Flattening an organization can look simple enough on paper. Remove a layer, reduce the headcount and move on. But an org chart doesn’t show everything that happens inside those boxes.
In this Fed Thread episode about the push to streamline federal management, Executive Director of the Senior Executives Association Dr. Michelle Sutter offers a different way to look at that puzzle.
Instead of starting with how many managers an organization has, she suggests starting with the work that needs to be done.
Here are six questions worth asking before the next org chart box disappears:
- Where does the work go?
Eliminating a position doesn’t necessarily eliminate the function, says Sutter.
Responsibilities can move up, down or sideways. The question is whether the person taking over that work has the capacity, authority and resources to do it well.
- Can managers still manage?
A manager with six direct reports is in a different position from one who has 15.
At what point does a wider breadth of responsibility make it harder to coach employees, have meaningful performance conversations, recognize problems or develop the next generation of leaders?
- What stops?
Fewer people can’t simply be told to do the same amount of work faster, Sutter argues.
If an organization has less capacity, leaders have to decide what stops, what continues and what matters most. Otherwise, “streamlining” can become little more than moving the workload around.
- Who holds the institutional memory?
When experienced employees leave, organizations can lose more than headcount. They can lose technical knowledge, relationships and the understanding of why a process exists in the first place.
So who holds the mission-critical knowledge? And who is their backup?
- Where will the next leaders learn to lead?
Fewer management layers can mean fewer obvious opportunities to practice leadership.
Sutter argues that this means development should be more intentional, not less. Rotations, details, mentoring, coaching and opportunities to lead projects without a supervisory title all become more important.
- What if your best employee doesn’t want to manage?
Management isn’t the only measure of career success. Federal agencies also need people who want to become exceptional analysts, scientists, engineers, acquisition professionals, cybersecurity specialists, policy experts and other technical leaders.
Career progression shouldn’t require turning every great expert into a manager, Sutter says. She also cautions aspiring leaders that their next title isn’t necessarily the most important factor of their career growth.
Instead, she asks, what do you want to learn next? What problem do you want to solve? And where can you make the biggest difference?
For more of Sutter’s insights and advice on navigating a flatter federal workforce, listen to the full Fed Thread episode.
Catch more conversations on podcast platforms, YouTube or on the Fed Thread hub page.
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