“Nice”: the egalitarian façade (silencer) in a large finance

Australians, particularly management are proud of their egalitarian positioning where all people are treated as equals, worthy of dignity and respect (Ashkanasy & Kennedy, 2004; Panza & Williamson, 2021). Recently Federal Politician, The Honourable Alan Trudge, said people want to come to Australia because, “We’re one of greatest egalitarian free countries in the world” (Hurst, 2021). In this exploratory research, egalitarian management is questioned using an Australian case study into a large finance organisation (LFO), which found command and control (where staff lack autonomy and cannot question decisions) to be the lived reality. Still, it was important for the LFO to uphold a “nice” egalitarian façade. In effect, the nice element of the LFO organisational culture (OC) was a silencer for discussion on ineffective and uncomfortable command and control management. Participants in the LFO study shared subordinates who attempted to raise undiscussables were sent for “coaching” to better fit the OC. Staff deemed “not nice,” who did not properly align to the OC, were excommunicated. The proposed interpretive study is investigating whether egalitarian management remains the norm or a façade in large finance organisations in Australia. The research is in a developmental stage and the authors are seeking insights from the ABEN community on egalitarian management where staff share responsibility and power, whether it is the norm, or to see if the nice command and control phenomena extends beyond the case study.
Culturally, Australia is considered a low power distance country—that is, there is scope for subordinates to speak up to express disagreement and to be involved in some decision-making (Hofstede, 2003; Jain & Jain, 2018). Findings in the LFO study revealed the lower down the hierarchy the poorer the relationship and the less opportunity there was to speak up. Still, the LFO subordinates were expected to present an egalitarian front, mirroring the images of their corporate reports. Subordinates needed to attend numerous meetings where there was “a cast of thousands,” even though their voice were not going to impact decisions. The subordinate meeting invite allowed the LFO to “tick the box” on their inclusion and diversity criterion. Another LFO expectation was everyone saying “Hello” regardless of hierarchical position; however, saying hello to a superior did not mean subordinates could raise uncomfortable issues. One middle manager, referred to the LFO’s OC as, “Don’t rock the boat . . . I have zero confidence in the system regarding speaking up. No one is willing to be controversial.”