Lowering walls

By Kim Jong-nam

“Drop it and do as I say.” Can you guess in what situation these words were spoken? You might assume that this was said to a very small child by a parent or teacher, but, in fact, this was said to an employee by his manager. Even worse, this situation is far from unique: when I visit client companies and discuss what actions or words bother employees the most, they often cite these kinds of unilateral orders from managers to their subordinates. This indicates that there are still many managers who want their juniors to do whatever they tell them to do without talking back or trying to have their own authority.

Foreigners who have experienced Korean corporate culture sometimes describe it as “suffocating” or “embarrassing.” Those words might sound extreme, but we can guess how tiring it is to survive in the Korean corporate world. This is, after all, an environment in which something like “how dare he” or “how dare she” is said if a new hire has the audacity to leave the office earlier than the team leader. If you have ever worked for a Korean company, you will immediately recognize the atmosphere that I’m trying to describe. This hierarchical corporate culture makes Korean employees more exhausted and frustrated than their counterparts in many other countries.

Compare these organizational conditions to those of companies in, for example, the United States. According to a recent Gallup survey, more than 80 percent of U.S. organizations are undoing conventional hierarchical structures and about 84 percent of U.S. employees are “matrixed,” which means that they do not have to cling to specific roles and tasks. Instead, they move around to support different projects as team members on various teams. This improves employee flexibility and autonomy, even if it engenders a few disadvantages such as unclear roles, lack of accountability, and dedication to some extent.

If, as has been proven by countless studies, hierarchical culture weakens autonomy, authority and volunteerism, we should do what will help employees be energized and engaged, rather than oppressing them with micromanagement. If not, Korean employees will continue to be fatigued, and they will likely have a tendency to avoid innovation, which is always accompanied by risk. As a result, our industries will be less competitive due to their weaker ability to adapt to unpredictable challenges in the future.

One possible solution to the negative impacts of hierarchical culture is helping managers improve their delegation skills. This will lead managers and supervisors to pay more attention to employees’ strengths and talents and will create an environment in which managers and supervisors do not wield absolute power. Rather, they will listen more to their employees, and respect their decision-making. Over time, a culture will organically form in which any person who has a good idea feels free to speak up. Take Google as an example: Google developed their own systems ― such as Google Café, TGIF, Googlegeist, and employee evaluation of managers ― to help employees exchange more ideas, get direct answers from managers and top leaders, and choose which managers they wanted to take on as role models. Google’s productive organizational culture is a direct result of their willingness to lower the wall between managers and employees.

However, according to the late London Business School Professor John Hunt, 30 percent of managers regard themselves as being good at delegation, but only one-third of that 30 percent are considered good delegators by their subordinates. Therefore, many managers and leaders still do not want to empower their employees by delegating authority and tasks. The more they do, the more we need to try.

We live in a hyper-connected society, in which information spreads freely. However, the Korean corporate world looks like it still is entrapped by the old dogma. Judging from the rest of the world, our industries will flourish more when they make all the stakeholders ― their employees, managers, executives, regulators and customers ― truly connected. We live in a world where sharing power and authority trumps hierarchy. Let’s be ready to delegate and listen.

The writer is CEO and founder of META (www.imeta.co.kr), a corporate education company which focuses on developing high-potential employees, managers, and executives through consulting, training and coaching. It is based in Seoul. Write to jongnam@sas.upenn.edu.