How to control enterprise complexity

1. The "complexity" of enterprise management

At present, although the enterprise's systems are becoming more and more perfect and enriched, employees are still often at a loss at work; although enterprise functional managers work all day long Busy with various affairs, many people are unclear about the purpose of doing these tasks; although a number of indicators are listed in the assessment of an employee, he still feels that his work has not been reasonably measured and affirmed. The emergence of these phenomena is essentially that enterprises at this time have suffered from "complex management syndrome." Its typical characteristics are management for management's sake and assessment for assessment's sake. Corporate management work has gradually deviated from the original intention of corporate value creation. When a complex management system fails to produce positive results and instead makes employees tired of dealing with it, managers will naturally hope that management can be simplified. The core of "simple management" is to grasp the principles and grasp the key points. Judging from the evolution of enterprise management practices, no enterprise's management is complex from the beginning. It is always simple at the beginning, which is to grasp the principles, grasp the key issues, and solve the key problems. If you can't analyze how enterprise management has become complicated, and just think about going back to the "originally simple and beautiful" era, you will become simple for the sake of simplicity, making management messy and more complicated. And may fall into a vicious cycle of "complexity - simplicity - then complexity - then simplicity".

(1) Reasons why enterprise management becomes complex

For an enterprise, when the scale of the enterprise is relatively small and the employee structure is relatively simple, the more important decisions of enterprise management are basically They are all directly responsible for the business leaders. The management at this time is relatively simple and principled. The business leaders have higher authority. Moreover, at this stage, the company is developing relatively fast, and there is room for promotion for employees. If it is relatively large, management work will be less controversial. With high authority and large space, management will naturally be smoother. With the expansion of enterprise scale, the increase of enterprise personnel, the stabilization of operating conditions, and the continuous enrichment and improvement of enterprise management systems, management work has become increasingly complex, until the "complex management syndrome" mentioned above appears. The reasons are mainly due to the following four reasons:

(1) Due to the consideration of risk control, the system is constantly enriched and refined.

The management of an enterprise is related to the survival and development of the enterprise and is crucial to the enterprise. When the scale of the enterprise continues to expand, the time and energy of the enterprise leaders are limited, and many important management decisions must be delegated to their subordinates. The enterprise leaders are naturally worried that "nepotism", "envy of talent and ability" and "pull-and-pull" will appear in the enterprise. Therefore, we hope to use systems and very specific provisions to restrict relevant people and things to prevent the problems that business leaders are worried about.

(2) Hope to establish a fair evaluation and distribution system within the enterprise, and continuously revise and improve the assessment and incentive system.

When the company is relatively small and developing rapidly, employees will be encouraged by the company's development prospects. There are also a large number of job vacancies within the company, and employees have greater opportunities for job promotion. At this time, employees Most people don't care about the gains and losses of immediate interests. However, when the development of the company stabilizes and the management team is basically established, the development space that employees can see in the company begins to become limited. At this time, it is inevitable to "care about every detail" and compare with each other. In order to reduce employees' grievances, companies have begun to pay attention to the distribution mechanism that is recognized by most employees, constantly revising it, constantly adding content, and hoping that the company's performance appraisal can comprehensively and scientifically evaluate the work of company personnel. Distribution mechanism and appropriate assessment of employee performance to improve employees' sense of fairness and satisfaction.

(3) Many managers are keen on formulating systems and use them as a tool to compete for interests and evade responsibilities.

Not only business leaders, but also managers at all levels are keen on formulating systems.

On the one hand, because the system management of many enterprises is not perfect enough, many systems are formulated by relevant departments and signed and approved by company leaders for implementation. Many departments then begin to formulate some systems that are beneficial to their own departments, and then find ways to get them passed, and then "act according to the rules." . As a result, enterprises have many systems formulated by different departments with conflicting contents, resulting in a lot of wrangling. On the other hand, there are many practical problems that arise in the business process. No matter how specific the system is, it is impossible to foresee all of it. arrive. When encountering practical problems, especially difficult ones, many departments still "act according to the rules." No matter what the results are, no matter what impact it has on the enterprise, as long as they act according to the system, they can shirk all responsibilities. What's more, the system itself still has problems of low quality. It is for this reason that managers at all levels add fuel to the flames, exacerbating the "complex management syndrome" of enterprises.

