Redefining Hierarchy for Better Engagement

I was chatting with a CEO this week about hierarchy.

She leads a highly successful and international business, but meets with every new employee in their first week, no matter their job title or seniority.

The conversation about organizational structures is a complex one. There are many new approaches that outshine the traditional overly hierarchical structures of the past. But it's also unhelpful to ignore that the scope of decision-making can and should be very different for different roles in an organization. Some types of hierarchy can be highly beneficial.

However, like the CEO I was chatting with said, "nobody here is better than anyone else, we just have different roles." Hierarchy in decision-making scope shouldn't make any difference to a leader's willingness to connect and engage at other levels with their team.

Genuinely caring about your team, and setting aside traditional notions of hierarchy in order to get to know them is a valuable enough pursuit on its own merits.

But as a culture, it will also lead to so many other benefits: engagement, retention, and productivity.