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#11. What are The Three EOC Axes of Employee Perspective? Making Sense of the Data:
The Three EOC Axes of Employee Perspective
While the Eight EOC Dimensions of Organizational Performance look at the organization as a corporate body, an equally important set of three dimensions, we call them "axes," describe the organization in terms of how well it serves the individual employee. That individual will typically ask three questions of the organization:
- Does it provide the Organizational Mechanics to efficiently employ my efforts to generate revenue, so that I can be compensated fairly and well?
- Does it provide me with a Fulfilling Workplace, with opportunities to develop my skills, and to use those skills to work effectively?
- Does it provide an environment where there is Safety to Work Effectively? That is, can I take appropriate risks, make mistakes, disagree with management?
We take those three questions and map the survey responses into measures of how well your organization answers them -- how well it provides Organizational Mechanics, a Fulfilling Workplace, and Safety to Work Effectively.
Brief explanations of those three axes:
Organizational Mechanics
Your organization can be viewed as a "machine" to convert your skills and efforts into your compensation. There are many parts to that machine, and many questions to ask to determine how well it performs: Is there a clear understanding of mission and values, applied effectively to management decisions? Are customers, products/services, markets and sales managed effectively? Are people and resources marshaled effectively? Are decisions made accounting for uncertainty, with appropriate advice and time horizons? Does your management stay strategic and proactive? Does it make use of feedback and lessons learned? Does it maintain a sustainable competitive advantage?
Fulfilling Workplace
An organization does many things for the employee beyond generating compensation. It provides an environment within which the employee can be fulfilled at several levels, matching skills with responsibilities and roles. It provides clear guidance about the purpose of the organization and how to make decisions consistent with that purpose. It provides adequate authority and information to go with responsibility. There is an environment of clear leadership, commitment and integrity. There are clear goals and paths forward, balanced between challenge and realism. Everybody understands how he or she creates value. Creativity is encouraged and supported. There is a good system of training, mentoring and career paths. There is an environment of respect, buy-in, participation, connection and mutual support.
Safety to Work Effectively
It is important to create an environment where it is "safe" to make well-intentioned mistakes, and to take well-considered risks. Yet too much individual "safety" behavior puts an organization at risk. Effective organizations maintain an environment where mistakes can be admitted, and accompany that with formal methods to institutionalize learning from errors. Likewise, effective organizations maintain an environment where well-considered risk can be taken, and accompany that with formal methods to handle uncertainty and risk. Accountability should be matched to what an employee can control, and not for things beyond that employee's control. Risk-takers should be given credit and blame fairly. It is also important that it be "safe" to disagree with management, and to deeply question important issues. Safety correlates with trust, and with clarity about what is expected of each employee.
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