To achieve equality, limit hierarchy and status to work

In 2010, when I was about to go to the Netherlands for my one-month internship at ESA, my stepdad told me that I would like it there since communication in NL is far less formal. Indeed, I had already noticed that in my first email exchanges it was normal to refer to each other using our first names. During the years I spent living the Netherlands, from 2013 until 2018, I got used to the flat hierarchical structure and the more informal ways of communication. It just felt natural.

Sometimes, people complained that despite the flat hierarchies widely adopted in NL, there is still a boss who has the ultimate decision power. While that might be true, it is missing the point. Having a boss who has more responsibility and has the last say in decisions doesn’t mean that others are necessarily excluded from the decision-making process. When people talk about the Dutch’s flat hierarchies, they mean exactly that – that everybody can participate in discussions and will be heard. This is based on the famous Dutch polder model based on consensus decision-making and cooperation despite differences. These differences may not only be differences in opinion, but also differences in status: the polder model likely dates back to the middle ages, when farmers and aristocrats alike had to work together in order to build dams.

In addition to the Dutch culture with its polder model, the international environment played its part in the low-key hierarchical culture that I experienced; in English there is no difference between the familiar and polite form anymore. Calling people “you” and by their first name, however, doesn’t mean you don’t know who your boss is or that you don’t have respect for each other. On the contrary, in such international environments there are often people from different cultures respecting each other’s traditions and approaches, while recognising their equality as humans despite different origins and different statuses.

My move from the Netherlands to Germany gave me a bit of a culture shock regarding hierarchical structures. Like in Austria, in Germany traditional hierarchical organisations are the norm. Now that I had seen something different – a way of working together that felt more natural – the hierarchical culture in Germany irritated me. Having a boss is normal, and among researchers your boss also listens to what you have to say. What struck me was that the hierarchy didn’t just determine people’s decision power regarding the job, but also extend it to aspects outside the job. For example, at a buffet at the institute it was expected that people higher up the hierarchy would help themselves to food first, while lower ranked people would wait. To me, this goes against the idea of equality, since the job hierarchy shouldn’t extend to daily life matters.

Small habits like waiting for the boss to get his food first may be a sign of respect to some, but they perpetuate a culture of preferential treatment for hierarchical superiors outside job-related matters. If we want to achieve a sense of equality, we should instead be mindful of limiting rank and status to work-related matters to avoid them seeping into our daily interactions.

Written by Julia Heuritsch | Uploaded on 17th June 2019