was any risk evaluation behind the decision.

After all, a school is a public service with a duty of care and it is therefore vital that lines are open for emergencies. Imagine the consequences for the phone company if any serious emergency had arisen that could have been mitigated by immediate telephone access. The financial compensation could have been significant, not to mention the damage to its reputation. 

These are serious issues that supersede the more obvious procedural ones such as:
1.    Why was the payment not accounted for?
2.    Was the school’s payment history considered prior to the decision?
3.    Why did the school not receive any prior warning before the service was cut?
4.    How can a service be cut instantly but take three days to be restored?
5.    Were there any precautionary steps in the process before the decision was made?
6.    Who made the ultimate decision and was there any escalation process for this?

This example illustrates just how vulnerable businesses are to the actions of low-level employees and how out-of touch managers really are with the day-to-day operations and the decisions made on a daily basis – decisions that could be fatal for the business. It thus demonstrates how important it is to move away from historic processes and attitudes, and have people who are:
•    Imbued in the organisational values.
•    Committed to those values.
•    Able to act in accord with them.
•    Capable of independent thought and intelligent action, rather than following rules blindly.

This is clear proof of the need to recognise people as assets and change the way we manage and measure them, to ensure that they are happy, committed teamworkers with a vested interest in the organisation and the way it operates.