Most office workers know how scary it can be when management starts having a big batch of closed-door meetings. What are they talking about? Am I on the chopping block? Even if those meetings are completely harmless, that fear you feel is one of the signs of a big workplace problem: a lack of transparency.
Here’s Five Fast Facts on Workplace Transparency:
- ✌️ I’m Out - One of the biggest complaints in any workplace is a lack of transparency. In fact, 49% of people who quit their job do it because of a lack of transparency from company leadership. Worse, 82% of employees don’t trust their boss.
- 👂 Listen! - Workplace transparency is open and genuine communication between leadership and employees. Leaders should share expectations, feedback, mistakes, and revenue among other things. Employees should ask questions, share their ideas, and be open about the challenges they face.
- 🤝 Both Directions - The main benefit of transparency? Mutual trust. Employees won’t question leadership’s decision and leadership knows employees will feel empowered.
- 🏅 Team Sport - Worse, it creates an “us vs. them” environment between employees and leadership. In other words, the employees are going to band together in one grouchy team, fighting against their (perceived) evil employer and quit bringing concerns to management.
- 🤷 What To Do? - There’s not much you can do to make your manager/supervisor adopt transparency. The thing you CAN do is ask relevant questions. Just make sure to do it openly and honestly. You can speak honestly about your feelings, as well. Just remember there’s a difference between bluntness and honesty. Be nice ;-)
🔥Bottom line: A transparent workplace isn’t easy to create, especially if it’s a larger (or older) company. Just know that change takes time. But if you’re open about things that can improve your performance as an employee, it might catch on.
Do you have a transparent workplace?
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