I have experienced organizations that are not transparent—to a comedic degree. When I say “comedic,” I mean to the point that an employee learns about a promotion opportunity when they see, or are told, about a job ad for the position they aspired to. Or secretive as in an employee is told the very day a public announcement is being made that their boss is retiring and the ad for that position is going up the same day. Or as in finally told after more than a month of conversations among management that they soon will be required to commute an hour from their home to a new work location.
Why are these facts treated as proprietary secrets? A colleague I once worked with believes the secrets serve as a kind of currency. People used the information as leverage or as a kind of power they wielded, as in “I know something you don’t know and that makes me more powerful than you.”
3 Ways to Enhance Transparency
A transparent culture is what organizations should aspire to. Keeping employees informed of decisions that impact them conveys respect and prevents employees from feeling blindsided, becoming angry, and leaving.
“Transparency fosters trust between employees and managers, which leads to better communication and collaboration, which increases trust. Effective collaboration, meanwhile, can increase employee satisfaction, engagement, and productivity,” Michelle Gouldsberry wrote last year in a post on the betterworks Website. I would second those sentiments. Based on my own experience, here are three ways companies can enhance transparency:
1. Honestly answer questions.
Honestly answering questions is a great place to start. I inquired once about an event in its early stages that I was helping with and was told the plan had changed and a new event was being planned that I wasn’t supposed to know about. I didn’t ask further questions, but I wonder what that colleague would have said if I had replied: “Oh, that’s interesting—why am not supposed to know about it?”
When secrets are kept, there is a feeling of having overstepped when you’re told you shouldn’t know about them. The employee kept in the dark usually silently retreats and takes their colleague’s response to mean, “This is no longer any of your business, and you shouldn’t have asked.”
When you fail to communicate transparently, the next best thing to do is to be honest and forthcoming with information (if you can) when asked.
2. Give advance notice of important developments.
It also helps to give employees advance notice of announcements, such as new job postings or news of impending retirements and resignations. I have e-mailed a colleague to learn—surprise!—they are no longer with the company, or that they are about to leave, as soon as the next day.
What is the advantage of keeping a manager’s or colleague’s departure a secret? You would think there would be an advantage in letting the whole team know as soon as the manager knows.
Letting the whole team know what the plan is when an employee is leaving or a manager is retiring also is critical. Who now will be responsible for the tasks the exiting employee was assigned? Is there now an open position in the company that is being advertised? Is there an internal promotion opportunity, or a chance for someone already in the company to make a lateral move? Or is the position being eliminated and will not be filled or will be reimagined into a whole new job?
Those are the many questions that pop into colleagues’ minds when someone they regularly communicate with is leaving.
3. Let employees know early about changes to work environment.
Changes in work environment is another big area where it’s important to be transparent. If a company expects employees to commute to a new office more than an hour away from the previous one, leaders should share that information as soon as possible.
I cynically wonder if the reason information about changes in work environment are not announced until the last minute is that the company doesn’t want to give employees an opportunity to find alternative employment ahead of having to commute to a new location. They figure they’ll spring it on them, they’ll be forced to commute, find it’s not so bad, and stay with the company.
Secrecy breeds resentment and a feeling of constant anxiety in which employees never know what’s around the corner. How do you maximize transparency and reduce secrecy in your organization?
