When You Get Rid Of All Manager Roles, Are You Left With A Popularity Contest?

Zappos—a nationwide retailer— adopted a new organizational structure that eliminates traditional managers, does away with the typical corporate hierarchy and gets rid of job titles. (See Washington Post @ Zappos Article) Could this end up being just like a high school popularity poll?

Please think about that for a minute. What will happen to the traditional manager’s job of terminating poor performers? At Zappos that responsibility is turned over to a group of employees. Their committee is charged with “monitoring the company's culture” to decide when performers are not a “good fit” — and then terminating those the committee deems as culturally unfit.

Who is going to stand up for the over 40 crowd who may not possess the youthful attributes of cultural fit?  And who is going to stop sexual harassment? Historically as well as today groups of employees don’t self-monitor all that well in preventing hostile environments. (Think Miami Dolphins bullying episodes.)

There’s a reason why Congress and state legislatures impose personal liability on managers who do not protect employees from discrimination and harassment.   The fact is that nothing short of that worked to stop illegal treatment at work.

Perhaps, as Zappos believes, work is better conducted among equals, but the system needs to have a place where the buck stops in terms of fair treatment — and it can’t be put to a popular vote!