Article written by Marketing Team
Maximize human potential: focus on roles rather than positions
In a world of uncertainty and constant change, companies need to adapt quickly to new realities and remain agile. A new management trend, holacracy, is a particularly interesting source of inspiration, as it challenges organizational structures built around individuals. Wikipedia explains that holacracy is “based on the formalized implementation of decision making and distribution of responsibilities common to all in a constitution”. It is therefore about putting the organization before the ego. This practice, which goes against the personality myths of the startup and entrepreneurial world of recent decades, has undeniable advantages, both for the company and for the personal development of the talents involved.
At Synergix, we believe in maximizing human potential by exploring innovative management methods designed to address the complexity of today’s workplace. In particular, we have been interested in an approach based on the roles each person can play rather than the positions they hold.
We invite you to explore the benefits of this approach and share how Synergix has experienced its implementation.
Some key benefits of a role-based organization
- Building business agility and adaptability
By breaking down positions into specific roles, our organization has become more agile and adaptable. Roles are dynamic, allowing employees to adjust their responsibilities as business needs change. It also facilitates the distribution of work in the event of an employee departure, overload or new responsibilities.
- Foster personal growth and accountability
By focusing on tasks rather than a static organizational chart, employees can choose responsibilities that match their skills and interests. This promotes personal growth and allows them to explore new opportunities within the company.
- Improve collaboration and transparency
Roles clarify individual responsibilities and encourage collaboration across teams. By making role descriptions accessible to everyone, we were able to improve transparency and avoid duplication of work.
- Maximize the value added on each action
By assigning each task to a person whose skills best match the need, the company is able to deliver a product or service of excellence, all along the value chain.
Moreover, beyond the specifications and “business” imperatives, the whole life of the company can be organized through platforms that offer a global view of what is going on to all employees. By seeing events and non-operational needs, each team member can get involved and contribute to the smooth running of the company.
Synergix’s Experience with a Role-Based Approach
Synergix recently introduced some elements of this approach into its organizational structure. When asked about the motivation for adopting a role-based approach, Julie Pignier (COO) explained that management realized that they needed a more flexible and adaptable structure to meet the challenges of the modern world and the expectations of their customers. By tapping into holacracy, they were able to encourage personal growth and empower their employees. It also improved team collaboration and efficiency. The fact that each person can voluntarily step up to the plate on a task also makes each team member accountable for what they need to deliver to keep operations running smoothly.
The transition to this new approach required an initial investment of time to break down existing job descriptions into specific roles. However, once this was done, we immediately saw improvements in collaboration and employee satisfaction.
This approach has many benefits and can make an entire team feel useful, productive, and skilled. This is not to say that it is the perfect and absolute new answer for the management of the future, but it is an important step in deconstructing traditional organizational structures that have changed very little since the 20th century. Finally, technological levers are multiplying and each approach can be supported by the implementation of adapted digital tools. The most important thing is to remain curious and able to question yourself!