Control systems: seven ways to set your employees free

Individual tasks and decision making all too often get bogged down in overly rigid regulations, controls and protocols. This is why we advocated in a recent article that companies should rethink their traditional control model to unleash agility and the full potential of employees.

There are plenty of examples that illustrate the distortions of such bureaucratic control systems. At a large European corporation, the travel policy was so rigid that even buying a flight with extra checked-in baggage would be blocked by the system, requiring formal approval by an executive. At an industrial conglomerate, strict investment procedures and approval processes delayed by several weeks the implementation of  COVID-19 measures to protect the welfare of employees. This forced work at the site to a halt and the company lost money.

Banking provides another good example. Apply for a loan in a branch and even if your credit score is healthy, the clerk will need to find an authorized…