Subordination in the workplace + tips for managers

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In a business environment, communication is very important, since the effectiveness and efficiency of all parts depends on its quality. The rules of interaction between superiors and subordinates, as well as within the team, are called subordination. It is based on respect for management, adherence to business etiquette and performing one's work tasks without conflicts.

Subordination what is it

Service relationships are built according to a certain written or unwritten code, which includes the interaction between:

• managers and subordinates
• by the subordinates themselves
• by the leaders themselves

An important part of such a code is the rules of subordination and business etiquette.

The proverb that a fish rots from the head perfectly reflects the importance of a leader's authority. Here it is appropriate to recall army discipline, where orders are given clearly, understandably and not discussed. In addition to the high position that a leader occupies, he also bears high responsibility for his decisions and their consequences. A strict hierarchy in the team is necessary to maintain labor discipline.

The principle of subordination corresponds to the principle of the hierarchical ladder:

• Junior employees must recognize the authority of senior employees, unquestioningly follow their instructions, take initiative within their competence and report results on time.
• Superior employees must respect their subordinates, adhere to ethical behavior and find the correct wording for issuing instructions or criticism.

For subordination, you can choose a very approximate definition, since this concept is more ethical than legal.

Subordination is a set of rules regulating official relations at all levels and aimed at conflict-free solution of common tasks.

Service relations

In an organization with a small team, one boss is quite enough. When expanding the staff of employees, an entire structural unit consisting of lower-ranking managers will be required to manage them. This is how official subordination arises.

With its help, a mechanism of official subordination is established, the essence of which is the reporting of lower structures to structures of a higher rank.

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The need for subordination increases rapidly when the number of management links between the lowest rank of employees and the highest increases. In some companies there may be more than a dozen. This number of steps will bring minimal benefit to the organization, since the gap between the ordinary employee and the main manager is too large.

Now we can observe the minimization of the hierarchical ladder, as a result of which more ordinary employees take part in the production process. This phenomenon is called industrial democracy.

How is subordination regulated?

Each work team must have appropriate documentation describing the procedure for maintaining chain of command.

Such documents include:

1. company charter
2. inner order rules
3. job descriptions of employees
4. labor agreements
5. contract between employer and employee
6. collective agreement

In many cases, the responsibilities and rights of employees are established through verbal agreement . This applies to small companies where documentation is kept in a simplified form. But maintaining subordination in a small team is much easier - there is usually only one leader and his subordinates.

Compliance with official etiquette and tactful behavior contribute to a positive attitude and coordinated work of the team. And refusal to subordinate yourself at work can be regarded as a disciplinary violation and lead to severe punishment.

Importance and necessity

Subordination involves a position of neutrality in the expression of emotions towards employees. Restraint and even communication towards all subordinates is the main task for a good manager.

There is a procedure and regulations for subordinates to visit their manager. There are a number of employees who have the right to contact their boss without prior information due to special job responsibilities.

For other subordinates, the visit is strictly timed. This allows each employee to be sure that he will have the opportunity to meet with his manager at the reception.

The principles of subordination serve as the basis for the etiquette of corporate relations, allowing one to define a clear boundary of interaction. Each company has its own criterion of liability for non-compliance with subordination.

The foundations of hierarchy and subordination are determined by the corporate regulations of the enterprise:

• the employment contract (agreement) determines the conduct of each employee and his official responsibilities,
• the collective agreement establishes the key principles of interaction in the team,
• the job description clearly defines the position in the hierarchy of the enterprise, the responsibilities of the employee regarding the position held,
• internal rules outline the work schedule, helping the employee to correctly distribute work and rest time.

Each company (enterprise) can individually establish a job hierarchy and determine the degree of responsibility for failure to comply with subordination. The charter takes into account the relevance and specificity of the working conditions, the basis remains unchanged. All this helps to build further tactics.

Types of subordination

There are two models of service relationships: vertical and horizontal.

Vertical service relationships

The vertical line of behavior concerns the relationship between the boss and the subordinate not only from top to bottom, but also vice versa.

A person holding a leadership position will achieve great heights if he has basic knowledge of psychology and sociology in the business field. Thus, an arrogant authoritarian management style leads to narrow-mindedness of subordinates, blind submission, and reluctance to take initiative.

