When your organization grows, it is inevitable for silos to form. To put it simply, silos are uncommunicating bundles in a company. Detrimental to an organization, silos bring down the performance, morale and connectedness of departments.
Brought into harsh spotlight by the pandemic, human-connect deprivation underlined the importance of busting silos at the 2022 edition of ‘The Power of I’, a cutting-edge conference by Avtar. ‘The Silo Effect – Connectedness as a Brahmastra to break the silos’ discussed the concepts weaving in their personal perspectives. The panel moderated by Karthik Ekambaram, Executive Vice President, Director, DEI Solutions, Avtar Group, comprised Valli Bollavaram, Senior Vice President Technology, United Health Group, Anandi Shankar, HR Head, Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care, Unilever South Asia, and Rahul Ghosh, Account Partner, Consulting, IBM,
Here is a silo checklist based on the discussion:
● Each department in the organization functions at different frequencies with different goals stitched to their set of policies, making effective inter-departmental connections the least of priorities.
● The organization has a cultural diversity with small groups forming in their midst putting overall connectedness at disadvantage. Employees do not reach out to the rest nor do they have a platform for it.
● There are inter-connect initiatives but without accessibility by groups such as working mothers (who are forced to put home before these initiatives).
● The organization does not have a bottom-up transmission of ideas and data.
● Decisions are made by higher-ups without consultation of stakeholders in touch with the target market.
If you spot any of the above, note that there are ripples of disruptive silos running through the organization. Here are initiatives that can be adopted to introduce harmony:
● Regular inter-departmental connect meetings to update department on activities. Frequent informal rendezvous to help employees get acquainted with each other
● Conduct regular DEI workshops to sensitize employees on inclusive treatment. It is advantageous that these workshops have progressive modules to instill deep understanding. Take care to avoid tokenism while implementing this.
● Frequent checks via one-on-ones and vetting every initiative with an inclusive eye to ensure initiatives reach every employee and benefits each.
● Establish/ modify organization policies which heeds to the voices of all levels. Top to bottom inclusion has proven to yield solid results.
As a panellist, Anandi, cited- 3 years ago MamaEarth introduced its Onion Shampoo. Several opinions pointed out that this would be ‘merely a flash trend’ except the R&D team. Having dwelled in customer space for years, the department strongly vouched for the product’s success. The customer market agreed.
