Workplace dysfunction kills businesses

The lack of skilled workers in the Canadian labour pool is causing problems for shop owners and managers. When the other option is letting machines sit idle, manufacturers nearly will hire anyone with any skill set (the two feet and heartbeat approach).

However, a by-product of this hiring frenzy is the effect it has on your team as a whole. It can create the bane of all managers: workplace dysfunction.

Workplace dysfunction happens for many reasons. It’s almost emergent in nature. It’s important to note, though, that dysfunction and a little “workplace drama” are different. Stress and deadlines create friction, and friction can cause some drama. Dysfunction, however, is a more fundamental problem. It’s systemic.

For decades, Patrick Lencioni has been doling out advice as the godfather of organizational health. Among his bestselling books are The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable and its popular follow-up Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators.

Lencioni identifies five behavioural tendencies that add up to dysfunction. He then offers a guide to overcome those dysfunctions. The five precursors to dysfunction, according to Lencioni are:

1. Absence of Trust. Trust is essential in a workplace, whether it’s between employees or between employees and management.
2. Fear of Conflict. Personal, harmful conflict is destructive to workplaces, but productive conflict produces differing, perhaps unthought of ideas or opinions that yield results.
3. Lack of Commitment. Your team needs to buy in to the company’s direction to make the best possible decisions.
4. Avoidance of Accountability. Interpersonal skills (the so-called soft skills) are hard to teach. People tend to avoid discomfort, which, in turn, prevents them from holding one another accountable.
5. Inattention to Results. Simply put: results matter. It’s best when good results follow a collective process.

So what happens to highly dysfunctional shops? Sometimes, they disappear.

And so, with all due respect to Lencioni and the other business gurus out there, here are my two touchstones that can help you identify dysfunction in your shop.

Turnover. This is a symptom of a bad work environment. It’s also something that can be viewed as a trickle-down effect. Bad bosses create bad workplaces.

Cronyism/Nepotism. Always hiring/promoting from family, friends, and your extended contact base may seem safe, but you may overlook in-house high performers and merit-based rewards. The best business cultures have diverse points of view, are equitable, and have easy and open communication.