Partnerships with subordinates that are devoid of familiarity are more productive. Business meetings, joint decision-making, and encouragement of initiative lead to coherence of work and creative output from each employee.

On the part of subordinates, proper relationships with managers create psychological comfort for all employees. A clear, understandable hierarchy eliminates any envy of colleagues, showdowns, discussing superiors behind their backs, and fighting for the manager’s favorable attitude.

Horizontal relationships

A horizontal line of behavior in the workplace is built with work colleagues. Usually these are people occupying an equal position in the service hierarchy.

Equality, mutual assistance, mutual respect and at least partial interchangeability are encouraged between lower-level employees. You need to behave smoothly and with dignity with other employees, clearly understanding the limits of personal responsibility and keeping your distance in everything related to work matters.

The line of horizontal relationships between managers of the same rank is a little more complicated to build. Here it is necessary to take into account the personal ambitions of colleagues, as well as their management style. Giving orders to someone else's subordinates means the likelihood of a conflict situation with their immediate superior. On the other hand, if a colleague is a democratic person, then he may even thank you for your help and participation. All the details of such a plan are decided between the leaders orally.

Issues of subordination in the family

In a family, the concept of subordination is based on traditions and the concepts of elder and younger.

Traditionally, the husband is considered the head of the family. This feature has existed since the times of patriarchy. In many families, the leading position of a man is secured by the traditions of Christian morality and house-building.

The norms of subordination in the family are usually as follows:

1. Responsibilities in the family are clearly distributed between spouses.
2. The woman is fully responsible for running the household.
3. A man’s responsibilities include providing financially for the family and making decisions regarding the education and upbringing of children.
4. The wife recognizes the authority of her husband in the family as the main protector and breadwinner.

In modern society, the roles of family members are often blurred and confused. It often happens that a woman works double duty and earns much more than her husband. In such a family, a woman can constantly emphasize her superiority, and the husband no longer feels like an authority. However, if there is respect for each other in the family, the rules of subordination are strictly observed regardless of the size of the spouses’ earnings.

Maintain subordination: common mistakes

To maintain a fruitful working atmosphere, you should not make common mistakes that lead to failure to comply with subordination:

• When giving an order to a subordinate, the boss must himself monitor execution. You cannot delegate control to another subordinate.
• The subordinate must report for the completed task to the superior from whom it was received.
• The manager should not give instructions to employees without the knowledge of their immediate superior. This will lead to discrediting the latter in front of his subordinates.
• You cannot punish a subordinate bypassing his immediate supervisor.
• You should not reprimand or punish an employee in front of his colleagues.
• If a subordinate makes mistakes, you should talk to him in a correct manner, without showing aggression.
• The priority of tasks should be clearly communicated to subordinates. They must understand which work is more urgent and which can be postponed and for how long.
• It is rude to criticize colleagues behind their backs, especially in the presence of subordinates. Likewise, subordinates should not publicly discuss the leader, undermining his authority.
• Compliance with business etiquette always benefits common goals. Blurring the lines between a boss and his subordinates and addressing them on a first-name basis leads to a decrease in his authority, slackness among employees, and irresponsibility.

You can learn more about how to correctly give orders to subordinates in this article.

Business communication between managers

Business relationships can be built horizontally, that is, between two bosses. Failure to comply with subordination in this case can also lead to a number of negative consequences. To avoid them, you should remember the following rules:

• You should speak clearly and to the point with your partner, without wasting time showing interest. Many business people are annoyed by empty dialogue because they value their time.
• In order to attract the attention of a colleague, offer him facts and figures.
• If your interlocutor is aggressive, demonstrate calmness to calm him down. Never react angrily.
• Offer pre-thought-out solutions to show your initiative and competence in business.

Consequences of non-compliance with subordination

If at least one employee does not comply with subordination, he brings disorder and confusion to the team, breaks the clear delineation of responsibilities, undermines labor discipline, and discredits his boss in the eyes of his subordinates and senior management. The same applies to managers who allow themselves to insult subordinates or bully them in other ways.

