A professor of Organizational Behaviour at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education IAUE, Prof. Nwakaego Chukwuigwe has stated that leaders, managers ignoring the presence of informal group in any organisation could affect organizational outputs and efficacy.
Prof. Chukwuigwe disclosed this while delivering her inaugural lecture on the 77th inuagural lecture series of the University in Port Harcourt.
Speaking on the topic “The Silent Architecture of Workplace Behaviour: Informal Groups in Nigerian Organizations,” she said informal groups are parts of the formal and they contribute to the success and behaviour of any organization which are hidden.
She noted that beyond the visible structure of authority, policies, and procedures, there exists but powerful network of relationships that shapes organizational life, stressing that informal groups such as religious associations, friendship networks, age groups, educational affiliation among others influence how employees interact, collaborate, and respond to organizational goals.
According to her, informal groups serves as hidden engines that drives work engagement, citizenship behaviour, productivity, workplace harmony, and succession planning across various sectors of the Nigerian economy.
She stressed that recognizing the presence of informal groups allow organizational leaders to better understand their benefits and leverage on them for the growth of the organizations.
Prof. Chukwuigwe who spoke on a number of other importance of informal groups in Nigeria workplace, however, maintained that none cognizant of them could become unseen saboteurs to the organizational goals and could as well lead to resistance against formal strategies and policies.
In his speech, the Acting Vice Chancellor of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Prof. Okechukwu Onuchukwu applauded the inuagural lecturer, Prof. Nwakaego Chukwuigwe for doting the roles of informal groups in a workplace setting.
Prof. Onuchukwu who was represented at the occasion by a one time Acting Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Joseph B. Kinanee, opined that the inuagural lecturer employed basic theoretical concepts from Elton Mayo (1933) human relationship theory as well as social identity theory propounded by Henri Tajfel and John Turner (1979) to
reveal that informal groups play a whole lot in workplace, even in Nigeria political system.
He added that ignoring them could be harmful and detrimental to managers and the survival of such organizations.
”So what she has ended telling us is that every voice matters, the silent voice, the excluded the big and small, age groups among others matters for the optimal goal of any organization”, he said.
