How to Make Informal Organizations become the " Driving Force " of Enterprise Development?

: Enterprise organization includes formal organization and informal organization. Under the background of Chinese traditional culture, informal organization is a group that cannot be ignored in the organization and management of enterprises. It plays an important role in all aspects of enterprise development. Facing up to the existence of informal organization, understanding the characteristics of informal organization and its role in enterprises, and actively formulating strategies that can guide informal organizations to play an active role will help enterprises improve the efficiency of organization and management, thus contributing to the long-term and stable development of enterprises.


Introduction
With the requirements of "accelerating the construction of an innovative country" and "accelerating the improvement of the market economy system", enterprises are also accelerating under the new situation. Under the new background, it is particularly important to pay attention to the impact of informal organizations on the efficiency of enterprise organization and management. Only by fundamentally attaching importance to and guiding informal organizations to play their "driving force" role, can we steadily improve the efficiency of organizational management of enterprises, thus maintaining the competitiveness of enterprises and promoting the long-term and stable development of enterprises.

Analysis of the Reasons for the Existence of Informal Organization
Informal organization is put forward by American behavioral scientist Mayo and others after the famous Hawthorne experiment. It refers to an open social organization based on emotion, interest, hobby and demand, which is based on the different needs of individuals and does not need formal documents.
(1) Chinese traditional culture is easy to breed informal organizations.
Because China is deeply influenced by traditional culture and feudal thought in the long river of history, "circle culture" and "human relationship" are common in society. Fei Xiaotong once put forward the concept of "acquaintance society" in "rural China". He believes that the traditional Chinese society is an acquaintance society, which is characterized by a private relationship between people [1]. People are connected through this relationship and form a network of relationships. The relationship between employers and employees is usually one or more of relatives, friends and acquaintances. They have similar educational backgrounds and similar knowledge structures. They will accept and be familiar with each other in a short period of time. When they feel that their own interests are violated, they will need more emotional support and recognition. At this time, they will also have a serious herd mentality. There will also be a sheltered informal relationship between managers and employees. This informal relationship depends on formal organizations, which is a combination of public and private factors, and is also an important part of informal organizations.
(2) "Social man" hypothesis is the theoretical basis of the existence of informal organizations.
The theory of interpersonal relationship points out that people are "social people" with thoughts, feelings and personality. As a complex social member, the enthusiasm of production will be affected by the material, but the material reward is not the decisive factor, and the interpersonal relationship developed by the employees in the work is the decisive factor. The needs of employees are diversified, and their interests and hobbies are more extensive. This will spontaneously form a variety of informal organizations in daily work to achieve a sense of personal belonging and even higher levels of needs. At the same time, in an enterprise composed of different interpersonal networks in which many employees interact with each other, the same employee will inevitably belong to several interpersonal networks.
(3) Emotion and social identity are the foundation of informal organizations Employees are integrated into informal organizations and share or exchange risks in the organization to seek psychological safety and support needs. In the process of formally organizing activities, employees will inevitably have business connections, which objectively promotes mutual understanding and in-depth understanding among members. They will gradually understand the preferences of colleagues, find the advantages of each other, so as to attract and accept each other, and will have contact outside the work [2]. These informal connections will in turn promote mutual understanding between each other. Over time, the working relationship will gradually become friendship. Over time, these small groups that are linked to formal organizations but are invisible and independent of formal organizations naturally emerge.

