What is all about this transparency in the workplace? Why do we hear about it more often lately? Is it a new concept or something that most of the big companies have lost? Is even transparency creating positive company culture or an opposite?
Let’s answer all these questions and figure out if transparency at work is just some silly Millennials and Generation Z’s cheesy talking… or is there something more.
🤔 What is workplace transparency?
Workplace transparency is a philosophy of not hiding information from any person in the company. In other words, the information should be shared freely between people in the organization, no matter their status.
Of course, there are some things that C-level people can’t freely tell to everyone else in a company because it could cause some problems. Even in a transparent workplace, there are some boundaries. We talk about information that doesn’t need to or even shouldn’t stay hidden.
It’s all about giving each other real constructive feedback, building trust, being honest with each other, and not hiding things that impact employees – for example, salaries. Open communication is a key to transparent culture.
If you promote transparency in a proper way, all the employees feel included and that definitely improves the company’s performance.
Is transparency in the workplace important?
Lack of transparency in the workplace can cause your company serious problems. People these days need to be really engaged if you expect from them a good performance. Times, when one would sacrifice their time and energy into work just like this, are over. The best employees have many other opportunities and if they don’t like your organization, they will leave you.
And no one feels good in a company where managers behave like gods, team communication is poor and honesty is just a myth. Employees feel bad, and it can just encourage them to change their environment – and quit. Sometimes taking your customers with them.
Transparency in the workplace, including the interview process, is a game-changer. More transparency is simply more trust between people in your organization, and trust is where every real relation begins.
A team, where people can rely on each other, is a team that can handle even very hard challenges. This is a benefit for the whole organization.
👉 Benefits of transparency in the workplace
1. Greater employee engagement and employee satisfaction
Transparency in the workplace is one of the most important factors to maintain employee happiness. When company leaders trust their people to share information, employees feel valued. Board meetings where everyone can speak freely, without fear, are the meetings that bring the best results.
2. Better customer relations
Maintaining a transparent culture is not just about honesty between employees and management.
Encouraging the sales team to be honest with potential customers will build trust between your company and clients. Staying transparent about the project’s status or eventual issues also will be a plus.
Don’t be scared to admit to your customer when something goes not as you planned it. People really value honesty; much more than we all think. Being on the same page is nothing other than a boost to proper customer relations.
Again, this is a part of building trust. When a client trusts your company, they won’t like to look for another one.
3. More accurate candidates (improved recruitment process)
If you want to hire people who are the best match for your organization, bring transparency on. Describe your organization in the way it really is, write the salary range into your job description. In the Stack Overflow case, job lists with showed salary range received 75% more clicks than those without it.
But it’s not just about choosing your company and showing up at work interview. More transparency in the whole process in your recruitment efforts will benefit.
Honest communication with a potential employee will help you to hire a person who really wants to work for your organization. It will also encourage people to open as well.
You will realize much sooner if that’s a match. Fewer costs for you, less lost time for a potential employee.
4. Better management
Workplace transparency also benefits all leaders. Thanks to increased employee engagement, people from management don’t need to try so hard to motivate their team. Their team already feels it.
Salary transparency also can help. Especially if, for example, some seniors earn less than others. You can use performance reviews to show them which actions or skills they need to increase their incomes, too.
If your company keeps transparent communication between managers, employees, and even co-owners, people won’t be scared to talk about their own ideas and concerns. Sometimes these ideas have a great impact on the whole company.
It’s much easier to manage a team where people really want to focus on what they do. And be a part of the company.
How to improve transparency in the workplace?
If you’re ready to work on your transparent company culture, there’s one more thing. What practices do you need to implement? How to encourage transparency between leaders and employees?
😎 Manager inspires the entire department
To create transparency, first, you need to inform your employees about your plans. You can treat it like a project. Decide what a difference do you want to make, create a plan (for example with the SMART method), and watch how your workplace culture changes.
Showing that even serious co-founder tries hard encourages employees to value openness as well. Make sure that the management team members understand your idea. Openness creates openness. It’s simple as that.
Setting proper boundaries in workplace transparency 🧐
Creating workplace transparency shouldn’t turn into a concert of mean comments. Saying something really rude and explaining it with “I’m just being honest” is easy.
Few people behave like this, and disaster is ready. Soon, all team members fight with each other instead of carrying for workplace culture.
Getting a sense of transparency is a key component to success. Employees need to understand why do you want to create a culture of openness.
Transparency in the workplace doesn’t mean you can’t be polite. You still should. Just use constructive feedback.
Employee engagement
If you want to keep transparent workplace culture, put attention to employees engagement. Notice team members who try. This is key to company performance. These people are your executive team.
Can you create transparency in the hiring process?
Transparency in the workplace is not just about the existing business environment. Open communication during the hiring process will help you to create your dream team.
As I said before, transparent companies have it easier to find the right people. You can even use 🤑 salary transparency in a workplace politic as a reason to choose your company. It really presents your organization as a trustworthy one.
So yes. You can. And you should.
💚 Even more transparent workplace thanks to the right tool
The right tools will help you to keep transparency at your company. Try using time management software like TimeCamp. Show all the employees how your business grows thanks to them. Let them see what others do and how hard do they work.
This kind of transparency will also motivate your employees. They can even make some competition.
Check how to introduce work tracking to your team and benefit from it.
Your transparent workplace
Transparency will boost proper communication in your organization. If you make it right, your business will just benefit from it. In many ways.
And it’s not just about transparency between team members. Salary transparency in the workplace is also important, and it really makes a difference. Better collaboration, better team performance. That’s why don’t wait. Don’t be scared.
Introduce the idea of transparency in the workplace to your employees!