At work, work should come first, not a showdown. Violation of subordination may lead to punishment of negligent employees. The legislation provides for exacting measures to call violators to order: verbal reprimand and reprimand. These types of punishment may be accompanied by deprivation of bonuses or a fine. And the worst violators, those who have committed an administrative or even criminal violation in the form of gross actions, will face dismissal.

Compliance with the rules of subordination is mandatory in any enterprise. This is an effective way to create a healthy atmosphere and coordinated actions in a team.

Why is chain of command so important at work?

These days there is a lot of talk about business partnerships, allowing any employee to become a single member of the team. This ultimately strengthens the company culture and helps solve common problems. The function of partnership is to develop important goals and ways to achieve them. Thanks to subordination, the atmosphere in the team remains healthy, manifestations of familiarity, conflicts, insults and disdainful treatment are excluded.

What are the rules of subordination? If there are no officially established standards at the enterprise, the work process may be disorganized. Any employee has the right to information about who is capable (moreover, obligated) to give him the necessary advice, from whom orders should be expected, and whose duty it is to obey. If the structure is large enough, it is impossible to do without clear regulation. In such cases, as a rule, the principles of subordination of some units to others are spelled out. Documents regulating the principles of subordination - specific orders and instructions, as well as the organization’s charter.

Tips for building relationships in a team

Properly structured chain of command serves common goals and helps the company to be more efficient. All employees will be more comfortable when the team has common rules of communication and interaction. The boss sets the tone: how he greets employees, how he distributes tasks, praises and criticizes.

Subconsciously, most employees adopt the manager’s tone of communication and use it. The boss is aggressive and arrogant - employees behave similarly, strive to protect themselves from his attacks in every way and think about this more than about their responsibilities. The boss is friendly, always helps and answers questions - his department will be the same.

It is advisable to develop a business communication standard for the company. It will help employees get their bearings and understand what exactly the organization requires of them when talking about “subordination.” Ready-made examples of such standards can be found on the Internet and adapted for your own purposes.

Insults, contempt, familiarity, hysteria and quarrels are unacceptable in any form. Any example of such inappropriate behavior will not fit into the model of a successful enterprise. All conflicts that arise must be resolved as quickly as possible, preferably with the involvement of a special ethics commission (formed from team members).

Criticism should only be direct. You cannot criticize an employee, much less a boss, in their absence in front of their colleagues. For example, a business manager should not tell workers on a production floor that their boss did something wrong (even if this actually happened). This has a detrimental effect on the authority of this manager/employee, creates a precedent for gossip in the team and gives each employee the opportunity to think that even in his absence something bad is being said about him.

Harassment - insubordination on the part of the boss

Unfortunately, cases of harassment on the part of a boss are not uncommon - this is more serious than a simple violation of subordination, here is an example from a reader:

I didn’t understand the boss’s hints and was left without a job.

My story happened 5 years ago. I just graduated from college. I couldn’t find a job in my specialty. Many employers do not want to hire people without experience. But you need to live on something. An opportunity turned up to get a job as a cashier in a clothing store.

The owner of the establishment turned out to be a pleasant middle-aged man. The boss told me to do an internship for 1 day, then he would be able to evaluate my potential, efforts and decide whether I was suitable.

My first working day has begun. The boutique employees treated me with hostility. I had to figure out the intricacies and responsibilities on my own.

The bosses arrived late in the evening: the boss, his pregnant wife and their 10-year-old daughter. The owner said that it was too early to evaluate my work, so I should remain on duty for a few more days. I had to agree.

The team's attitude has not changed. But the boss came every evening and paid attention to me. He talked about the product, incidents from life, travel.

Later I noticed that he became bolder. Fleeting touches to the face, neck, arms, and waist were used.

After 14 days of my internship, the owner of the boutique offered to give me a ride home after my shift. I agreed. But on the way, the boss offered to go to him, since his wife and child were with his grandmother. But when he received a refusal, he took me home with displeasure.

The next day the boss called me to his place. He stated that I was not suitable for them and demanded that I leave the store immediately. I demanded payment for two weeks of my work.

But he answered: “Who are you?” I didn't ask you to work! It was your personal decision! You’re a stranger, go before I call the security!”

So, I stuck to my principles, but lost my job.

From the editor: such cases are now punishable. This is where you should contact a lawyer.