Many employers encourage transparency in the workplace to gain more trust from employees. Transparency is about being honest, open and accountable for accurate information delivered about the company’s real condition (progress and downturns). Transparent communication at work, helps employees to be proactive while offering feedback, suggestions and constructive criticism to their senior managers.
The two-way employee-employer communication channel, laid on firm grounds of transparency provides many significant benefits to boost employee morale and transform workings. Transparency leads to more trust thus creating better relationships at work.
See also: 5 Signs of a Toxic Workplace
To ensure transparency is maintained seamlessly across all levels of an organisation and there are no gaps, employers should allow employees to access business-sensitive information, monitor workings, be aware of the happenings, share success stories and give valuable feedback.
Transparent leadership allows employees to foresee bigger picture of a company’s growth plan and how their job roles contribute to accomplishing the business vision.
Employees in turn experience, more sense of ownership towards the company workings and are actively involved to ensure the team, shares common vision, mission and purpose. Here are 5 simple ways, HR managers can adopt to help increase transparency in the workplace:
Treat employees with a sense of maturity and showcase trust. There is no need to sugarcoat any bad news such as financial loss or impact of economic downturns. Instead, honesty and transparency is a highly-valued prerogative that would drive employees to respond positively during crisis times of a company and work in tandem to meet the overall business vision.
It is not always easy to deliver bad news, especially to the employees who strive to work optimally every single day. HR managers should observe honest and open communication with their employees across all ranks, to avoid sense of insecurity and frustration among the staff.
Uncertainty and unclear information communicated about the real condition of a company, often lead to ambiguity and confusion among employees. Also, presuming employees know nothing about the issues on hand and HR managers can therefore, share unintentional half-truth is far worse.
During crisis, employers should instruct employees to wait for further confirmation until the details are clear and sorted out, instead of pretending to “know it all” or sharing half-truth.
Some companies observe inequality during communication of sensitive business-related information to all staffers. They distinguish between workers of different ranks, and such unfair treatment with biases held contribute to unhealthy workplace culture.
Herein, there is a communication void created between the employees and the senior management. It is important that while HR managers observe discretion regards certain matters, issues pertaining to employee welfare, development and growth are communicated equally to all staffers.
While delivering business-sensitive information always brings in more harm than good, employers should be mindful of their words and channels of communication deployed to transmit the information to workforce at large.
A great leader understands to bifurcate the news that can be shared with one and all, and to retain the ones which are best kept secrets.
Not divulging certain information to employees is no absolute guilt, especially when you are aware that parting with such details will only lead to lowering employee morale and create insecurity.
Managers can make mistakes. When a company’s issue is left unattended for long owing to manager’s mistake, it is better to accept and admit the wrong. Clear explanation should be provided on why a manager’s decision did not agree with the company workings to create a fair and transparent workplace.
Transparency in the workplace is a crucial element for trust to grow, build solid working relationships in a team, with no communication void or sense of ambiguity. Organisations should promote creation of a transparent leadership talent pipeline with honesty ingrained in the workplace culture.
Next read: Why You Should Consider Employee’s Salary Raise
