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Candidates interviewing employers

Catherine

Hi everyone, hope I'm posting in the right place. I have a 7000 dissertation coming up and am trying to think of a topic. I'm really interested in dysfunctional workplaces as I think there's an epidemic of them, at least here in the UK, and that's why productivity and mental health is suffering. I think it won't be long before candidates interviewing employers becomes the norm as more candidates become aware of how to spot a dysfunctional workplace and it's this topic I'd like to explore in my dissertation. I'd be interested to hear other people's views on this.

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  • Hi Catherine

    'Dysfunctional' I think is a descriptor that needs far more precise definition (and indeed perhaps thinking about whether or not a different word would be more appropriate). As does your assertion about an 'epidemic' of this dysfunctionality - or indeed that the candidates for employment are changing in the ways you say.
  • in reply to David

    Hi David, thanks for replying.  There are a number of books and blogs on this topic which state that its characteristics are: poor communication with either meaningless meetings or no meetings at all,  leaders whose behaviour causes fear, anxiety, gossip and rumour to spread, leaders whose behaviour is erratic and inconsistent, data being hidden or not shared. Review sites like Glassdoor highlight these issues now for some organisations and it does put people off applying. But for others they only find out too late after they've joined. If people can learn to spot signs of dysfunctional organisations earlier they can decide if they want to join or not. If enough people do this by asking pertinent questions at interview then organisations will have to start addressing these issues properly.

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  • in reply to David

    Hi David, thanks for replying.  There are a number of books and blogs on this topic which state that its characteristics are: poor communication with either meaningless meetings or no meetings at all,  leaders whose behaviour causes fear, anxiety, gossip and rumour to spread, leaders whose behaviour is erratic and inconsistent, data being hidden or not shared. Review sites like Glassdoor highlight these issues now for some organisations and it does put people off applying. But for others they only find out too late after they've joined. If people can learn to spot signs of dysfunctional organisations earlier they can decide if they want to join or not. If enough people do this by asking pertinent questions at interview then organisations will have to start addressing these issues properly.

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  • in reply to Catherine
    I've had lots of jobs Catherine. Many of them with self confessed 'good employers'. However, most of those who professed to be good employers turned out to be run of the mill, in that they were not very good a practising what they preached. One of main offenders by occupation were outdoor management training centres who all preached about 'good management' yet never did much of what they preached.

    Go back a couple of thousand years and read some of the comments from the great roman empire and you'll see that bad management practiced then is hardly any different from bad management now.

    But if an organisation is 'dysfunctional', then shouldn't you take the view that by definition the company can't function, then it will stop making a profit and go bust? - which is why a definition, like David mentions might just be needed.