Characteristics of Informal Organizations
(1) Spontaneous formation, following nature The activities of formal organizations in the enterprise will promote the contact between employees, and objectively promote the formation of informal organizations. Before the formation of informal organizations, the contact between members may be driven by business contact or other accidental factors, or it may be the natural proximity in people's subconscious, and the slow contact between employees gradually forms informal organizations. The members of the informal organization generally have a common interest pursuit. In order to meet their own needs, they will find people with similar interests. By carrying out corresponding informal organization activities, they can achieve common interests and realize common values. Therefore, informal organizations are obviously spontaneous.
(2) To maintain the relationship with emotion, there is no hierarchical boundaries Generally speaking, the similarity between members of informal organizations is the basis for them to maintain their relationships, which means that members in the same informal organization will have the same psychological characteristics and common value pursuit. In informal organizations, members have certain private emotions and private relationships are relatively harmonious, so members will be psychologically satisfied. At the same time, the emotional factors between members will also affect the relationship between them. The emergence of a formal organization is generally due to the enterprise to complete a task or goal issued by the official document, so the members of the formal organization are in order to jointly complete the task or work issued by the superiors, members will be in strict accordance with the rules and regulations, but in the informal organization, the lack of formal rules and regulations, may appear "help relatives do not help" phenomenon, if there is a problem or dispute, the members of the informal organization will tend to help the organization "s peers. Members of the organization are more willing to get along as friends, there is no strict relationship between superiors and subordinates, and they do not have to be deliberately polite when communicating, so that their tone is more respectful, but can communicate and express more freely. (

3) Organizational cohesion is strong and has implicit characteristics
In informal organizations, members have close feelings, mutual dependence and trust, and sometimes there is a phenomenon of non-principle. Generally speaking, there is often strong organizational cohesion within informal organizations. In the formal organization of the enterprise, the identity of employees in different positions is dominant, but there is no formal rules and regulations in the informal organization, and there is no distinction between strict superior and subordinate relations. Members of the organization are gathered together due to common needs, similar psychological characteristics and common interests. Therefore, it is not easy to be found by employees outside the organization in daily work, which has certain hidden characteristics.
(4) There are some unwritten norms Members of informal organizations usually have similar behavior habits, which will naturally form some conventional norms of behavior. These norms are usually exclusive [3]. In a formal organization, employees will face material punishments such as salary reduction and suspension if they violate the provisions of the company's articles of association. However, in informal organizations, it is unlikely to be subject to material punishment, but it will have a certain impact on the psychological needs of individuals. If a member can keep the secret of a small group, other members will welcome it, but if a member discloses the secret, it may be ostracized by other members or even expelled from the organization.
(5) Naturally form a "leader" The informal organization is not decided by the enterprise, but there will also be the "leader" of the organization, which naturally emerges in the development process. Compared with the leader of the formal organization, although the leader of the informal organization does not have the authority given by the enterprise, he makes the members of the organization rely on him by virtue of his unique personality charm. This kind of inner support and awe makes him have stronger appeal.

Negative Effects of Informal Organizations in Enterprises
(1) Reducing the efficiency of enterprise resource use In the face of their own interests are not met, the members of the informal organization will use the power of the informal organization to help themselves get more benefits. If there is a member in an informal organization who has the right to allocate enterprise resources, it is possible for him to use the activities of the enterprise to meet his needs. For example, when members of an informal organization generally like to climb mountains, they may use the name of corporate activities to satisfy their interest. When this interest rises to the corporate group building activities, they will use the financial support of the enterprise to carry out the activities, and even more seriously, take the opportunity to cash out and steal resources [4]. When this situation occurs, the enterprise will enter a vicious cycle of inefficient consumption of internal resources, so the informal organization is not conducive to the scientific use of enterprise resources.
(2) Restricting the efficiency of enterprise decision-making The formal organization pursues organizational efficiency and organizational development, but the informal organization pursues some common interests among members and meets only the individual needs of members within the informal organization. This difference will affect the major decisions of enterprises, and even hinder organizational change. Members of informal organizations often group together for their own interests and raise objections in decision-making. Especially when the members of informal organizations form a certain scale, their invisible decisions will bring great obstacles to the resolution work, resulting in slow decision-making process or even difficult to pass, which is not conducive to the healthy development of enterprises.
(3) Triggering collective inertia Members of informal organizations often form their own internal codes of conduct in their activities. Such codes of conduct may have a negative impact on enterprises: they are opposed to decisions that are not conducive to them in the enterprise, lack of enthusiasm for the implementation of decisions, low work efficiency, and gradually form inertia. In this atmosphere, employees with positive attitudes will gradually be affected, resulting in low overall work efficiency and affecting the development of enterprises.
(4) Spreading error information There is a strong communication efficiency in the informal organization, so the spread of "gossip" is also extremely fast. These "gossip" may be unconfirmed false news, or may be a misunderstanding of the pending information of the enterprise [5]. Therefore, once this "gossip" is spread, it will affect the image of the enterprise and managers, further leading to more employees and formal organizations and managers to fight, thereby reducing the enthusiasm and efficiency of employees, and ultimately affecting the healthy and long-term development of the enterprise.
(5) Isolating non-organizational staff Although informal organizations can promote the exchange of internal members, they will not show their enthusiasm for employees who do not have common interests and lack a consistent concept. These employees who are outside the informal organization will be excluded and isolated. They not only have to bear the usual work pressure, but also have to bear the harm of being excluded and isolated. This will affect the work enthusiasm and work efficiency of employees outside the informal organization. This kind of phenomenon will have a negative impact on the enterprise environment, which is not conducive to the work of employees, and is not conducive to the growth of enterprise performance.

