Structural and physical divisions

Where people are physically placed within an organisation is crucial to how they feel about their role and status. For example, in some instances - for perfectly good organisational reasons - lower levels of staff have been grouped together on lower levels of the organisation (including basements), with professional staff on higher floors. Such physical separation can create feelings of resentment and alienation and reduce the possibility of interaction and trust.

The use of space is therefore important to how people feel within an organisation and impacts upon cohesion within the workforce. However staff may be structurally separated as a result of labour market and other factors. For example, some businesses have nightshifts comprised of Eastern European workers and dayshifts of British workers.

More often the divisions revolve around the type of work and the skills required, with ethnic and gender divisions being institutionalised. In these cases, the divisions may simply reinforce those found in the local community or wider society, but may well inhibit interaction and limit the development of cooperation and trust.