“Org charts are critical to efficient business operation, and form the foundation for growth through clear delineation of responsibilities and reporting assignments.”
An org (organization) chart is similar to a flowsheet that directs the companies hierarchy. For instance, when I worked at Sam’s club I knew my role. As a cart guy, I was at the bottom of the barrel. No one was below me and I had a huge organization of people above me. As I moved up to cashier, at least the cart guy was below me in the organizational chart, but there was still the cashier supervisor, front end manager and general manager above me. As I continued to advance in the company, there were more people under me than above me. Without a working knowledge of he hierarchy, I would never know who is senior and who is not in the company.
Taking this to a hospital- based setting, a staff therapist answers directly to a shift manager or site manager. The only person below them are PTA’s and physio techs (if the company has any). There are only so many positions available in a hospital-based setting, so in order to move up the org chart, usually one person has to quit or retire.
In a small private practice based clinic, it may only be you and the owner. In this case, you definitely aren’t moving up the org chart. Not moving up doesn’t necessarily mean that you are stuck at your current salary, but it means that you may be stuck at a specific set of minimal requirements. Obviously, you could always do more, but you will never be mandated to do more.
“An org char is your road map. It’s a top-down and bottom-up char that provides each member of your organization a direct reporting relationship to someone else within your company
I hope that I explained it well in the above example, but if not…here’s another go. One person should directly report to one person. If that person is unavailable, then that person should report to the one person above the initial superior. As you move up the chart, there will be fewer people to answer to. For instance, at Sam’s club there were about 40 people that worked on the front portion of the store (cashier, carts, door etc). These people all answered to the COS (check-out supervisor). The COSs all reported to the Front End Manager and the Front End Manager reported to the GM. One person reports directly to one above them until you get to the top of the organization and there is no one left to report to. This is an example of an org chart
“Start at the top. Somebody-possibly you-is ultimately responsible for the entire company…Continue down the organization until all leadership roles are identified”
Everyone must know who they report to. It doesn’t make sense for a supervising therapist to look for approval from a volunteer. This reminds me of a line from Saving Private Ryan
Captain Miller: “I don’t gripe to you, Reiben. I’m a captain. There’s a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down. Always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officer, so on, so on, and so on. I don’t gripe to you. I don’t gripe in front of you.”
This is another example of an org chart.
“Respect the ‘one boss rule’”
Essentially, there should be no confusion about who a person reports to. A person should never have to decide who is his/her superior. If this has to be a guess, then the organizational chart is not very specific.
“Publish, Publish, Publish. You’ve got a beautiful org char, but it is only as good as those who rely on it.”
Doing all of the work to create an org chart is only beneficial if that information gets passed to all of the employees. There should not be any confusion regarding the organization. If there is confusion, then the staff employees need to speak to the top supervisor in order to educate them. A supervisors/manager’s job is not to supervise/manage, but to serve those that they manage in order for the employees to perform their job duties to the best of their abilities.
Excerpts taken from:
Quatre T. FIVE-MINUTE FIX: Mastering the Org Chart. IMPACT. Oct 2016:16-19.