Managers' Mismanagement of Informal Organizations in Enterprises
(1) Ignore the informal organization Some managers think that the informal organization is only a small play, the impact on the overall operation of the enterprise is negligible, and therefore do not attach importance to the management of informal organizations ; there are also some managers who believe that there is no informal organization in the enterprise, so they do not know where to talk about the management of informal organizations, which leads to the continuous contradiction between informal organizations and formal organizations, affecting the normal operation of enterprises.
(2) Fear of informal organizations Managers overreact to the existence of informal organizations, and one-sidedly believe that informal organizations have a huge negative effect. They look at the members of informal organizations with colored glasses and regard them as "heretics". they believe that as long as there is an informal organization, it will definitely hinder the normal operation and management of the organization. Therefore, strict and harsh management methods such as suppression and criticism are adopted for the existing informal organizations in the enterprise. The direct impact of this is to affect the relationship between superiors and subordinates, and also affect their own leadership, so that they lose their "popular support".
(3) "Nothing can be done" for informal organizations Some managers have found the existence of informal organizations in the enterprise, and have a comprehensive understanding of the role of informal organizations, but they lack effective means to guide and manage them, which leads to the mutual suspicion of employees in the enterprise, and the laxity of people in the formal organization, thus forming the unhealthy trend of "pulling the gangs", which leads to the decline of employees' enthusiasm for learning and work, and finally the problem of personnel loss, and even the phenomenon of "collective job-hopping", such as the collective job-hopping of the sales team of Chuangwei Group, which leads to the collapse of Chuangwei; there are also middle managers at the peak of the small bully collectively resigned, self-reliance, well-known brand small bully sadly become history.

