AltCareer

Last week we posted seven new jobs.  As part of our screening process I get on the phone with each employer to talk through some of their benefits and unique perks they offer their employees.  

Most companies I spoke with this week said their “flat organization” was an important perk for their employees. Why would a flat organization be considered a perk?  

I’ve been on both sides of the fence, working for a company that has 10,000+ employees, and working for many companies that have less than 5 employees, so I thought I would offer up my take.  

Number one, a flat organization usually creates responsibility - employees are responsible for entire business units or entire projects from start to finish.  When employees are given responsibility, they tend to get inspired because their contributions will have a direct result on customers, the product or the company as a whole.  Employees feel good because their work is important and it gets noticed.

Number two, a flat organization usually creates job variety - and this keeps things interesting.  Because you can’t dish off work to your assistant or other departments, chances are that you’ll have to figure everything out yourself.  Its not uncommon in small companies for sales people to get heavily involved in marketing or developers to help with customer service. 

Last, a flat organization usually eliminates office politics.  Because larger companies are filled with layers and layers of management, many people are constantly positioning themselves for their the next promotion. Working in a flat organization means that what’s most important is getting the work done.  If the work get’s done, you’ll get noticed - it doesn’t matter how fancy your spreadsheet or powerpoint is.