(4) The role of the special class

Due to specific historical reasons and cultural background, quite a few companies have been marked with "family", "politicization" and "humanity" The imprint of "culture", the family ties of family members, politicized monopoly and human loyalty have all played a role that cannot be underestimated in the growth process of the company. For example, the boss's brother has been the CEO of the company for many years. Everyone knows that he will never be promoted in this life or even the next life, and it is absolutely impossible for him to manage the company well, but do you dare to "get rid" of him? For another example, in a highly politicized monopoly company, can you refuse a senior executive who is obviously an outsider sent by your superiors? Furthermore, almost all directors of private enterprises are served by family members who don’t even know what a director is, what she supervises, and how to supervise her. How can you say that she is unqualified and replace her? This is the business situation of Chinese enterprises. The existence of "family-oriented", "politicized" and "human-oriented" employees also adds weight to the "complexity of corporate management".

(2) The crux of the complexity of enterprise management

Why do enterprises continue to enrich their management systems, but the problems are not solved, but new problems continue to arise? The main reason is that enterprise management is easy to fall into three misunderstandings:

(1) Over-exaggerating the role of the system

Many companies over-exaggerate the role of the system, believing that as long as there is a good system, people will It doesn’t matter, anyone can replace it; I think that as long as the system is reasonable, the enterprise can operate in an orderly manner and the economic efficiency of the enterprise can be improved; in essence, the enterprise’s system, whether in the formulation or execution phase, will inevitably There are some problems, and enterprises and their internal and external environments are always in the midst of dynamic changes. The reality is ever-changing. It is impossible for the system to consider and stipulate everything, to be perfect, and to be very practical. The result of over exaggerating the role of systems is that companies continue to formulate systems, but they cannot solve problems well. Especially the management of human resources is different from the production process of the enterprise. It has clear standards and procedures, and there are great differences between people. If the system is "one size fits all", not only will it not simplify the problem, but it will cause dissatisfaction among some employees, increase conflicts and contradictions within the enterprise, increase friction, and complicate management.

(2) Excessive pursuit of internal fairness within the enterprise

“Prioritizing efficiency while taking into account fairness” should be the basic operating principle of an enterprise. Too much pursuit of fairness will be counterproductive. Enterprises are not courts. The purpose of courts is to maintain fairness and justice, but the purpose of enterprises is to create value. Many companies hope that the assessment system can comprehensively reflect all the work and work results of employees, resulting in a heavy workload in the assessment itself and occupying a large amount of corporate resources. However, the result is that the more detailed the assessment, the more problems employees think; the assessment involves The broader the scope, the more unrealistic the assessment results become; often, the more you try to win approval, the more objections you get; the more you pursue fairness, the more unfair it makes employees feel.

(3) Excessive reliance on economic means

Economic means are only one of the means of enterprise management. There are many means of internal management of enterprises, such as cultural guidance, emotional maintenance, and on-site management. Supervision, communication at work, encouragement for future development, etc.

I want to gather all management issues into performance appraisal and into a single means of economic management. The essence is to raise many problems that can be solved within departments and daily management to the enterprise level and accumulate them until the end of the month. The end of the quarter or year increases the complexity of management and increases the number of disputes. The resources invested in quelling disputes further increase the company's operating costs, and disputes will also affect the enthusiasm of employees and affect the company's operating efficiency. It is the lack of other management methods that lacks a long-term and reliable link between the company and its employees, which affects the stability of the workforce, affects the cohesion and centripetal force of the company, and increases the company's operational risks.

2. Break the endless cycle and achieve "simple" management

The above misunderstandings in enterprise management are encountered by every enterprise in the development process. To truly achieve "simple and effective" management, we must break out of the endless cycle of going from simple to complex, then from complex to simple, and then from simple to complex again. To break this endless cycle, work must be carried out from several aspects such as cultivating the core culture of the enterprise, clarifying the enterprise management system, straightening out the enterprise's interest structure, and improving the internal competition mechanism.

(1) Cultivate the core culture of the enterprise

Corporate culture is not a slogan hanging on the wall, nor a slogan spoken by the leaders, but the core culture of the company's employees. The recognized values ??are the core principles reflected in the enterprise's employment philosophy and management system. Many companies have designed gorgeous and passionate corporate cultures, but in essence, the key to corporate culture is to "stand upright and keep the center." The so-called "standing upright" is to ensure that the corporate culture is positive and positive, and is complementary to the core interests of the company; "maintaining the center" emphasizes balance and cannot be too radical or too conservative, otherwise it will be "too much". In addition, corporate culture represents the company's core values ??and business management concepts, embodies the company's normative requirements, and must focus on maintaining the balance of interests of all parties within the company, so that the company can develop stably in the long term.