Countermeasures to Make Informal
Organizations a "Boost" for Enterprises (1) Face up to the existence of informal organizations and clarify their value Since ancient times, there will be informal organizations where there are formal organizations, and they exist objectively and cannot be eliminated in the short term. Therefore, it is the key to deal with informal organizations to recognize the existence of informal organizations, adopt reasonable guiding strategies, effectively utilize them, and give full play to the positive role of informal organizations.
The organizational goal is the future situation that the organization hopes to strive to achieve, and it also reflects the value and significance of the existence of the organization. After the formal organization has defined the organizational goal, it is also necessary to evaluate the value and significance of the existence of informal organizations. It is necessary to coordinate the two organizations on the premise of not deviating from the overall goal. Managers not only need to consider the role of formal organizations to play the role of rules and regulations, but also need to take into account the human factors that exist in informal organizations, so as to ensure that each member of the organization can perform their duties and play a corresponding role [4]. As a kind of modern organizational form, the relationship between informal organization and formal organization is complementary and complementary. Only by mobilizing the enthusiasm of each member in the organization and effectively coordinating the two organizations can the function of "1 + 1 > 2" within the organization be realized. Therefore, as a manager in an enterprise, we should not only actively face informal organizations, but also respect the value of informal organizations.
(2) Seeking the balance between economy and "social man".
The formal organization has both economic and social characteristics. As an inevitable product of the formal organization, the influence of the informal organization on the formal organization cannot be ignored. The most basic way to solve the contradiction between formal organizations and informal organizations is to coordinate the contradiction between individuals and organizations. Alikis has pointed out that due to the inevitable contradiction between the rules and regulations of the formal organization and the individual's self-needs, individuals are bound to take some actions to protect their rights and interests. Therefore, balancing the relationship between individuals and organizations is a very difficult problem. Only by paying attention to the needs of individuals and organizations at the same time can we truly achieve a balance, while ignoring either of them cannot achieve a balance. Managers should consider and pay attention to the individual needs of employees as much as possible on the premise of ensuring that the objectives of the formal organization are not deviated from the premise, so as to not only ensure the economy of the organization, but also take into account the social nature of the organization, and at the same time, this is to eliminate the contradictions and contradictions between informal organizations and formal organizations as much as possible.
(3) Play the role of "leader" of informal organizations The "leaders" in informal organizations have high prestige and important position in the organization, and they can often play a role in promoting the formation of informal organizations. When employees encounter setbacks or conflicts in the formal organization, they often tend to find a "know yourself" acquaintance to talk to and seek psychological comfort and support. In this case, it is easy to produce the "leader" of the informal organization, and over time, more people will gather around him, and their popularity and influence will also increase. Therefore, the influence of the "leader" in the informal organization sometimes even far exceeds that of the managers of the formal organization, and their thoughts and actions will affect the trend of the whole informal organization. Therefore, managers should attach importance to the role of "leader" in informal organizations, communicate with these core figures regularly, grasp their ideological trends, pass on the existing management concepts and organizational goals in formal organizations to them in a comfortable atmosphere, and influence other members in informal organizations through their "intermediary" status, so as to reduce the friction and estrangement between members of formal organizations and members of informal organizations, and promote the healthy development of enterprises.
(4) Strengthen the construction of enterprise universal culture The surface culture, shallow culture, middle culture and core culture constitute the whole enterprise culture. The surface material culture is the cornerstone of establishing a good enterprise culture. The core spiritual culture is the concept and cultural psychology of the enterprise. A large number of successful enterprise cases prove that corporate culture has a subtle influence on all aspects of the organization, and has a positive effect on maintaining competitive advantage [6]. Such as Huawei's "wolf" culture, and the cultural assessment and equity distribution, appointment and removal of staff interests, so as to create a combative team. Therefore, managers strengthen the construction of organizational culture of unity and cooperation, which is conducive to guiding members of informal organizations to have a sense of identity and belonging, and increasing mutual trust among employees. Then the existence of "small groups" in enterprises will naturally be reduced, which will promote the growth and development of enterprises.
(5) Improve the working atmosphere and implement the incentive system A relaxed and comfortable working atmosphere has a positive effect on the elimination of employee dissatisfaction, and it can also reduce the negative impact of informal organizations. Managers should resolutely implement the existing incentive system and reward employees who work hard and have outstanding performance. This is not only conducive to stimulating employees "work passion and improving employees" job satisfaction, but also allowing employees to truly love their work from the bottom of their hearts. Enhance the feelings between employees and enterprises, and ultimately promote the improvement of corporate performance.
(6) Resolutely eliminate the "Horse of the Harms" Because the informal organization's "leader" has a very high status and prestige within the organization, when the formal organization cannot meet its individual needs, sometimes it will deliberately guide the informal organization to the opposite of the formal organization, interfere with the normal management of the formal organization, damage the overall interests of the enterprise [7], or spread rumors within the informal organization, confuse the people, and fan the flames. For this kind of harmful group of horses, managers should first persuade them to transform, in the case of ineffective results, to resolutely clear and give corresponding punishment. There are two purposes to do so, one is to remove hidden dangers for enterprises, and the other is to play the role of knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger. However, such measures should be taken in accordance with the relevant procedures of the enterprise, and timely clarify the facts to the members of the informal organization, so as to avoid the public unrest caused by the misunderstanding of the members of the informal organization.

Conclusion
The existence of informal organizations is objective and inevitable, and the causes are complicated. Especially in the unique cultural context of our country, the differences between individual needs and organizational goals will not be eliminated in the short term. Managers of enterprises should face up to the existence of informal organizations, correctly and comprehensively understand informal organizations, rather than unilaterally define them as "flood beasts", and adopt reasonable countermeasures to guide them, so that informal organizations can play an active role in the development of enterprises.