Hierarchy, symbols, and legitimacy

Introduction

Humanity is full of symbols because they are crucial for verbal and not verbal communication. Hierarchies into organizations are equal to ranks or positions, and these ranks are communicated due to symbols. These can be images (everybody has watched sometime a film with military ranks) or be expressed by written symbology as director, president, manager, etc.

On the other hand, organizations can have more verticality, like the army, or more flatness, like a basketball team. Depending on the degree of organization verticality, symbology associated with hierarchy grows in importance. Let’s think in the army, and how a corporal takes orders from his sergeant with no doubt. Nevertheless, let us think of a basketball team. Except for the captain, there is not a formal hierarchy on the team. Almost always, formal and organical leaderships are created, and not symbology is required. Someone could say that salary range dissemination among the team could be understood as a rank symbology… could be, but it is not our business in this article.

Hierarchy, symbols, and legitimacy

Therefore in organizations, we handle hierarchy issues, rank symbology, and their legitimacy. It means that the rest of the team accept or legitimate the ranking as fair. But, what does it happen when we are in an organization in which two extremes are mixed (most of them)? This context generates dysfunctional situations, first of all, creates conflict, and lastly, the resolution will not satisfactory at all.

Let us imagine an engineering company composed of 50 people (it is a hypothetical case), in which there are two departments and both manager in each one. One of the departments has 30 people and the other 20. The worker profile can be junior, 5 years experience engineering and senior ones. How can manage rank symbology in this company?

Let’s explain two different policies with their potential consequences:

a) It is allowed to put each one on the business card what you want, of course, if falls within what is reasonable. This means that one of the heads of department puts on his card “Head of …” while another puts on it CTO since he considers that he bears the greatest weight, technologically speaking, of the company.

Problem: This situation begins to generate misunderstandings and creates distrust on the part of one of the heads of department against the other. This is because one does not consider legitimate the “self-assigned” position of the other, it is when our “aversion to inequality” comes out, a characteristic that we certainly share with other primates.

b) The HR department draws a very clear policy regarding the designation of positions and responsibilities. The business cards and signatures must reflect the position you occupy.

Problem: Some employees (the senior ones) begin to feel that they are not valued enough because they have “the same position” as other engineers with much less experience. Given their reputation, they consider it is unfair that they have the same rank as them.

As we see, it is not a question we can take lightly, it has some complexity and must be taken into consideration since the motivation and performance of the members of the organization can be affected. A very vertical and formal hierarchy can be a big obstacle for fostering innovation but, in the same way, an unstructured hierarchy and lack of stable leadership generate unproductive dynamics.

Conclusions

We must manage the hierarchical symbols with intelligence to give the team what it needs at each moment like this:

• We must manage the hierarchical symbols with intelligence to give the team what it needs at each moment.
• We must legitimize with symbols the hierarchies or non-formal leaderships.
• We must give space to self-organization on homogeneous teams. The leadership and balance of the team will be shaped bit by bit.
• “Verticalize” or “horizontalize” an organization is not bad per se. Fashions are not always good counselors. Sometimes you have to create levels and legitimize them with ranges, and in others, you simply have to dilute them.