(2) Clarify the enterprise management system

Enterprise management, not only the human management system, but the entire enterprise management system needs to be clarified. Clarifying the management system does not mean that the simpler the system, the better. Sometimes "complexity" is also a kind of simplicity. For example, the manuals of some cooking companies are very complicated and detailed, but they make employees feel very simple when working. On the contrary, the manuals of many Chinese cooking companies are very simple, such as "add a little salt and steam for a few minutes." However, it makes employees feel very complicated to operate and difficult to grasp. This is the spirit of "refined management" required by enterprises in recent years. To realize the clarity of the management system, it must first be systematic and specific. The enterprise system must be unified and centralized management, and must be in line with the enterprise's core value system. The introduction of any new system must undergo strict review—commentary— —Approval process. The very important purpose of the enterprise management system is to control risks. The first is to control systemic risks and eliminate the systemic risks of enterprise operations through the management system. The second is hierarchical. Management and control at each level cannot all be "inserted with one stick." "In the end", everything is too small, and you want to grasp it too much and too tightly, but you can't grasp anything well. Risks in business operations cannot be completely eliminated, but can only be effectively controlled.

(3) Straighten out the corporate interest structure

The corporate performance appraisal mainly corresponds to the short-term, direct economic interests of employees. The interest relationship within the enterprise includes both current interests and long-term interests; it includes both actual economic interests and interests in emotions, feelings, personal development and other aspects. The key to straightening out the interest structure within the enterprise is to build a clear internal interest relationship framework so that each department and every employee clearly understands what benefits or benefits they want to provide to the enterprise, other departments, and other employees. Convenience, to what extent it should be achieved, what and how many benefits it can obtain, and what is the basic corresponding relationship between its contribution and income. The structure of the enterprise's internal interest relationships does not need to be as detailed and precise as the performance appraisal system, but it must ensure that the understanding and efforts of all employees of the enterprise are consistent with the core interests of the enterprise.

And when it is harsher, employees feel it is too harsh and become resistant, resulting in poor efficiency. For business management at this time, you might as well learn from the wisdom passed down and accumulated in Chinese history and traditional culture. "Use Legalism to rule the world, use Confucianism to secure the world, and use Taoism to hold the world together." Enable the corporate team to create a harmonious and powerful corporate management model and cultural atmosphere. Legalism advocates "ruling the country by law." Legalism advocates a system of rewards and punishments with clear rewards and punishments: rewards for meritorious deeds and punishment for delinquencies. It advocates that people should be independent of their rank and status, and "decided points should be settled to end disputes." "If you don't follow the past, don't follow the present." The application of Legalist ideas to today's business management is of great reference significance. In China, Confucian culture has been popular for more than 2,000 years. Confucian culture is based on benevolence and the ideological outlook on dealing with things harmoniously. It teaches people how to behave, how to deal with things, harmonious relationships, and benevolence. Taoism advocates "emptiness, tranquility and inaction" and "governing by inaction". The philosophical connotation of Taoism is to use softness to overcome hardness, to use retreat to advance, and has strong resilience. In an atmosphere where colleagues abide by rules and regulations, we live in harmony with everyone and create emotional management based on the law. We must use force to frighten the world, and use virtue to calm the world. Legalism, Confucianism, and Taoism each have their own characteristics. They cannot be used independently in business management. Going too far is never enough. Over-reliance on legal governance of enterprises can easily lead to employees having no sense of belonging, low loyalty, and even feeling unequal, oppressed, and alienated from the company. They are completely driven by interests. Once such a company encounters a major crisis or difficulty, it is very easy to collapse and fall apart. Too much emphasis on Confucianism and too much "harmony" can easily lead to a lifeless enterprise. The application of Taoist ideas can only be introduced after the enterprise has legal governance and professional ethics education. When an enterprise does not even have a mature and perfect reward and punishment system, it talks about governing by doing nothing. If you want to govern by doing nothing at this time, it will only lead to chaos in the world.

IV. Conclusion

No matter how the enterprise reforms, no matter what asset portfolio and operating mechanism the enterprise implements, "management" is needed. Enterprises can only do a good job in "cultivating the core culture of the enterprise, clarifying the enterprise management system, straightening out the enterprise's interest structure, and improving the internal competition mechanism", and apply the "personnel management" method and the "cultural management" method to control the situation without losing any blood. management changes. Consciously avoid management misunderstandings, master core principles, grasp key issues, reduce the vicious cycle of simple and disorderly or complex and ineffective, and turn "complexity" into "simplification". Only in this way can we truly realize "simple and effective" management and improve the management efficiency of the enterprise.

Author: Luo Fulong Work Unit: Yuyao General Instrument Co., Ltd.