Creating compliance value through informal work procedures

Abstract

Informal work procedures are often untapped in organisations because they remain compartmentalised and unavailable for organisational learning. Trends from Auditor General Reports show the metastasising culture of non-compliance in local government and by implication the re-enforcement of procedural compliance in many avenues. This study explores the value informal work procedures can add to building a strong compliance-based culture in South African local governance. The study contributes to knowledge on organisational studies and compliance in local government by moving beyond formal procedural explanations to highlight informal work procedures as critical elements of the municipal compliance discourse. A qualitative methodology using interview data shows that local government managers operate based on informal work practices and procedures, which create a potential for learning and compliance value chain. The findings also suggest that where local government managers are able to consciously create synergies between informal and formal work procedures a municipal culture that supports innovation, compliance and effective performance develops. It is proposed that addressing the gap between “work as imagined” and “work as actually done” can present an opportunity for building compliance through organisational learning.