Unlocking Success: How democratising decision-making will promote organisational growth
For far too long, it has been the norm for business decisions to be made by a select few individuals at the top of the organisational hierarchy. However, as a result of the modern world’s fast-paced and complex business environment, organisations are beginning to open their eyes to the value that democratising decision-making will bring to their business.
Recent studies have revealed that diverse teams make better decisions 87% of the time, proving what we already know to be true - democratising decision-making is key to unlocking success.
Decision-making is evolving
It goes without saying that moving away from outdated decision-making processes which rely solely on a handful of senior executives can unlock a realm of opportunity for businesses, but it is useful to begin by considering why exactly there is a need for this change.
Senior executives tend to have a narrow view of the organisation’s operations and any challenges that their business may be facing, meaning that they lack the diverse insights that employees at lower levels in the company can provide. This reliance on senior executives for all business decisions stifles innovation as the best ideas often emerge from employees at different levels with specialised expertise. The top-down decision-making approach can also create strong hierarchical barriers preventing open communication and collaboration, which as a result will limit organisational agility.
This is not suitable for today’s fast-paced and competitive business environment. Organisations which rely solely on senior executives will struggle to adapt to, or even identify, new challenges and market trends as this process is extremely inflexible. Senior executives will also struggle to quickly react to the ever-changing business landscape as they lack the first-hand insight that experts throughout the business have, and so, will not be able to facilitate rapid decision-making.
Fostering inclusivity: the benefits of democratising your decision-making processes
Businesses that foster inclusivity by democratising their decision-making processes will benefit from innovation, organisational evolution, agility, and transparency.
By opening up business decisions to the wider organisation, a range of subject matter experts will be able to provide senior executives with the first-hand insight that they need to make informed decisions and thrive. This is because senior executives will be tapping into the collective intelligence of employees, meaning more creative ideas and strategies can be generated. This increased level of innovation will also have a knock-on effect and trigger organisational evolution. As a result, businesses will be able to evolve more dynamically and remain competitive in this crowded market.
As employees throughout the company begin to contribute to the decision-making processes, senior executives will also begin to notice that decisions are being made much faster and more effectively as they have first-hand knowledge of the situation. This increased agility will enable businesses to remain competitive against a backdrop of economic uncertainty.
Democratising the decision-making process also has an effect on the organisation’s productivity levels. Opening this process to the entire team fosters transparency and will increase trust amongst employees, in turn creating an open culture. Studies have shown that not only does an open culture increase productivity by 17%, it also increases profits by 21%. This open culture and increased employee engagement is also very important from a recruitment perspective, with research demonstrating that 32% of employees left their jobs within 90 days as a result of the poor company culture. With these stats in mind, it is even more important that senior executives begin to transform decision-making processes and foster a positive company culture.
A roadmap to augmenting your decision-making process
There are two key ways that businesses can begin their decision-making evolution.
Utilising purpose-built strategy execution management (SEM) technology
Putting processes in place to ensure that decisions include more people throughout the organisation.
Purpose-built SEM systems are software designed to help organisations to manage all their operational and decision-making processes. It is tailored to ensure specific objectives are met, that challenges are addressed, and the business is driven forward strategically.
These systems remove both geographical and hierarchical barriers and offer collaborative, idea management capabilities where employees can submit, discuss, or vote on certain ideas, which also helps to increase the number of perspectives when making decisions. Finally, they provide real-time updates on decisions within the organisation which promotes transparency, efficiency and helps to drive an open culture.
In order to ensure that this change in decision-making is consistently successful, senior executives must advocate for the process and encourage open communication throughout the business as this will add credibility to the new decision-making process.
Democratising the decision-making process and ensuring that open communication is the driving force behind business operations will truly help to transform companies from the top down. By integrating specialised technology and ensuring that open communication is a drumbeat behind your organisation, businesses will be able to utilise the insight of their entire workforce to drive long-term innovation and success.
